Hunter's Moon
by greenpeach20
Summary: The third and final book to The Renesmee Series.
1. Odd Breed

**Odd Breed**

Despite all the problems I'd faced during my pregnancy, I wouldn't change a single thing. Kevin was what I'd always dreamed of having with Jacob. Like Jacob and me, Kevin was a curious little thing. He didn't mind being held by others as long as either me or Jacob were close by. If we both left the room, he would get nervous and start crying. So I was always sure to be close.

I was especially thrilled that Jacob and Kevin were already so close. Jacob would play with Kevin all the time, playing little games with him and even changing a diaper or two for me. It was too soon to ask momma to babysit him, so I took him with me to work, which no one at the shop argued over. They thought Kevin was cute and he never bothered anyone. Kevin was usually sleeping most of the time anyway. Alice took a picture one time of Jacob and Kevin taking a nap on the couch together and that picture was now on my desk and I looked at it all the time. When their faces were close together, it was obvious how much Kevin looked like Jacob.

Rachael ended up having Maxi a month after I'd had Kevin, making his birthday January 2nd. Kevin was a little less than a month older being born December 14th. He got plenty of Christmas presents since everyone was already expecting him to be borne by then. He slept through most of unwrapping gifts, but that's okay.

Jacob wanted me to stay home for a while when Kevin was born, so for the first few weeks, Rachael and I would spend the days together while our boys took naps in our arms. When I started going to work with Jacob again, I always took Kevin with us. I wanted Kevin with me so I could feed him when he needed and so I would always know how he was doing. I wouldn't be able to do this for long, so I wanted to take advantage of it. I was relieved that Kevin seemed to be growing at a normal human rate, so that gave me more years to look forward to.

"So how're you doing?" I looked up from my computer and saw Jacob standing in the doorway smiling at me and Kevin, who I was holding.

"Pretty good. I'm relieved to get a chance to get some work done." Jacob smiled a little more and closed the door behind him before walking over to me and kneeling so he was face to face with Kevin, who was wide awake at the moment.

"How about you, Kevin?" Kevin didn't say anything, but he did smile and that made Jacob happy. "I take that as a good thing?"

"You could probably say that." Jacob chuckled and took Kevin in his arms and bounced him a few times for Kevin's entertainment. Kevin's smile stayed bright, even without his teeth, so Jacob kept up the gentle movements.

"You know, you'd never know he was such a grump in the womb seeing him now."

"I know. Maybe it was just him taking advantage of the comfort as long as he could." Jacob chuckled.

"Probably. He's adorable, though."

"He is. He looks just like his daddy." Jacob chuckled.

"Not just like me. He's got plenty of you."

"Not much. He has my hair sort of, but that's about it." Kevin's hair had gotten darker in the past few weeks. It was still a color similar to mine, but Jacob's black hair was in there too, making his hair almost look like a reddish brown now. But his eyes were still green, and that was nice.

"He has your smile, Nessie."

"Maybe."

"Definitely." I smiled and watched Jacob play with Kevin for a few more minutes before he sighed and handed Kevin back to me. "I need to go back to work."

"We'll be here when you come back." Jacob smiled and bent down to kiss me, then he kissed Kevin's little forehead, said he loved us both, then left the office to go back to the garage.

I managed to get work done, but I gave most of my attention to Kevin and entertaining him. Thanks to Kevin's little gift, we could have conversations together that, with the exception of daddy of course, only he and I could hear. It was a special connection that Kevin and I shared and it made us closer. I was teaching him the name to things through our mental conversations and he was learning fast. He couldn't verbalize anything yet, but he could now mentally put a word to things. He could tell me and Jacob, 'I'm tired', 'I'm hungry', 'I'm dirty', and 'I'm bored, play with me please'. Jacob certainly enjoined it when Kevin did that.

Later that night, I was putting Kevin to bed for the night while Jacob was starting his shower. I remembered that Kevin was now two months and eight days old. Carlisle had recommended to me and Jacob that I wait to heal before we tried being intimate again. He'd said two months to be safe. It was past two months, and I was tired of not being with him. When Kevin was tucked in, I kissed his head and turned on his little turning nightlight of stars and planets and left the room. Kevin liked the stars and planets nightlight. The moving stars and planets relaxed him and helped him sleep.

I heard the shower from the bathroom when I walked into the room. I took the baby monitor with me while I made my way to the bathroom. I could hear Kevin pretty easily through most noise, but I liked having the baby monitor as a form of reassurance. Before walking into the bathroom, I stripped down bare, then opened the door and left the baby monitor on the counter before walking into the shower. Jacob had heard me come in and was already looking at me when I walked in.

"How's Kevin?"

"He's doing good. I think he'll sleep through most of the night without much interruption. I'm so glad we got him that rotating nightlight."

"Me too. He's been sleeping so much better since we got him that." I smiled and walked over to Jacob and grabbed his bar of soap and cleaned him off. Jacob did the same and lathered a small palm full of my body wash.

"So guess what?"

"What?" I looked up at Jacob with a smile.

"It's been two months." Jacob looked up at me now with a bit of a smile.

"Has it, now?" I nodded.

"Yes it has." Jacob and I smiled at each other for a few moments while still lathering each other with soap. Jacob bent his head down to mine after a few seconds and we started kissing.

He deepened the kiss by licking my lips, asking for entrance. It was the first time in months that Jacob and I could share a truly passionate kiss. I dropped the soap so I could wrap my arms around Jacob's still soapy body and Jacob moved his hands over my body tenderly. As Jacob's hands traveled over my body, they eventually went between my legs and he forced two fingers inside me, making me moan.

"Has it really been seven months since we've done this?" I nodded. "It feels like longer."

"Doesn't it?" Jacob chuckled under his breath before returning to kissing me lovingly.

His fingers moved around trying to make me wet and desperate. It wasn't long before I was and I was tightening my grip on him to bring him closer. Without taking out his fingers, Jacob brought his other arm around my waist and lifted me up so I was at the same level as he was and his fingers had easier access to me. I felt Jacob start moving, and kept kissing him, not wanting to ruin the moment. But then I felt Jacob jerk backwards and land against the stone walls of the shower and I looked at him surprised. Jacob started laughing.

"What happened?"

"I slipped on the soap." I smiled and started laughing with him, resting my head on his shoulder. Then I felt Jacob's fingers leave me, and the water from the shower stopped. "We should get out of the shower. We're clean enough."

"We didn't break the wall or anything did we?" Jacob bounced me once to make sure his hold of me was secure before he turned to look at the stone wall. It was a little bit cracked but nothing that couldn't be fixed.

"We'll only tell them I slipped in the shower." I giggled.

"Good call." Jacob smiled and walked out of the shower with me still in his arms and we made our way to bed. Before leaving, Jacob grabbed the baby monitor for me and put it on the nightstand before placing me down under him.

Our lips finally met again and we were kissing for several minutes, dueling our tongues together and sucked each other's lips and ran over our teeth with our tongues. As we kissed, I started feeling dizzy and tightened my hold on Jacob while his hands traveled over my body with tender care. AS we were kissing, Jacob's right hand traveled down between my legs and pushed in two fingers inside me while his thumb tickled my nub. As he did so, I moaned his name through our kiss and Jacob groaned when I started moving my hands around his back, gently running my nails against his skin.

Wanting to mimic what he was doing to me, I took my left hand and brought it to his member and wrapped my fingers around him and started stroking him, trying to get him even harder. When I started doing that, his fingers that were inside me moved faster and more relentlessly. I forced my lips away from Jacob's so I could breath and turned my head to the side as I started moaning, trying not to be too loud so I wouldn't wake up Kevin.

When we were no longer kissing, Jacob started kissing along my jaw and down my neck, then back up again until he reached my ear. He took my ear between his lips and sucked and bit my ear, making me gasp as his fingers increased their movements yet again. Not long after, Jacob pulled his fingers away from me and replaced them with his shaft. I moaned his name when he entered me having missed him being with me like this for so long. I was scared that having a baby would've made this feel slightly less pleasurable. I wouldn't lie that I wasn't as tight as I had been, but it still felt wonderful. When he was inside me and started moving, he started whispering to me.

"Does that still feel good, Nessie?" I nodded and moaned.

"Yes, Jacob. It still feels good. Go faster." I felt Jacob smile against my ear as he followed my orders and moved faster. When he did that, it felt even better and I wrapped my arms back around his neck, digging my nails into his skin. Jacob started sucking on the skin of my neck and my ear.

After a few minutes, Jacob opted for a new position and turned on his back so I was on top. I gasped a little at the change and Jacob's hands went straight to my hips and began moving my hips the way he wanted. Once I had his desired pattern in mind, I started moving on my own, though Jacob's hands stayed on my hips, mindlessly going with me as I moved. I rested my hands on Jacob's chest to stay balanced and I was getting dizzier the more I moved. Eventually, Jacob decided he wanted a faster pace, so he sat up and took my wrists in his hands so he could place my arms around his neck.

Then Jacob kissed me as his hands went under my arms and he lifted me up and down repeatedly at a speed that he liked. About a minute in, Jacob took his lips away, letting me breath, and turned his attention to my chest where he kissed and sucked my breasts, making me moan a little louder. I didn't want to wake Kevin, so I bit Jacob's shoulder to stay silent. The slight pain from my bite made Jacob groan and his hands squeezed under my arms. I giggled from it tickling me and Jacob gave my breast one last kiss before he changed our position again.

This time, Jacob put me on my hands and knees, then wrapped his left arm around my chest so my back was against him and he entered me again once his right hand had a hold of something. My eyes were closed, so I didn't see what it was. Jacob began to thrust with more vigor and gave me a kiss before he brought his lips to my neck and sucked greedily, his hand making work of my breasts. I tried biting my lip so I wouldn't be so loud with moaning, and thankfully, it helped a little

We weren't in that position long before I started to feel like I was about to climax. One of my hands reached behind me so I could turn a little to look at Jacob. I started saying his name, but he didn't notice I wanted his attention. When I licked his ear and said his name again, he turned to look at me and stopped a moment.

"Go faster, Jacob." I barely said the phrase and Jacob fused his lips with mine and did as I asked and went faster than he had all night.

As he increased his speed, his grip tightened on me and it wasn't long before I was on the verge of coming undone. I told Jacob I was close, so he brought his other hand to my nub and rubbed it vigorously to help me along. It wasn't long and I was high in the sky clutching Jacob like he was my only link to stay grounded. When I finally came, I lost my grip on Jacob and fell forward a little, letting Jacob be the one to hold me up with my hand resting on his forearm. Jacob came shortly after me and when he did, he fell to the side, taking me with him. We laid together for a few minutes catching our breath before we finally said anything.

"I needed that so bad." I giggled and turned to look at Jacob.

"Me too. Was it as satisfying for me as it was for you." Jacob chuckled and kissed me.

"You have no idea, Nessie. You have no idea." Jacob pulled me closer to him and gave me a kiss. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him tighter when our kiss ended. "You don't think this'll be rare because of Kevin do you?" I smiled and shook my head.

"Only if we let it, Jacob." Jacob chuckled and tightened his hold of me a little more and we fell asleep in each other's arms.

Early in the morning, I heard Kevin crying through the walls and monitor and got up to tend to him. When I got up, Jacob was still fast asleep. I wasn't sure whether to be mad or think it was funny. Either way, I needed to tend to Kevin. I went to the closet really quickly so I could put on my robe before going to Kevin's room. He was in his cradle crying and the moment I picked him up, he started crying slightly less. Mentally, I asked him what was wrong and he pushed the thought, 'dirty, hungry' in my mind.

I brought Kevin to the changing table and cleaned him off quickly. I was sure to be lenient on the baby powder. Kevin loved the smell of it and it relaxed him whenever he was crying. When he was clean, we sat in the little chair in the corner of the room and I pulled one side of my robe away so Kevin could breast feed. This was one of those things that I loved, but hated at the same time. I enjoyed that breast feeding Kevin would make us closer in the long run, but it still hurt to do it. Emily and Kim assured me and Rachael that it would get a little better the more we did it. Emily compared it to working a muscle and I had to agree with the comparison.

And of course, Kevin was a greedy little thing. If I ever tried taking Kevin away when he wasn't done, he would have a fit. So I always let him drink until he was completely done, which could take several minutes at times. But it kept Kevin happy, so I didn't complain. Several minutes later when Kevin was finally finished eating, I pulled my robe over my breast and rested Kevin on my shoulders and started gently patting his back so he would burp. When he did, I bounced him in my arms once and praised him before taking him back to his crib and giving him a little kiss on his forehead.

"Night, night, Kevin." Kevin didn't respond in any way. He just closed his eyes and went to sleep. I smiled and looked at him for a few minutes. He looked so much like Jacob, though he had a little bit of daddy in him. His hair was darker because of Jacob, but I could see the bronze in there that he got from me and his green eyes screamed daddy.

When I was done looking at him, I went back to my room and saw Jacob still fast asleep in bed. I went to the closet to hang my robe before going back to bed, not bothering to put on any pajamas. When I got to bed, I fell asleep instantly and I didn't wake up until the next morning when I felt Jacob kissing my neck with one of his hands on my leg.

"Morning to you too, Jacob." Jacob smiled against my skin and moved on top of me.

"Believe it or not, I woke up early." I looked over at the clock, which said 7:30.

"Wow, you did. Maybe it's because you didn't get up in the middle of the night when Kevin cried." Jacob looked at me with a guilty smile.

"I kind of was. I just didn't want to get out of bed, so I stayed put and tried to look like I was still asleep."

"You mean I could've went right back to sleep and made you take care of him at two in the morning?" Jacob kept giving me a guilty smile. "Next time, I'm waking you up and making you do it."

"I can't feed him, Nessie."

"No, but you can change him. You need to do that. You've never done that mind you."

"The idea just freaks me out."

"Oh yeah, Jacob, and handling infant waste sounds just divine to me." Jacob chuckled at my sarcasm and kissed me.

"You can get back at me tomorrow night when I'm not on patrol." I sighed.

"Good enough." Jacob smiled and kissed me again, and this time I kissed him back and wrapped my arms and legs around him to bring him close to me. I used that opportunity to push erotic images of us in his head, and he was hard in an instant.

Jacob and I made love again for most of the morning until it was looming on nine and we needed to get ready to go to the shop. I dressed as quickly as possible so I could start getting Kevin ready to go. He was still sound asleep when I got in and he refused to wake up while I was getting him dressed. He whined in discontentment a few times, but for the most part, he didn't wake up. When he was ready, I went downstairs and waited a minute for Jacob to get down.

"How's Kevin doing this morning?" I smiled while Jacob walked over to us and leaned down to look at Kevin.

"Still sleeping." Jacob smiled and looked up at me.

"What I wouldn't give to be able to sleep like that." I giggled.

"I know what you mean. No matter what, he wouldn't wake up."

"I wouldn't either if I didn't have anything to do."

"He could always talk to me." Jacob chuckled and kissed my cheek.

"I wish I could do that with him. Whenever he pushes his thoughts in my head, it's always one sided."

"I know. He wishes he could hear you too. He wishes he could hear everyone, honestly. He gets bored with just talking to me." Jacob smiled and looked down at Kevin.

"How can you get bored with talking to your mother?" Then Jacob looked at me again. "Let's get going, shall we?" I nodded and followed Jacob outside to the car. He got in the driver's seat and waited for me to get Kevin strapped into his little car seat and he drove off when I finally took my spot in the passenger's seat.

"By the way, Jacob."

"Yeah, Nessie?"

"While I'm thinking about it, Aida said she was coming over today at the shop. She wants to meet Kevin."

"I thought she hated kids."

"She does. But since it's my baby, she'll meet him." Jacob chuckled.

"I'm not sure I trust her around my kid."

"Jacob, stop. She won't do anything to him." Jacob shrugged with a smile.

"It's the principle of the matter, Nessie. Why don't you explain the devil thing to me again for the umpteenth time before I let her near my child." I giggled and swatted Jacob's arm.

"Stop it, Jacob, she's not that bad and you know it. Besides, I think she'll like Kevin, even if only a little. She'll think his telepathy is interesting at least."

"What time is she coming?"

"I think sometime around one."

"Alright. Just warn Steven, okay. He'll just send her away and you know as much as I do that Aida isn't going to be polite to him."

"I'll warn Steven." Jacob smiled.

"Thank you, Nessie."

When Jacob and I got to the shop, he went straight to the garage while me and Kevin went to the office in the back. Before going in, I told Steven that I was expecting someone by the name of Aida around one and to not be alarmed if a woman with dark, multicolored hair walks in seemingly unannounced. He laughed a little and said he would keep his eyes peeled for her.

Once in my office, I took Kevin out of his little carrier and held him in my arm while I worked on a few things. Kevin stayed asleep for the most part until he got hungry again and started whimpering and pushing the thought, 'I'm hungry'.

"Steven, could you close the door for me, please?"

"Sure thing, Mrs. Black." Then Steven closed the door for me and once it was closed, I undid my blouse and pulled away my bra so I could feed Kevin.

I glanced at the clock to make sure it wasn't one yet, I still had about an hour before Aida was supposed to show up. That was plenty of time to feed Kevin. Once Kevin got situated, he helped himself and I bit my lip, still trying to get used to it. I finally understood why some women refused to breast feed. It was pretty painful. I was surprised that it wasn't healing closed, but according to Carlisle, that wasn't how breast feeding worked.

'_Are you getting full Kevin?'_ I thought to him.

'_Almost.'_ I smiled, knowing this was a recent word he'd figured out. It wasn't quite yes and it wasn't quite no either, and that was good enough for him.

'_Would you like me to sing to you, Kevin?'_

'_Yes.'_ I smiled and tightened my grip on him slightly and affectionately.

'_What song?'_ Kevin didn't give me an answer right away. I remembered he didn't know the songs names, he only knew the tone so far. So when he picked one, he played a little of it in my head so I would know what he wanted.

'_That.'_ I smiled and caressed his face while he kept drinking and started humming the song daddy had written for him. He'd affectionately named the song, _Oddity_. It was an upbeat little piano piece that always made Kevin smile.

I hummed the whole song before Kevin decided he was done drinking and let go of me. Once my clothes were properly rearranged, I kept holding Kevin and got back to work. Kevin was playing with my hair while I was working and would occasionally show me what he was looking at asking me what it was. This was how Kevin had started learning new words, he would show it to me, I'd tell him what it was, and he'd use it whenever he could, even if it didn't make sense. That was the best part about it. He might know what the word was for those object, but he still had no idea what it meant. To him, they were just things.

I ended up getting engrossed in what I was doing and lost track of time. So it was one before I knew it and I heard the tell tale sign that Aida was here when I heard her voice. Steven, having been warned, told her I was in the back room and warned her to knock first. Before she walked in, I took the time to button up my shirt and never let Kevin out of my arms. When Aida walked in and closed the door behind her, she slightly smiled.

"So this is the little monster I heard about." I smiled, knowing she was speaking affectionately, and nodded.

"Yep, this is Kevin."

"I have a hard time believing that this little thing was kicking you so violently."

"I know, right. But yes, it was him."

"I can't even tell who he looks like. Who in your family has brown hair?"

"No one. It's bronze. It was just darkened a little because of Jacob's hair color. And he has green eyes because of daddy." This did surprise her.

"No shit? That's unique."

"Yeah. And he has a gift like mine. He can push thoughts into people's heads, but he can do it from a distance. And, as daddy put it, you can only hear what he wants you to hear."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means daddy can't hear his thoughts unless one of us is hearing it or if he pushes the thought to daddy specifically."

"So he's a shield like your mom?"

"Yeah."

"Bitchin. Can your mom hear him?" I shook my head.

"That's the sad part. Momma can only hear him if she has her shield up. Otherwise, Kevin can penetrate her mind, so to speak."

"That kind of blows." Aida walked over and kneeled down to look at Kevin. "You know, now that I really look at him, he looks a lot like Jacob."

"Yeah, he does. He looks just like him with just enough of me to make him different." Aida shrugged.

"I don't know, Jacob's pretty hot. It wouldn't be so bad if Kevin looked exactly like him."

"I never said that. I'm just saying he looks a little different from Jacob is all."

"I know what you're saying, Nessie." Aida looked at Kevin a few seconds before speaking again. "Can I hold him?" I was a little surprised, but I nodded my head.

"Sure you can. I didn't think you would want to."

"There's something about this kid I like. I'm sensing a future bad ass." I shook my head.

"No way. Not my baby." Aida smiled.

"All mothers say that, Nessie."

I didn't say anything else, but I still didn't think Kevin would end up like that. I lifted Kevin up so Aida could grab a hold of him. Kevin looked a little upset that I was handing him to someone other than family, which surprised me. I never thought Kevin would be a selective type. But when Aida grabbed a hold of him, he looked at her hair and, so we could both hear, told her he liked her hair. Aida grinned.

"He's got good taste." I smiled.

"And at such a young age." It was a little awkward, but Kevin looked comfortable enough. He was occupying himself with Aida's hair and she was looking him over.

"He's adorable, Nessie."

"He is."

"So how's Jacob doing?"

"He's good. He's out in the garage, but he'll come in to say hi soon enough. He usually comes in the see me and Kevin a few times a day."

"Sounds cool." I smiled and Aida handed Kevin back to me, who wrapped his little arms partly around my neck, telling me he thought she was nice, in what few words he knew at his age, and then closed his eyes ready to take a nap. "How often does he sleep?"

"Whenever he can. He's a lot like Jacob in a few of his mannerisms, such as his eating and sleeping habits." Aida laughed.

"Care to elaborate?" I smiled and patted Kevin's head.

"He decides when he's done eating for starters."

"Do you breastfeed?" I nodded.

"Yeah. It just seems appropriate."

"I hear it hurts like hell."

"It does at first. But I've started getting used to it. And if I try to make Kevin stop eating before he's done, he'll start crying and throw a fit, so I just let him eat what he wants. When he's done eating he takes a nap."

"Does he sleep through the night?"

"Usually. Sometimes he wakes up in the middle of the night when something's wrong, but he's asleep when that problem is solved. And I'm working through the day, so he usually sleeps through that."

"If you had to put it in hours, how long do you think he sleeps a day on average?" I thought about it a moment.

"If I had to put it in hours, I'd say he generally sleeps about seventeen or eighteen hours a day give or take. It depends."

"That's one sleepy baby." I smiled.

"I know. He likes sleeping."

"So how old is he now?"

"He's about ten weeks old."

"So two months?" I nodded.

"Yep." She smiled.

"So wasn't your sister in law pregnant too?"

"Yeah, she was. She had Maxi about four weeks ago." Aida smiled.

"Maxi?"

"His full name is Maxwell, but Paul prefers to call him Maxi."

"So are either of you planning on having more kids?" I nodded.

"She definitely is. They want three kids and Rachael wants to get the pregnancies over with, so she wants to have the three of them within the next four or five years."

"You mean she wants three back to back pregnancies?" I nodded.

"That's the gist of it. And Paul's not complaining."

"You're not planning on doing that are you?" I shook my head.

"No way. Having Kevin was excruciating and I still remember how much so it was. I'd like to forget how painful it was before I think of having more kids."

"I doubt all your kids are going to be a kicker like Kevin was."

"That wasn't what I was referring to specifically, but now that you bring it up, that's something I'd rather forget about before getting pregnant again. I was talking about the birthing process itself."

"Oh yeah, that. That sucks balls too. I'm glad I'm never having kids." I shrugged.

"You never know, Aida, you might. I'm not saying you will, but you might."

"Not if I can help it. I don't want kids."

"I know, Aida."

"So does Leah talk to you about Hailey?"

"She talks to Jacob who tells me. Why, did something happen?" Aida shook her head.

"No, nothing's wrong. He's two, walking, talking, and a terrible toddler. Not that Mrs. Stanley would know much about that since she leaves Leah to babysit for her most of the time."

"Isn't that a good thing for Leah?"

"Yeah, but at the same time, she has a job too. She can't keep taking the baby whenever Mrs. Stanley is sick of handling a toddler."

"Well, think of it from her point of view. She shouldn't be having kids now. She should be having grandkids. Which reminds me, have Jessica and Mike had any kids? Mom doesn't really talk to them, so she doesn't know."

"I don't talk to them either. But as far as I know, they have a six month old or something. It's a girl."

"Do you know her name?" Aida shrugged.

"Becky or something, maybe Brenda, or Bianca. It started with a B."

"That's descriptive."

"It's what I know, Nessie. I prefer not to talk to Hailey's illegitimate siblings."

"You're one of his illegitimate siblings."

"I know. But I can't avoid myself, Nessie. That would be paradoxical." I was silent a moment.

"I guess it would be. So Hailey's doing fine?"

"He's a happy toddler if there ever was one. He's happier with Leah than he is with his own family, you'll be happy to know. Although, I'm concerned Hailey won't think of Leah as a lover after being cared for by her the way he is. What if he never thinks of her as anymore than a mother?"

"It's too soon to worry about that. Let's not jinx them." Aida nodded and pulled the chair that was across from me at my desk so it was right next to me and we started catching up on a few more things.

"One more semester and I'll be a registered nurse."

"That's great news. Don't you have class today?"

"It was this morning. I'm done for the day. It's Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays that are my busy days."

"I see. Do you already know what hospital you're going to apply for a job at?" Aida nodded.

"Yep. The college has a program where they help us find jobs and the General hospital in Seattle already accepted me and two other nurses as new employees. And Coralline is doing really good at her job."

"That's good news. So she's doing well?"

"She's doing great. She has this new boyfriend and he's pretty awesome. He's really clean and no tattoos, but he's awesome." I giggled.

"I see cleanliness isn't a trait you hold in high regard."

"It's not that. It's just that when I first met him, he looked like a prick, but he proved me wrong."

"That's a relief. First impressions aren't always right, Aida."

"Yeah, I guess. So now that Kevin's born, does that mean you and Jacob can do the nasty now?" I was wide eyed at Aida a moment. She just smiled and I laughed a little after a moment.

"Yes, though it's none of your business."

"Just remember to use protection again. Nothing gets a woman pregnant faster than, 'I didn't think one time would do any harm'."

"Yes, Aida. Thank you for your concerns. We won't have any kids for a while. I went back on the pill when Kevin was born."

"Are you still bleeding from that?" I shook my head.

"No. I managed to heal from it pretty quickly. Rachael's still bleeding, but it's not bad. It's kind of like having her period. I was bleeding for a few hours after I had Kevin, but I stopped after that."

"That's good news." As Aida and I were talking, Jacob opened the door to my office and walked in, smiling politely at Aida.

"Hey, Aida."

"Hey there, Jacob. How's life?"

"Good. How about you?"

"Awesome. Kevin's adorable. I can tell you're his daddy." Jacob smiled a little and walked over to me, taking Kevin in his arms.

"He's sleeping again, huh?" I nodded.

"Yeah. He fell asleep after Aida held him for a bit."

"That's a shame. I wanted to talk to him a bit." I smiled while Kevin, still sound asleep, rested his head against Jacob's shoulder. Kevin had grown a bit since he was born. He's already gained two pounds and he was a little longer than before. He was growing too fast, and I could already tell. I wanted to savor the time I had before he would end up six foot plus like Jacob.

"That's a pretty cool gift he has, Jacob."

"Yeah it is. I just hope he won't rely on it and take longer to learn how to talk. He can't use this gift with anyone but his family….and you in light of your awareness of the situation." Aida smiled at Jacob's annoyed tone that he added at the end.

"Don't get too mad about that, Jacob. It's not like I told anyone about it. Even Coralline and Zeppelin don't know."

"Good. The last thing we need is the town finding out about us. So hey, Mrs. Stanley doesn't know about Leah and the fusing does she?"

"You mean the wolf thing? No, she doesn't know. You think Leah would trust her with that sort of shit? Please, you guys would be exposed in a second. Hailey accidentally told her once, but she didn't believe him thankfully. He's two, so it wouldn't be beyond him to make things up with that little overactive imagination." Jacob sighed.

"I'll still need to talk to Leah about that. Hailey can't keep saying that to Mrs. Stanley. It won't be long before she starts believing him."

"I doubt it, Jacob. Who takes a toddler seriously these days?"

"It's not his toddler years I'm worried about per se. If he keeps saying it, she's going to wonder why he's making the accusation in the first place. She might not find out our secret, but it could still get Leah in trouble and I don't want to do that to her. She's been through enough in that department as it is, I don't want to set her up for something like that again."

"Don't worry, Jacob. If it makes you feel better, she thinks he might be schizophrenic." Jacob and I both looked at her wide eyed.

"He's schizophrenic?!" Aida held up her hands.

"I said he _**might be**_. And come on, his father is over fifty and his mother is pushing fifty. We're lucky the kid doesn't have Down syndrome."

"What makes you guys think he's schizophrenic?"

"Well, when he talks, he'll sometimes mix up his words, and he often talks to himself and sees things."

"What makes you think he's seeing things?"

"Because he looks around while he's talking to himself."

"Oh come on, he's two. Two year olds act that way."

"Not really."

"He's a two year old, Aida. And Leah never said anything about it or thought about it."

"It's a recent thing." Jacob sighed, then looked at me.

"Do you think Edward could diagnose something like that?" I nodded.

"I don't doubt it. And if he does have schizophrenia, then he'll need meds for it. Schizophrenia's dangerous if it's not treated."

"It can kill a person? I thought it was just a mental disorder." I nodded.

"It's a serious mental disorder. It could be harmless where he just talks different and walks oddly, but worst case scenario, he'll hear and see things that scare him, voices will tell him to do things, he'll suffer extreme paranoia and then you get a kid that comes to school with a sawed off shot gun. That can be avoided with therapy and medication."

"I'll tell Leah to bring him to Carlisle next time she's babysitting him. No one will give you a better diagnosis than Carlisle and Edward."

"That should do. They're planning to take Hailey to a doctor this weekend anyway, but as far as I know, Leah's babysitting him today after work." I smiled.

"That's good news. I guess we'll see her at the house tonight. Does she have patrol tonight?" Jacob shook his head.

"No, she doesn't. She usually goes on patrol on different nights than me."

"Okay, good. Better yet, I'll call her right now." Jacob nodded.

"Yeah, thanks Nessie." Then Jacob looked at Aida. "It was nice seeing you again, Aida."

"Likewise, J-dog." Jacob gave her a weird look, then shrugged and walked over to me and handed Kevin back to me, patting his head before walking out of the office to go back to work. When he was gone, I picked up the phone and dialed Leah's work number. Aida waited silently while I did so. When Leah answered, she sounded businesslike and strong.

"_Johnson and Bowers attorney at Law, this is Leah Clearwater. May I ask who's speaking?"_

"Leah, its Nessie."

"_Nessie? Hey. Is something wrong?"_

"I don't think so, but I think it's only good to be safe. Aida came to visit me today and she told me something about Hailey that concerned me." When Leah spoke, it was in a controlled panic voice.

"_What's wrong with Hailey? What happened?"_

"Nothing happened, Leah, don't worry. It's something that his parents are suspecting that I think you should know about."

"_Okay, and what's that?"_

"According to Aida, Mrs. Stanley thinks Hailey might be schizophrenic."

"It runs in my family so I'm sure that could be part of the reason for her suspicion." I glanced at Aida, but kept listening to Leah.

"_Schizophrenic? What makes her think that?"_

"He talks to himself, she says he's seeing things, he talks in word salads. That's what she told me." Leah was silent a moment as she thought about it.

"_He's a little kid. It's too soon to make such a bold statement."_

"I know. I'm only telling you because it's a serious thing to think. And Aida says that schizophrenia runs in her family, not to mention Mr. Matthews is over fifty, so he's that much more likely to have it. I've never heard of it appearing this young, but it's better to be safe than sorry." Leah was silent a moment again.

"_I didn't know that was even a possibility." _

"Neither did I. I'm calling because Mrs. Stanley wants to take him to a doctor to have him checked for it."

"_There's a way to check it?"_

"Not through blood work or anything if that's what you mean. She'll probably get a diagnosis based on the symptoms. That's why I'm calling you, because since you have him tonight, you could bring him to the Cullen house and have daddy monitor him for a few hours."

"_Edward would know what to look for?"_ I nodded.

"You'll never get a better diagnosis than from someone who can hear everything Hailey's thinking."

"_That's true I suppose. I'll bring Hailey over as soon as I have him."_

"See you then, Leah."

"So Leah doesn't know about this?" Aida shook her head.

"Nope. She probably thought the same thing Jacob did if she saw it. Honestly, I think the same thing. He's a toddler with a big imagination."

"I hope that's all it is." Aida nodded and looked at Kevin again.

Aida ended up staying for about an hour before she needed to leave. She had the night shift at her job today. Jacob had called Leah earlier, letting her know what was suspected and she agreed to take him to daddy and Carlisle as soon as he was with her. When Jacob and I left work that day, we went to the house so we could be there when the diagnosis was made. That and I think everyone wanted to see Kevin. He was adored by everyone. The Denalis and several of our other friends haven't met Kevin yet, but the Denalis were planning to come as soon as possible to see him. Other than that, our immediate family had already seen Kevin, even grandma. She thought it was extremely odd that I was grown already, but she didn't question it too much. As far as she knew, I was still only Edward's niece technically, so she couldn't find anything odd about her twenty seven year old daughter already having a grandchild.

When Jacob and I got there, Carlisle was already home, but Leah and Hailey hadn't arrived yet. It would take them a little time to get to the house since Leah lived further away in Seattle. The longest she'd stayed in Forks since she moved was a week when she was down for Seth's wedding. Although I do think she misses the quality time with her brother, though I'm sure she would never admit to it.

"Did Aida tell you what symptoms he had to make them think this?" Jacob nodded at Carlisle's question.

"She said he talks to himself and sometimes he says he's seeing things no one else does and when he talks, it doesn't always make sense."

"Like a word salad?" Jacob nodded.

"That's what Aida told us." Carlisle sighed.

"He's two, for heaven's sake. Thank you for telling me about this, you two. I'd rather Hailey be properly diagnosed with a problem without having countless medications shoved down his throat."

"What kind of medications would he need if he's actually schizophrenic?"

"It would depend on his symptoms. I'm hoping, if he does have it, that he only has the odd speech impediment. Either way, I would recommend either Stelazin or Trilafon. Both would improve his mood disorders; relieve him of suspiciousness and social awkwardness, paranoia. Either way, he'll need something to treat his speech impediment." We were quiet a moment and Ryan, who had walked in on the conversation, asked the uncomfortable question.

"How bad do you think this could get?" Carlisle sighed.

"Very bad. If he is schizophrenic, he'll need to take his meds, go to therapy, need support from his family, all those things. Especially if one of his symptoms are paranoia or delusions. Schizophrenia can be relatively harmless if the person only suffers from speech impediment and odd walking behavior. It's when they see things, hear things, suffer from paranoia and delusions, is when it gets serious." Jacob groaned.

"So he'll think we're all out to get him or something?"

"That's often the case." In an attempt to lighten the mood marginally, Ryan spoke.

"Hey, at least if he is schizophrenic, at least he'll always love Leah, right?" To my surprise, Carlisle shook his head.

"Unfortunately, some schizophrenics suffer from something called the flat affect. That's when they have a reduced ability to express emotion. He would most likely still love her, he would just be distant, cold, quiet, uncompassionate without even meaning to be, several things. Schizophrenia's a very serious condition, so I desperately hope Hailey doesn't have it, for everyone's sake."

"Is there a lab test you could do to be sure?" Jacob asked. Carlisle shook his head.

"I'm afraid not. I'll have to rely on what Edward tells me is going on in his head. That's how schizophrenia is usually diagnosed. The patient tells us the symptoms and we diagnose them from there."

When Carlisle was done talking, we all heard a car pull up outside and we waited in anticipation of telling Leah what was going on. I wasn't sure what exactly Jacob had told her, so I was extremely anxious about this. Daddy went to the door before she could ring the doorbell and walked her in without a word. When she got in, she was holding Hailey in her arms, who looked like he was sound asleep.

"Jacob told me Hailey might be schizophrenic?" Jacob nodded.

"Aida told me about his family's suspicions and I figured it was better to be safe than sorry."

"And with Edward reading his mind, we can find out if it's actually schizophrenia and not just a toddler being a toddler."

"He's two. When he talks to himself, it's just him playing." Jacob stood up next to Leah.

"How many questionable things have you seen?" Leah thought a moment and shrugged.

"He tells me about things that I can't see and sometimes he mumbles to himself. And he doesn't like Mike. He thinks Mike is trying to steal his toys because he's always trying to play with him." Carlisle sighed, then looked at daddy.

"Do you need him to be awake for this?" Daddy nodded.

"Yeah. And it will be a few hours before I can say for certain."

"That's what I thought." Then Carlisle looked at Leah. "Could you wake him up at all?"

Leah looked reluctant to do so. She just stared at Carlisle a moment, a little nervous. I think she just didn't want to admit there might be a problem. She finally finds the one who one day will be the man she loves more than anything, and then she finds out there might be something seriously wrong with him. I didn't blame her for being defensive. But after staring at Carlisle a moment, she started bouncing Hailey on her shoulder, whispering to him gently. Hailey took a moment to wake up, but when she finally got him up, he was a bit cranky.

"You need to wake up, Hailey."

"Why?" His little voice was thick with sleep and he rested his head back on her shoulder, refusing to wake up. I was surprised how much Hailey had grown in just two years. He was already 3'3" and his brown hair was really thick and his face reminded me a little of Aida. I'd never actually met her dad, but Hailey made it pretty obvious that they looked like Mr. Matthews.

"Mr. Cullen wants to watch you play for a few hours. Do you want to play."

"I'm sleepy."

"I know, Hailey. But it's only for a little while, then you can go back to sleep." Hailey whined a little and rubbed his face in Leah's shoulder. "I promise, Hailey, Mr. Cullen is very nice and lots of fun."

"Nap first." Leah sighed and ran her fingers through Hailey's hair soothingly, then looked at daddy.

"Sorry. He's not usually this stubborn." Daddy shook his head.

"It's alright. He'll be fine after about an hour. Let him nap on your shoulder and he'll be full of energy soon." Leah smiled a little, then looked back at Hailey. She looked worried. I didn't blame her.

Leah took a seat next to me and kept Hailey in her arms, letting him sleep. Kevin was currently wide awake and Esme had taken him to smother him with affection. Kevin never minded that. I think he liked the attention honestly as long as I was around. Momma put Kevin on his stomach to see that he could now lift his head on his own. As happy as I was to know he was growing, it still seemed to be too fast. Even Jacob thought it was too fast.

Leah and I caught up a bit while Hailey took his nap. While we were talking, my head started hurting pretty bad. I was about to ask for some Advil, but daddy beat me to the punch and held a glass of water and two Advil in front of me. I smiled at him and took the pain killers hoping they would work soon. Jacob saw me take the Advil, and he walked over to me and sat next to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.

"You alright, Nessie?" I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a headache." Jacob smiled and kissed my forehead, then looked at Leah and Hailey.

"Do you think he'll wake up soon?"

"He probably will. It's been an hour, so I think he'll wake up soon. I just want Edward to tell me he's fine so I can stop worrying." We were silent a moment, then I spoke again.

"Do you think, if he doesn't have it now, that he'll get it later? Aida said that schizophrenia runs in her family."

"I hope not. I don't want Hailey to go through that. If he does, there's no way I can help him." As she spoke, Leah started getting chocked up and teary eyed. "What if he has paranoia and becomes suspicious of me? What if he never trusts me again?" Jacob shook his head.

"That won't happen, Leah. Hailey relies on you more than anyone else. He already thinks so highly of you." Leah smiled, but she still looked concerned. Schizophrenia's a serious disorder that can be unpredictable. She knew that, as did we all.

Another hour went by before Hailey finally woke up. When he was awake, daddy walked over to him and asked Hailey if he wanted to play with a few of Ryan's old toys. Since he was still a little tired, he was a bit unexcited at first. But once he woke up a bit more and Leah started joining him in his playing, he was enjoying himself like he would, were they his own toys.

Daddy watched Hailey intently while he and Leah played. So far, nothing seemed odd about his behavior. When he was talking, he had a few misused words, but that didn't seem too odd. But it started becoming odd when it was happening repeatedly. At one point, Hailey was looking at the wall blankly, then moved closer to Leah and looked really nervous about something. Daddy spent four hours observing Hailey and his behavior, as did Carlisle.

I ended up falling asleep while they were watching Hailey. I woke up in the morning when Jacob nudged me awake and kissed my forehead. I groaned while I was trying to wake up. I was really tired and didn't want to get out of bed.

"We'd better get to work, Nessie."

"I know, Jacob." I pushed myself out of bed until I was sitting upright and watching Jacob get dressed. "So what did daddy say about Hailey?" Jacob sighed.

"He and Carlisle want to observe Hailey few more times before they come to any conclusion. Edward says that Hailey had different voices in his head and saw something in the corner, but for all we know, that could just be Hailey's active imagination."

"How are daddy and Carlisle going to know otherwise?" Jacob shrugged.

"If it keeps happening and his observations get worse, then they said they would know for sure. And Carlisle's already setting up an appointment with a Psychiatrist so he can get the medication he needs if he does really have the disorder." I sighed.

"He has it doesn't he?" Jacob was silent a moment.

"They want to be sure, but so far, yeah, it looks like it. What's worse is that normally, it takes years for a sufferer to show symptoms. With Hailey, the nasty side effects are already showing up."

"How's Leah taking it?"

"She's worried."

"Did she tell daddy that Hailey was having social problems of any kind?"

"According to Mrs. Stanley, Hailey doesn't get along well with the kids at his preschool. She thought Hailey was just shy, but he's told Leah that he doesn't like them. Whenever she asked him why, he never said more than, 'I just don't'." I sighed.

"Will medication help him socially?"

"Maybe. Time will only tell I suppose." I groaned and looked towards the door.

"Is Kevin still asleep?"

"He's awake. He's waiting for you to feed him." I sighed. "I changed him for you so you wouldn't have to worry about that."

"Thank you, Jacob. I'll feed him when I'm dressed." Jacob smiled and took my hand to pull me out of bed and I walked to the closet to get dressed. I wore a pair of khaki pants and a black t-shirt and walked to Kevin's room.

When he saw me walk in, he reached out to me and was pushing, 'hungry, hungry', in my head for a few seconds.

"I know, sweetie. Mommy's coming." Kevin reached out to me impatiently as I walked to him and he grabbed a hold of my shirt when I had him in my arms and lifted him up out of his crib. I took a seat on the chair near his crib and lifted my shirt and part of my bra so I could feed Kevin.

He latched onto me immediately and took his time with his breakfast. I was beginning to get used to it so it didn't hurt as much when I fed Kevin. Carlisle had suggested that I start trying to introduce different food into his diet. He'd promised to give me some baby food that he thought would be best to feed him and that would be healthiest for him. I wasn't quite ready to stop breast feeding Kevin, though. I liked the bonding that it gave us. It was when Kevin and I had some of our 'conversations'. He was learning words because of them. All that was left was for him to learn how to verbalize them. He was already laughing, which was a good sign.

"How's he doing?"

"He's in a good mood this morning. He addressed you as daddy." Jacob grinned and walked closer.

"Did he really?" I nodded.

"Yes, he did. He wanted to know where you're going every other night." Jacob smiled wider and took a seat next to me on the floor and looked at Kevin, who was still suckling away.

"Well, Kevin, me and a few of the other tribe members turn into large wolves. Its part of being Quileute and a descendant of Taka Aki and his sons. We go out at night to patrol our lands and make sure the village is safe from any dangers." When Jacob had explained, Kevin pushed a question into our minds.

"_Dangers?"_ Kevin was asking two things at once. What did danger mean, and what was out there?

"Danger is something bad. Like a nomad vampire for example is dangerous."

"_Grandpa? Grandma?"_ He was thinking of my side of the family in general, but they were the ones that stood out the most to him. Momma and daddy were wonderful with Kevin. Daddy played the piano for him and momma would tickle him and play with him on the floor or while he was in her lap and she helped him with the object permanence concept by playing peek-a-boo with him.

"Grandma and grandpa are different, Kevin. They're no danger to humans because unlike most vampires, they don't drink human blood. They drink animal blood. But when vampires that aren't family and that are a danger to the tribe wonder in, the pack and I either kill them or chase them away and they never wonder in again."

"_I see?"_ Kevin was asking if he could see Jacob shift. Jacob smiled and patted Kevin's head gently while he suckled.

"I have patrol tonight. You can see then." Kevin smiled, then turned his full attention back to his breakfast. Jacob smiled and looked at me. "You're alright with that?" I nodded.

"Of course I am. It's good for him to know these sorts of things." Jacob smiled and lifted his face to mine to kiss me.

"Thanks for being so understanding."

"Do you think it'll happen to Kevin?" Jacob nodded.

"I wouldn't doubt it, to be honest with you. We believe that the presence of vampires is what triggers the gene in the first place and with your family so close by, threat to us or not, the trigger still applies. He'll probably turn into a wolf when he's old enough, just the same as the others. We'll have a large pack for a very long time, assuming that the Cullens stay here in Forks."

"I suppose by that logic, it's inevitable."

"Would that bother you? He could always give up his wolf." I wasn't sure how to answer him. I honestly didn't know what I felt about the matter.

"I don't know, to tell you the truth. He'd be in danger, and that bothers me. But if he wanted to do that, I wouldn't stop him. Especially when I know you'll be there for him the whole way."

"You know I will be. I would never let anything happen to him." I smiled.

"I know that."

Jacob smiled back at me and reached up to kiss me again. When we kissed, Kevin let go of me and burped a little, letting me know he was done with his breakfast. Jacob took Kevin from me so I could arrange my clothes back in order. I couldn't wait until I was able to wear my pretty bras again. I didn't want to risk ruining them by getting milk on them, so I wore plain bras with little pads on the inside. It did a world of good for my shirts.

Once I was ready, Jacob and I walked downstairs with Kevin and put him in his little carrier and went on our way to the shop. Kevin stayed asleep through most of the work day, waking up only when he was dirty or hungry. Kevin didn't like watching me work. He thought it was boring. So he preferred to sleep until something more interesting happened. At the end of the work day, Jacob and I went to Paul and Rachael's house for dinner. Rachael and I had become pretty good friends when we were pregnant. It gave us something to bond over and we discovered that we actually had a lot in common.

Rachael and I also wanted to make sure that Kevin and Maxi were bonding. The idea of them being close made us feel better and that they would at least have each other as friends when they started preschool in three or four years. But I wasn't really thinking much about school at the moment. I didn't want to think of him growing up too fast. Kevin and Maxi usually just stayed in our arms and would stare at each other for the most part, but that was fine. Kevin was even pushing thoughts into Maxi's head and was teaching him words he learned through the day. Rachael and Paul appreciated the help.

When Jacob and I got home that night, Jacob took me and Kevin outside so we could watch him shift into his wolf. When Kevin saw him do that, he clapped his hands while giggling a sweet child's giggle and that made me smile. Jacob gave him a wolfy grin and nuzzled his cheek with his nose. Then Jacob gently licked my face and I kissed his nose before he went off on patrol for the night. I was looking forward to tomorrow. It was a weekend, so Jacob and I would be able to have some real time together with Kevin. When I got back in and tucked Kevin into bed, I went to my room and called momma.

"_Hey, Nessie. How was your day?"_ I smiled at momma's happy voice.

"It was fine. Kevin got to see Jacob shift into his wolf before he went on patrol today. He enjoyed that." Momma laughed lightly.

"_I'm sure he did." _

Momma and I talked for about an hour about things we'd done for the day and how we were doing. Momma and daddy went hunting today, and that was the extent of what I wanted to know on that subject. They were still in that, couldn't get enough of each other, stage even though they'd been married for seven years now. But I didn't want any details. But then momma brought up part of the reason I'd called in the first place. Hailey.

"So did daddy and Carlisle come to a conclusion about Hailey?" Momma sighed.

"_I'm afraid they've confirmed it. Hailey's schizophrenic and pretty seriously so. He has hallucinations, delusions, he's doesn't get along well with people except Leah, he's got flat syndrome, you name it. He's superficially charming with his mother and constantly lies to her about things, poor behavioral control, he doesn't have any friends at his school, dysphoria, he's really aggressive, he completely disregards all authority figures except for Leah, and he's persistently rude to others. And he has schizoid personality disorder. It's a common thing to come with schizophrenia."_

"What's the difference?"

"_The difference is that schizoid personality disorder is mostly a social disorder. It's coldness, solitary behavior, lack of interest in relationships and secretiveness."_ I groaned.

"How's Leah handling this? Is there anything we can do about it?" Momma sighed.

"_She's devastated. She cried for hours after we told her what was going on. Hailey has an appointment with a psychologist tomorrow, but he won't tell her what she doesn't already know. The only ones finding out anything are the Stanleys."_

"Do you think we should involve Mr. Matthews so he can help with his medical expenses?"

"_As tempting as that is, honey, we can't. It's not technically our business and Mr. Stanley doesn't know about the affair. I don't think Hailey can handle any other form of instability right now."_

"So what, he's not going to help at all? It's his side of the family that's giving Hailey all these problems."

"_I know, honey, but it's still not our business to interfere. It's interfering enough as it is making Edward Hailey's unofficial psychologist. It only makes sense seeing as Edward can read his mind, but Hailey's parents might not see it that way."_

"Daddy makes more sense than anyone else. He would be able to understand Hailey more than anyone and might be able to figure out a way to help Hailey get over this."

"_That's the problem, honey, this isn't something that one can just overcome. Schizophrenia is a really serious disorder. We can treat it with medication, but that's about it. It can't be cured, just treated."_

"You don't think Hailey will get in a lot of trouble do you?"

"_Only time will tell. So far, he hasn't seriously injured anyone or himself, but that could change. We all just need to keep a close watch on him. And maybe Edward will be able to help Hailey overcome a few of his symptoms, but that's still for time to tell. That's something that we'll have to find out after years of therapy and observing."_

"I just don't want to see Leah go through anymore painful things."

"_Neither do any of us honey. We'll do what we can to make sure Hailey's healthy. That's all we can promise to Leah for now."_

It was hard to talk about anything else after a discussion like that, so momma and I called it a night and I went to bed after a shower. I was really worried. I wasn't sure how much more Leah could take. I just hoped daddy would be able to help her and Hailey through this. They both deserved that much. The next morning, Jacob was in bed with me.

"I'm assuming Bella or Edward told you about Hailey?" I nodded.

"Yeah, they did."

"Leah was really upset about it. She can't go with Hailey to the psychologist today, but she's waiting for them to tell her what the doctor said."

"Daddy will do his best to make Hailey alright."

"Leah knows that. It doesn't make this any easier on her though. She wants Hailey to be happy and healthy and she knows that this disorder will make it that much harder for him."

"So basically, we've got a human version of Titus Valerius." Jacob was silent a moment.

"You know, I never thought of it that way. But now that you put it that way, it makes sense."

"More or less. If you ask me, I think Titus has a form of Anti-social disorder, but that's me. It's a little weird that he would hold Nicoleta in such fond regard, but other than how he treats her, he fits the bill. Blatant disregard for authority, emotions and well being of others, cold disposition, superficial charm, the list goes on."

"I thought becoming a vampire would heal a mental disorder." I looked at Jacob.

"Think of Professor Del Toro. Think of Titus Valerius. Think of Dorian." Jacob stiffened when I brought up Dorian. "They had mental disorders without a doubt. Becoming vampires didn't change a thing."

"You have a point I guess. I guess him becoming a vampire would never help anything, not that I'm honestly suggesting that." I shook my head.

"No way, Jacob. Hailey becoming a vampire would be like putting a death sentence on society signed by the Devil himself."

"That's why I wasn't honestly suggesting it."

"I know. Try to never think about that with Leah around. That would probably upset her more."

"It would."

Jacob and I ended up going to my family's house for the day. I wanted to be around when Leah would call to let Carlisle and daddy know what Hailey's doctor said about the situation. We already knew what needed to be done, but the problem was that daddy was trained as a psychiatrist and psychologist, but he wasn't licensed. He'd taken the college courses, but he never went for a license. So daddy or Carlisle wouldn't be able to prescribe Hailey the right type of medication he needed legally.

When we finally did hear from Leah, she was just as upset as ever and told us that Hailey was prescribed the needed medication and would start seeing a psychologist regularly. She still wanted daddy to see Hailey, though. She trusted him more than the man that was assigned to Hailey and thought daddy was much more trustworthy. Jacob and I were silent on the way home with Kevin. Kevin was asleep in the back seat and Jacob and I weren't in the mood to talk. But I got us talking once we were home and Kevin was in bed.

"Let's be grateful this was caught so early." Jacob shrugged.

"I'm not sure how early its caught will have much of an effect on how it's treated."

"You never know, Jacob. At least this way, his teachers will know about it and they'll be able to do their part about taking care of Hailey when Leah can't."

"That's the thing, though. From what I was told, Hailey only trusts Leah. That's good for their relationship, but what about the outside world? Leah can't protect him from everything."

"I know, Jacob. But we need to have a little faith that Hailey will be okay. And I'll talk to Aida and see if she can't get her dad to agree to help out."

"I thought they weren't talking to Aida because of Zeppelin."

"I think that's her mom talking. Her dad strikes me as the type that doesn't really care too much."

"Then why bother asking him for help in the first place?"

"Because Hailey's his son and it's his responsibility to care for him." Jacob sighed and laid down in bed. I walked over and took a spot next to him.

"Let's drop the subject. It's making us both upset." I nodded.

"For now." Jacob looked at me a moment before he grabbed a gentle hold of the back of my neck and pulled me down so he could kiss me.

When Jacob and I made love that night, it was more for the sake of us trying to forget the week and how hectic it had been. I didn't want to think about it anymore and neither did he. We could usually forget about those things when we were in each other's arms. We would have to worry about it again, but at least for now, we could let it go. I didn't end up waking up the next morning until one in the afternoon. I groaned at myself and was grateful that it was Sunday.


	2. Second Time Around

**Second Time Around**

As we feared, the psychologist diagnosed Hailey as schizophrenic. But he was prescribed with a medication that Carlisle would've recommended and Leah brought Hailey to daddy all the time for 'therapy'. Daddy preferred to call it talking. He'd read in Hailey's mind, right off the bat, that he didn't like his therapist. He was suspicious of him and thought he was trying to use him for something. That's what daddy told us anyway. So instead of being Hailey's unofficial therapist, he became someone Hailey could openly talk to and Hailey didn't seem suspicious of daddy for any reason at all.

Jacob and I were relieved that Hailey would be okay and that we wouldn't have to worry about him so much. It was nice to focus on us and Kevin. In February, he was already two and a half months old and he was growing like a weed. He could lift himself up from the floor now and look around whenever he was placed on his tummy. He couldn't sit up yet, but he certainly tried. He was resilient and determined, just like Jacob. He was also stubborn like Jacob too. If Kevin didn't want to do something, there was no telling him otherwise. I wondered how long it would be before I stopped thinking that was cute. Probably when he became a toddler.

Kevin still came to work with me every day. I knew I would have to change that eventually, but I wasn't quite ready to leave him with my parents or Billy all day with only a visit once during my work day to feed him. I knew momma and daddy would be thrilled to death to watch Kevin and Billy assured me and Jacob that Kevin was always welcomed. But I wasn't ready just yet to give him up to work. To my surprise, Jacob agreed. He wanted me to be with Kevin. He thought it was better for bonding and that it was a good idea for him to be close by to Kevin too, just in case.

"Mrs. Black, we have another order in." I looked up from my paperwork and saw Steven walk in with a large box and I helped him put it on my desk.

"Do you know what it is?"

"I think its cylinders. One of the guys whose car's in the shop specially ordered them. He wants to make his car faster." I smiled.

"Thanks, Steven. I'll take care of this from here."

"Sure thing, Mrs. Black." Steven left me with the box and went back to his desk out front. I cut open the box and pulled out two cylinders. I documented the arrival, then walked out to the garage where Jacob was working.

"Jacob, two cylinders came for you." Jacob looked up at me from what he was doing with his head under the hood and smiled.

"Good. I was beginning to think those would never get here."

"When did you order them?"

"Last month. Remember, you saved the paperwork from the order?" I thought a moment, then sighed.

"I guess I did. I forgot all about it." Jacob laughed a little without humor.

"That just goes to show how late these cylinders are getting here. Thanks baby." I smiled.

"You're welcome. Is there anything else you need since I'm out here?" Jacob shook his head.

"Not at all. If I need something, I'll boss them around." Jacob pointed at the other guys in the garage and they all laughed and waved at me. Brian gave Jacob a mean look.

"It's not enough that he orders me around at our night job, now he has to order me around at our day job." I laughed a little at Brian's joke and Jacob looked at him sternly, but humored.

"Get back to work, Brian." Brian smirked evilly, then saluted Jacob before getting back to the oil change he was getting ready to do. "Speaking of babies, how's ours doing?" I smiled.

"Sleeping. Sleeping away." Jacob smiled.

"I wish I could sleep like he does."

"We all do Jacob." I closed the distance and kissed Jacob's cheek. "Since I've done what I came here to do, I'll let you get back to work yourself." Jacob smiled at kissed me before I walked away to go back to my office.

When I got back, Kevin was still sound asleep, so I went back to work, not wanting to bother him. He woke up around noon wanting his lunch, so I fed him while trying to get a little more work done. Kevin didn't seem to mind at all. When he was done, I patted his back a bit and held him in my arms a little longer. He looked so much like Jacob. He used to look like a twist between daddy and Jacob, but now Jacob's features were more prominent. He just had green eyes and dark brown hair. I wondered if his hair would turn black with time, since his hair used to be reddish brown and now it was a dark brown. But as long as his eyes stayed green, that was good enough.

When Jacob and I got home that night, I kept Kevin with us downstairs while Jacob watched a basketball game with me sitting next to him. It wasn't long before it was dinner time, so I made Jacob hold Kevin, then went to the kitchen to make Jacob some stake and make Kevin some peas. He hated peas I knew, but they were good for him so I made him eat them whenever I could. And I mashed up some potato for him so I could hide the peas. He liked potatoes, so he would eat that. When I finished making dinner, I called Jacob to the kitchen and he brought in Kevin and handed him to me so I could feed him.

"You're going to try and feed him peas again?" Jacob asked with humor in his voice. I sighed.

"Shut up. I'll get him to eat his vegetables, even if it kills me." Jacob laughed a little more and didn't say anything else while he started his dinner. Kevin started trying to get to Jacob when he started. I held Kevin back, and Jacob looked up to look at Kevin.

"What?" Kevin reached a little more and Jacob pulled his plate away a bit. "No. This is mine. You have your own dinner." Then Kevin pushed his thoughts in both our minds.

"_Peas. Yucky. Daddy's food want."_ Jacob chuckled and shook his head.

"Eat what your mother made you, Kevin." Kevin attempted to shake his head, not doing very well.

"_Peas yucky. Food daddy has want."_ I was fighting a laugh now. Kevin was learning really fast, but his grammar was atrocious in a way that only a baby could do.

"It's my food. And you got potatoes. You like potatoes." Kevin made a face. I think he was trying to make it look like he was mad, but it kind of looked like he was squinting.

"He doesn't like the peas in it." I sighed through my giggle and Jacob looked at Kevin a few more moments. Finally, he sighed, took his spoon from me, and took a little of his potato and gave it to me so I could feed it to him.

"That's just potato. Happy?" Kevin didn't answer. He fell so he would land in my arms the way he had been and waited for me to give it to him. Once I did, he looked happy. Then he asked for more and I just gave him a look.

He kept being difficult, but I did finally get Kevin to eat his dinner. I told him it would be done with sooner if he just ate without complaint, so I he did as I said and ate his food begrudgingly. As begrudgingly as a two month old could manage anyway. When Jacob was done eating, he went to the garage with Kevin to show him a few things. It was a little funny how Jacob was already teaching him about cars. He already decided that his old Rabbit was Kevin's. All he needed was to grow a few feet and learn how to drive.

Since Jacob had Kevin, I went upstairs to take a much needed shower and relax. I never realized, before I had Kevin, how much work really went into having a baby. It was exhausting. Especially when Kevin would attempt to make funny comments, but had no way of wording it or saying it. He would usually put images in our head of what he was trying to say when he didn't know the word and it would end up losing its humor because it turned into a word problem. But regardless of that, I encouraged him and would try to help him and tell him the word to what he was trying to say. He was a fast learner, so he generally remembered words I'd told him, with a few exceptions.

When I got into the shower, I turned it to the hottest it could get and sighed in contentment when the water hit me. Once I'd had that moment, I reached for my shampoo and lathered a small palm full into my hair, scrubbing thoroughly. Sometimes it feels like I don't have time for anything anymore, so this was a nice treat to have a nice long shower. I finished my shower when the water started getting too cold. The sudden coolness of the water gave me a headache, so I needed to get out anyway. I went to the sink to do the other things I needed to do, but the bright light was hurting my eyes and I needed to turn off the lights before I could do anything. I couldn't remember the last time I'd gotten a migraine, so that was really odd. I finished up as fast as I could in the dark and nearly shrieked when I opened the bathroom door and saw Jacob standing there.

"Are you alright?" I nodded.

"Yeah, fine. You just took me by surprise was all." Jacob nodded awkwardly before speaking again.

"Why were you in there in the dark?"

"I got a migraine while I was taking a shower. The lights were bothering me. Is Kevin ready for bed?" Jacob nodded, still looking concerned.

"Yeah, he's sound asleep." I smiled a little.

"Good. I'll go to bed too then. You have patrol tonight, right?" Jacob nodded.

"Yeah."

"Okay. I'll see you in the morning, then."

"Is it almost that time of the month again? You seem a little out of it."

"It probably is. I'm sure a good night sleep is all I need." Jacob looked at me a moment, then hugged me without knowing what else to do.

"Good night, then. I love you."

"I love you too." Jacob held me a little longer and carried me to bed before kissing me quickly and leaving out the window to go on patrol. I was asleep minutes after he left. I woke up when I heard Kevin crying. I looked at the clock, flashing 2:45. I groaned to myself and forced myself out of bed. It was a moment that I wished Jacob was home. If he were, he'd be attending to Kevin right now.

When I got to Kevin's room and was standing by his crib, he stopped crying and reached out to me. I lifted him into my arms and took him to the changing table to change and clean him. When he was clean, I walked him over to his crib and was about to put him back in. But when I started lowering him into his crib, he started screaming tears. I lifted him back up, and he stopped crying the minute I was standing straight again. I sighed in aggravation, realizing he wanted to be cuddled for a while. Normally, I wouldn't mind at all, but in this case, I was too tired to be really affectionate.

I took Kevin with me to my room and sat down in bed with Kevin in my arms. I sat up so I could hold him a little more easily and cuddled and rocked him, trying to put him to sleep. Kevin closed his eyes soon enough, but it was a while before he finally fell asleep. When he was asleep, I put him on the bed right next to me and fell asleep myself. When I woke up that morning, it was to Jacob kissing my lips. I opened my eyes and saw that Kevin wasn't next to me anymore.

"Where's Kevin?" Jacob smiled.

"He's in his room. I changed him and put him back in his crib, so he's ready to be fed whenever you are." I sighed.

"Alright. I'll feed him right now. Put out a white sweater and some khaki pants out for me while I'm gone."

"Sure Nessie. Do you want me to lay out some shoes for you?" I giggled a little.

"Sure, go for it. I'm curious to see what you'll give me."

"I'm ashamed to say that it'll probably be something you would've picked." I kept smiling and kissed Jacob while I got up from the bed and walked to Kevin's room.

As Jacob said he would be, Kevin was in his crib tucked in waiting for me to feed him. He was reaching for me the moment he saw me and I started feeding him when I was sitting in the little chair. Kevin took his time this morning. He was really hungry this morning for whatever reason, but I let him take his time. When he was finally done, I got my bra and shirt back on and carried him with me to the room and handed him to Jacob.

"That took a while." I nodded.

"He was really hungry this morning." Jacob smiled and looked at Kevin.

"You're getting my appetite, that's for sure." I laughed without humor.

"He already does, Jacob. Is that appetite something that runs in the family?" Jacob smiled.

"Of course. You've seen me and the pack eat."

"Yes, I have. And let me just say, ew." Jacob smiled and was silent a moment.

"Bad mood today?"

"You need ask? Kevin woke me up at two in the morning just to cuddle him."

"He's a baby, Nessie. You can't be mad at him for that."

"I never said I was mad at him. I just said I was mad. I'm tired and I have a headache this morning and I'm feeling nauseous."

"Would you rather stay home today?" I shook my head and grabbed the clothes Jacob laid out for me. I was proud of him for choosing beige boots, but it didn't lighten my mood by much.

"No, that's fine. I'm probably just tired. I'll be fine by later today."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes Jacob I'm sure." Jacob heard the unintentional tone in my voice and backed off after that. Aside for being tired, there was no real rhyme or reason behind why I was acting the way I was. I was just irritable this morning.

When we got to the shop, I went straight to my office with Kevin and started working. Kevin took the opportunity to take a nap. While I was working, I was forcing myself to stay awake, but the drowsiness was making my day miserable. And my headache from the morning wouldn't stop, even after three Advil. It got to the point where I couldn't stand to stay awake anymore and I rested my head on my desk and let myself take a nap with Kevin. As soon as my eyes closed to nap, I felt someone nudging me and I looked up and saw Steven looking at me with concern.

"Are you alright, Mrs. Black?" I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just needed to rest my eyes is all."

"Do you want me to get Mr. Black?" I shook my head.

"No, don't worry about it, I'm fine. Did you need something?" Steven looked reluctant to change the subject, but he did as I asked.

"Well, there's someone here for a consultation on what alterations they want done to their car, but Mr. Black is in the middle of something and he asked me to get you to talk to them for the first few minutes. He said he'd be out in ten minutes." Then Steven glanced at the clock. "Well, eight minutes now." I sighed.

"Alright, I'll talk to them. Could you look after Kevin, please? I don't want whoever's out there to get the wrong first impression."

"Sure thing, Mrs. Black."

"Thanks Steven." While Steven walked over to Kevin, I stood up, feeling dizzy for a moment, but managing to walk to the front with a welcoming smile.

We didn't get much done aside from them telling me what alterations they wanted to make to their car. Evidently, their daughter was turning sixteen and was getting her license on Monday and they wanted to give her a new car as her birthday gift. Jacob came just in time to save me from having to explain the mechanics of what he'd be doing. I could tell them how much it would cost, but I lost all usefulness there.

When Jacob had it under control, I went back to my office where Steven still was with Kevin. I took Kevin from him and he smiled while he walked out to go back to his desk outside shutting the door on his way out. It was time to feed Kevin his lunch. That means I'd been asleep for a good two hours. I groaned, already sensing the pattern I was beginning to fall under. I decided I needed to go to the Walgreens down the street and get a pregnancy test. The sooner I knew what was actually going on, the better prepared I would be to explain to Jacob why I was being so irritable and falling asleep on the job.

When I was done feeding Kevin, I held him in my arms and brought my purse with me. I told Steven to tell Jacob I was going to the Walgreens to pick up some pens and walked out. It was just down the street, so I could walk there easily enough and Kevin could hold up his head, so holding him instead of using his carrier wouldn't be a problem either. When I got to the Walgreens, I went straight to the section where I saw condoms. It only seemed plausible that a pregnancy test would be with something of that nature. It wasn't long before I found a test. Kevin was looking at them with me and looked at me with curiosity in his eyes.

"_What things?"_ Kevin pushed the letters on the box in my head.

"Those are letters, Kevin. We use them as nonverbal communication." I could tell Kevin had no idea what I was talking about. But he didn't seem to care enough to ask more questions.

Before going to the register, I grabbed a few pencils and pens to buy so I wouldn't be completely lying. I paid for what I'd picked up and made sure the cashier gave me a bag. I was relieved it was a person I didn't know. I used to bag to hide what was really in there and went straight to my office, saying little more than a hello to Steven. When I sat down and Kevin was back in his carrier, he was finally a little worried.

"_Thing not good?"_ Kevin was trying to ask me if something was wrong. I smiled at his attempt and shook my head while gently touching his little cheek.

"_Nothing's wrong at all, Kevin. Mommy might be pregnant is all and she's worried that it might be a little more than she can handle right now."_

"_What Pregnant?"_ I sighed and tried to think of how to explain it in a way that Kevin could easily understand.

"_It's when mommies have a little person growing inside their womb. Just like when you used to be growing inside me."_ Kevin didn't remember that I knew. He had a short memory span right now. That's why I repeated words to him so much.

"_That bad?"_ I shook my head.

"_No, Kevin, it's not bad at all. If mommy's pregnant, that means you'll have a little brother or sister."_

"_What brother, sister?"_ I sighed again, thinking of how to explain this.

"_It's a person with the same mommy and daddy as you."_

"_Maxi brother?"_

"_No, no, Maxi's not your brother. He's your cousin. His mommy is your daddy's sister. Any brothers and sisters Maxi has will be your cousins."_ I could tell Kevin didn't really know what I was talking about. The concept of a family tree was a little more complicated than a two and a half month old could understand. Almost three months old. I sighed at the realization of how time flew.

Losing interest in such tedious things, as he put it, Kevin closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep for his nap. While Kevin was asleep, I took out the pregnancy test and hid it in my sleeve and walked to the bathroom. Once I was alone, I locked the door so no one could accidently walk in on me and took the test. I rested it on some toilet paper on the sink and waited for it to tell me pregnant or not pregnant. I tried not looking at it. That would've just been more nerve wracking.

I went to the other side of the room so I wouldn't look at it and closed my eyes. I waited the needed five minutes for the test to give me an answer and I sighed and rubbed my face when it said positive. It wasn't that I didn't want more kids, I was just hoping for a little more time before I would have to have another one. I wondered what Jacob would think about all this. Knowing him, he'd be convinced that this pregnancy would be as bad as the first one and he'd be worrying too much before there was anything to worry about. I hoped this pregnancy would be different. I was certain it would be. Kevin was an active kicker, so maybe this baby wouldn't be. Being sure to hide the test is a roll of toilet paper, I walked back to my office and placed it in front of me on my desk when I sat down.

The more the idea settled on me, the less it bothered me to be pregnant again. I was still a little unhappy with how soon it happened, but I loved Kevin and would love all my other children no matter what. Sure, it would be hard, but that was okay. That of course didn't undermine the fact that I was really nervous about the whole thing. I had no idea how I would raise two babies at once. At least they weren't twins. After experiencing the handful that is Kevin, I couldn't imagine having two of him. I just hoped the next baby would be milder tempered while inside me. I had been so lost in thought that I didn't even hear the door open. I didn't realize anyone was there until I felt someone's large hands on my shoulders. It made me jump and I turned to look at Jacob.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay. I was lost in thought." I noticed that Jacob looked serious. Then he kneeled before me and took both my hands in his. "What?" Jacob sighed.

"You know what." Then Jacob smiled. "So was it positive?" I looked at him surprised for a moment before I could answer him.

"How did you know I'd bought a pregnancy test?" Jacob smiled and kissed my hand.

"I saw the box in the bathroom. And I saw it on your desk while I was walking in. So was it positive?" I finally smiled and nodded back.

"Yeah, it was." Jacob took a hold of Kevin, then stood, grabbing a hold of me and pulling me up with him in his arms and kissed me.

"Do you know how long it's been?"

"My guess would be last month. When Kevin had just reached two months."

"So a month?" I nodded and Jacob kissed me again. "I promise to help out."

"You already do, Jacob. But that extra bit of help would be fantastic." Jacob chuckled and looked at Kevin, who was awake and looking at us both, wondering what was going on.

"Looks like you're going to have a baby sibling."

"_Mommy punch beat you."_ Jacob looked at Kevin a little stunned and then looked at me when I started laughing.

"What did he say?"

"I think he's trying to say that I beat you to the punch." Knowing what Kevin was trying to say, Jacob laughed a little and kissed Kevin's little forehead, then kissed me.

"That's a lot better than what I thought he said. So are you planning on calling Carlisle and letting him know he'll have to start seeing you again?"

"I will, Jacob. I only just found out about it."

"We'll tell him and the others tonight. I'm sure they would be more than happy to have a visit from us." I nodded in agreement, then Jacob's smile faded ever so slightly.

"What's wrong?" Jacob breathed out through his nose. Then he looked at Kevin a moment before looking back at me.

"I'll have to keep my distance again for a while won't I?" I didn't give a negative response right away. I knew I couldn't guarantee that this time would be easier, but I was hoping.

"Let's not assume that so soon. Just because Kevin was difficult doesn't mean this baby will be. So don't make any assumptions until I say so." Jacob smiled again and tightened his hold on me for a moment.

"If you say so Nessie. So do you still like Kyle and Natalie as our name options?" I nodded.

"Indeed I do. I think Kevin could use a little sister." Jacob smiled and kissed my nose.

"We'll see about that. He might pick on her the way my sisters used to pick on me." I shook my head.

"Not our children. Our children will get along really well and look out for each other the way siblings should." Jacob started laughing and he rested his forehead against mine while I waited out the laugh. When he was finally done, he took a deep breath and looked at me with a humored smile.

"Ah you of so little, single child, knowledge."

"I know plenty. I've seen how Ryan and Valerie are together and they're like two peas in a pod those two, thick as thieves."

"Yes, and they also do nothing but argue. That's it. It used to be over just about anything, now Ryan has that stupid cat to concentrate his arguments on."

"That has nothing to do with it. Ryan just happens to not like cats."

"He hates cats because Emmett hates cats, simple as that. And those two argue all the time because that's what siblings do."

"Armando and Octavia never argue."

"Armando can never get a word in edge wise to do so."

"He does sometimes."

"When? He barely said a word whenever he visits us. He got fed up with monopoly once, but that's about it."

"There were other times. He's a man of little words."

"He's a man now?"

"Of course he is. He's what, seven now?"

"Seven years old is a man?"

"It is for half breeds, Jacob. I'm only nine and I'm married with a son and another baby on the way." Jacob chuckled and sighed.

"Fine, I get your point."

"And you're a twenty seven year old married to a nine year old. Don't you think that's a bit creepy darling?" Jacob laughed a little and kissed the tip of my nose.

"Shut up, Nessie." I giggled and Kevin smiled and patted my face and telling me, 'bad'. It made me laugh a little harder and Jacob silenced me with a kiss.

"_Icky. Stop doing. It gross mommy daddy doing."_ Jacob and I stopped kissing when we started laughing at Kevin's attempts of telling us to stop.

Jacob needed to get back to work anyway, so he put me back on my feet and kissed me before walking out of my office to the garage. I put Kevin back in his little carrier so he could take a nap that I knew he wanted. When Kevin was sound asleep, I got back to some paperwork and filled out a few order forms. I figured that, since Jacob now knew about me being pregnant, it would be a good idea to call the Cullen house and tell them about the imminent arrival of another grandchild. I continued to work while I heard the phone ring twice before someone picked it up. Valerie was the one that answered.

"_Cullen residence."_ I smiled. Valerie was getting so big and her voice had changed so much. Emmett and Rosalie were talking about sending her and Ryan to school this fall. They looked so grown up now.

"It's Nessie. Is daddy there?"

"_Uncle Edward? Yeah he's here."_ As soon as she said that, I heard the phone move and daddy answered the phone.

"_Hey, honey. It's a pleasure to hear from you at this hour. What's the occasion?" _ I giggled a little at his comment. I hardly ever called. I preferred to visit them in person seeing as we lived so close to them. I never really saw a need for calling when I could just drop in and talk to them. But this was actually an occasion.

"Well, daddy, there's actually some news I want to tell you. And I'm planning to call Carlisle about it after I'm done talking to you." Daddy chuckled.

"_Why can't a woman ever just say, 'Guess what, I'm pregnant', without having to give a huge back story to it?"_

"How do you know I'm pregnant?"

"_I didn't. But now I do. Congratulations, honey. It's a little soon, though, to be having another baby after just having one already wouldn't you say?"_

"Indeed I would say. But I misjudged the timing of my intake of birth control and so I ended up pregnant. And I'm loving the idea more and more as minutes pass." Daddy chuckled again.

"_That's good to hear. You're having a baby whether you're happy about it or not, so at least you're happy."_ I nodded.

"Indeed. So did everyone hear me or do you need to tell them?"

"_They heard you. You're on speakerphone. Rosalie heard pregnant, so she told me to put you on."_ I smiled and then heard Rosalie in the background.

"_Congratulations Renesmee."_ Then Alice.

"_I can't wait to start looking for baby clothes again. That was so much fun. I hope you have a little girl this time so I can buy a whole bunch of little dresses."_ Then Esme was giggling sweetly.

"_I know a spare bedroom that's just dying to be painted yellow."_ I smiled a little wider, picturing the room next to Kevin's being painted yellow. Then momma finally had her time to speak.

"_Did you find out today?"_

"Yeah, it was today. I saw a few signs that I might be pregnant that I had before. Grogginess being one of them." Emmett laughed.

"_I'm not sure grogginess really covers it."_ There was a collective, breathy laugh and I just smiled.

"Whatever word one would use to describe me falling asleep all the time, then." Emmett laughed with Jasper trying not to laugh in the background. I could feel Rosalie giving Emmett a stern look, but she didn't say anything.

"_Don't worry about calling Carlisle, sweetheart. I'll call him and let him know he needs to come home as early as possible. I'm assuming you and Jacob are coming over to visit after work?" _I smiled at Esme's cheery voice and nodded.

"Yeah, we are. And thanks a lot Grandma."

"_You're welcome dear."_ We said our pleasantries, then we hung up after saying we'd all see each other soon.

I glanced back at Kevin and he was still sound asleep, just as I thought he would be. He'd started snoring a short time ago. No doubt something he got from Jacob. Kevin was almost too much like Jacob at times, but he was still perfect to me. It wasn't a horrible snoring like Jacob's snoring problem had been. To this day, I'm thrilled Carlisle gave Jacob some meds for that. It made his breathing easier and I could sleep better. Everybody wins. Kevin's snoring was more like a gentle humming from a bee.

At the end of the work day, Jacob walked into my office with a smile on his face and we walked out to the car together after Jacob locked up the shop and we made our way to my family's house. Carlisle was there when we arrived and I was getting hugs from everyone congratulating me for my pregnancy. I couldn't wait to tell Rachael about it. I think she would get a kick out of the humor of the situation. And she and Paul were already trying for another baby, so we'd be pregnant together again. After a few hugs, Carlisle took me and Jacob upstairs to his office and got a few things to check my health.

"A new baby on the way already, Renesmee. I thought you and Jacob were planning to wait."

"We were. But you know how things are sometimes. Unexpected things happen and this is one of those things." Carlisle smiled.

"I know all too well." I knew there was something that was bothering Jacob and he decided to voice that to Carlisle.

"Do you think this baby will be as rough as Kevin was?" Carlisle shrugged.

"You never know. I doubt it, but I wouldn't bank on that assumption. But don't worry, Jacob, every child is different."

"You sure?" Carlisle looked at Jacob oddly.

"Jacob, I've been a doctor for over four hundred years. I think I know what I'm talking about by now." I smiled and glanced at Jacob, who was trying not to laugh at Carlisle's joke. When Carlisle was done, he smiled.

"What can you tell so far, Grandpa?" Carlisle smiled a little more and looked at me and Jacob directly.

"The baby's doing great. It has a fast heartbeat as it should and you're in good condition yourself. I think you and the baby will be just fine."

"Thank you Carlisle. Does this mean will be seeing each other once a week again?"

"Yes, it does. Every Friday or Saturday, depending, we'll come up here and I'll see how you're doing." Alice, who'd snuck in a few moments ago with a big smile on her face, stood next to Carlisle and asked her question.

"How long before we'll know the gender? I want to get shopping right away."

"We'll be able to see the sex when Nessie's four months along. Don't worry, Alice, you'll be the first to know." Alice smiled even wider and did a small little dance, then danced her way downstairs.

"Why do I get the feeling she's more excited about the baby than we are?" Carlisle laughed a little.

"It's not necessarily that she's more excited about it than you and Nessie. She's just excited because she may have a new doll to cloth coming along. She'll be thrilled if you two have a girl. She adores Kevin, but to her, dressing up a baby boy isn't quite as fun as dressing up a baby girl."

"I know, grandpa. I'll admit that the variety is a lot more entertaining for a baby girl than for a boy." Jacob sighed.

"Nessie, these are our children, not dolls."

"Jacob, the time I'll have to dress them up will be really short. Mothers like to take advantage of the time while we can." Jacob shrugged.

"Whatever, Nessie." I smiled and Jacob didn't complain any further about it. While Carlisle had been examining me, Esme had started cooking and the smell filled the room by the time Carlisle was done. "What's Esme making?" Carlisle took a moment to analyze the smell.

"I believe that's pork, lemons, capers, and some pasta." I grinned when I heard capers and Jacob grinned at the meal in general.

"Sounds great right about now."

Jacob was eager to get downstairs, so he was a little hasty while we were walking downstairs to the kitchen. Just about everyone was in the living room watching a game. Momma and daddy were out doing something for the night and Valerie and Ryan were sitting in the music room playing monopoly. I could tell Ryan was winning. Valerie had this look of frustration on her face that just showed how badly she was losing. This was the reason I never played monopoly. It was an infuriating game, especially when you were losing. And Ryan looked pleased with the pile of fake money at his feet. I walked over to the music room while Jacob went to the kitchen.

"So who's winning?" They both looked at me and I could see the answers in Ryan's grin and Valerie's sneer.

"Me. I own most of the boardwalk."

"You're cheating, Ryan."

"I am not. I'm just more lucky this time."

"You're cheating." I smiled and walked away while the two of them continued to argue amongst each other. I doubted they would even finish the game with how frustrated Valerie was getting. Even petting Marlboro, who was napping in her arms, wasn't making her feel better.

Jacob and I left to go back home when he was done with dinner, being sure to thank Esme. Kevin was wide awake when we left, but wasn't trying to talk to me during the car ride. It was one of the few times that he was actually awake for a car ride and he liked watching the scenery change while we drove. When we got back, Jacob and I walked upstairs with Kevin in his carrier. Then we took him downstairs to the kitchen sink so I could give him his bath.

"So how're you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Jacob. Just a little tired."

"Do you want me to take care of Kevin?" I shook my head.

"It's alright. It's almost eight, so I'll tuck Kevin in for bed after this. He's probably getting tired." I looked at Kevin. "Aren't you, sweetie?" Kevin smiled at my loving tone.

"_I tired a lot." _ I giggled and rubbed Kevin's back. I couldn't wait until he started talking and walking. It would be so cute to watch him learn how.

"Do you think he'll go right into pronouncing words or will he start with vowels?"

"Probably vowels. But once he has those down, watch out, he'll be talking like a toddler." Jacob and I laughed while he hugged me from behind and rested his chin on my head and watched me clean Kevin.

"He looks so much like you, Nessie." I shook my head.

"You're nuts, Jacob. He looks like you."

"He has enough of you that he's a cute kid." I giggled.

"My daddy's eyes? That's about all he has except my ears and nose. And a little of my hair's tint so his hair's brown." Jacob smiled and kissed my neck.

I grabbed the towel and Jacob drained the water for me while I pulled Kevin out of the sink and started drying him off. When he was dry, he rested his head on my shoulder and was about to fall asleep on me. Jacob and I walked upstairs together with Kevin and I dressed Kevin his little footy pajamas and placed him in his crib. I kissed his little forehead and Jacob and I went back to our room together and went to the bathroom to take a shower together. But it figures, the moment Jacob and I began to kiss, I became so tired I was dizzy. I lost my footing a moment and Jacob caught me before my feet could even lose their place of the floor.

"Nessie, what's wrong?" I smiled and tried lifting myself up a little, wanting to calm the panic I heard in his voice.

"I'm fine, Jacob, it's just me getting tired. It came on me suddenly is all."

"I'll take you to bed." I shook my head.

"But I'm not clean yet. Just let me wash off and I'll go to bed, please." I gave Jacob my sweetest eyes and he eventually agreed, though it was reluctant. He refused to take his hands away so as to hold me up, but that didn't bother me so much.

When I was clean, Jacob turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around me before lifting me up into his arms. Jacob gave me a kiss and I was asleep shortly after that. When I woke up, Jacob was lying next to me in bed and was sound asleep. I glanced over my shoulder to look at the clock and groaned. The clock said four fifty in the morning. This was definitely a part of pregnancy that I wouldn't get away from. I didn't want to wake up Jacob, so I stayed in bed staring at the ceiling. After a few minutes, I managed to fall asleep again.

I didn't wake up again until late in the morning. It was almost noon when I woke up and Jacob wasn't in bed with me anymore. That aggravated me just a little because Jacob didn't wake me up to go to work. I got up and walked to Kevin's room and saw that he wasn't in his crib. I had a moment of panic and ran downstairs to see if he was downstairs, but he wasn't. Then I saw a note on the fridge from Jacob telling me that Kevin was with Billy and my parents. That made me feel a little better. The note said they were all at Billy's house, so I could call him if I needed to.

"_Hello?"_ I smiled when Billy picked up the phone.

"Hey, Billy. It's Nessie. Is Kevin with you?"

"_Yeah, he is. Jacob didn't want to leave him alone, so he dropped him off here. He said you overslept or something."_

"Sort of. I woke up at four, then I fell back asleep and didn't wake up until now. So Jacob's at work?"

"_Yep, he's at work."_ I sighed.

"Thanks for telling me, Billy. So how's Kevin doing?"

"_He was really fussy this morning when you stayed home and he's been that way most of the morning. He's asleep now, but once he wakes up, he'll probably be in that same mood."_

"I'll come over and get him." There was a few moving sounds in the background and when I heard someone talk, it was daddy.

"_No, Nessie, you stay at home. Your mother and I will bring Kevin home and we'll stay and help you out alright."_

"Daddy, that's not necessary."

"_Just think of it as momma and I being there just in case you fall asleep and Kevin needs attention."_ I sighed.

"Alright, if you put it that way, I guess that would be the better idea."

"_We'll be over in a few minutes, Nessie."_

Once we said goodbye, we both hung up and I went to the living room and played the piano a little while I waited. I hadn't played the piano in a while. I didn't realize how long it'd been until I sat down and started playing. It took me a moment to remember how to play my lullaby, but once I remembered, I played as if I'd never forgotten. It took momma and daddy less than a minute to get to the house and they walked in, knowing I was awake. When they turned the corner, Kevin looked at me and reached out to me, pushing his incomprehensible complaints into my head while I walked over to him and took him in my arms.

"I hope he wasn't too bad." Momma shook her head.

"He just missed you is all." When he was in my arms, Kevin rested his head against my shoulder and went to sleep again. The site made me laugh a little to myself.

Once I had Kevin, we all went to the couch and sat down together while daddy turned the TV on and changed it to the game that Billy had been watching. Billy kept most of his attention on the game, but he would glance at Kevin from time to time and rub his cheek with his finger. Kevin would whimper in minimal acknowledgement like he normally would, but never opened his eyes to look at anyone. He just slept the afternoon away. Occasionally, Billy would laugh a moment when he looked at Kevin. After he'd done that a few times and I'd heard daddy laugh a little to himself in response to Billy's thoughts, I finally decided I wanted in on the joke.

"What's so funny?" Billy looked at me from the game, then he looked at Kevin and smiled again.

"He just reminds me of Jacob is all. He makes me think of Jacob when he was this young." I looked at Kevin's sleeping face and smiled.

"He looks so much like him."

"Not as much as you give him credit for I'm afraid, but he does look a little like Jacob."

"Why would that make you laugh, though?" Billy smiled.

"Because looking at Kevin reminds me what Jacob was like when he was little. I loved that boy to death, but he was a thorn in my side at times."

"I know, Billy, I've heard of his many shenanigans." Billy chuckled and shook his head.

"You haven't heard about all of them, Nessie. Has he ever told you about the bike he stole?"

"You mean when he skipped school with a few of the guys and stole Sam's dad's bike or something?" Billy laughed.

"Ah yes, that. He was forever known as the son of a bitch that stole my bike by Sam's dad. He was pissed about that."

"I would assume so." I looked at Kevin again to see if he was awake. His eyes were open, but he looked like he wasn't really paying much attention.

"And you know about the dead rabbit story." I nodded.

"I know about the time he was dared to by beer and condoms and grandpa had to arrest him for it. I know about him gluing one of the hall monitor's hands to the floor. I know about the underwear in meat with prank on John as well as the time he shot a bee hive to attack John. I know about the tree falling on the garage." Billy fought more laughter.

"I guess you do know just about everything. And you know about the story where he was attacked by gnats am I right?" I nodded.

"Yeah, I do. You told us that one at the wedding."

"I'm sure I did."

"Is there anything else that I don't know about?" Billy shook his head.

"He did destroy his Speak and Spell that his grandmother gave him."

"Actually, that was Seth's fault. He thought it was evil, so he destroyed it with a baseball bat." Billy looked at me a little surprised, but then laughed.

"That's a detail I never heard about." I smiled and looked at Kevin again. Then that memory reminded me of something. I was about to bring it up, but daddy patted my shoulder and shook his head, telling me to hold my tongue.

"Billy, I feel horrible, I didn't even offer you a drink."

"Does Jacob have anything good in the fridge?" I smiled.

"I'll look." Hearing my thoughts, daddy followed me into the kitchen where I looked for the beer that he would like. It wasn't Jacob's favorite, but he always kept it around for whenever Billy or Paul dropped by. I grabbed two beers out of the fridge and looked at daddy.

"_Is problem, mommy?"_ Daddy smiled and brushed Kevin's cheek with his finger.

"No, Kevin, there's no problem." Once Kevin was okay with the situation at hand, he rested his head back against my shoulder and closed his eyes. Then I looked back at daddy. "Nessie, you and Jacob have been over this several times."

"I know, but I have a right to ask."

"They told her about the wedding, she didn't come, end of story."

"I know, but does she know about Kevin? She deserves to know about her grandson. I'll bet she knows about Max."

"Rachael sent a picture to her, but she hasn't heard anything from her."

"God, I'm starting to wonder if she even exists. Is she even still alive?"

"She's alive. She sends Billy 10% of her winnings every month from Las Vegas."

"Ah."

"Nessie, I've seen this woman through their thoughts. That's more than I can handle. And if Jacob doesn't want you to meet her, just take his word for it, alright, Nessie. He's not ashamed of you or Kevin, he doesn't think you're not good enough, or anything like that. He's ashamed of her and he doesn't want you to meet her. So don't bring it up anymore, alright, honey."

"Daddy.."

"Nessie, drop it. If they don't want to talk about it, don't bring it up." I sighed.

"Fine, I won't bring it up anymore." Daddy smiled and gave me a kiss on my forehead. Then he grabbed the beers and walked to the living room and handed one of them to Billy and rested the other one of the counter next to him.

I followed and sat in my previous spot and watched the game. I wasn't really interested, but it was something to keep my mind of what I'd been thinking about. I started looking at Kevin's sleeping face. It was funny how long he was always asleep. He slept more than a cat did. After an hour, he decided it was time to eat and started whimpering. I took Kevin upstairs to his room so we could have the privacy and started feeding him when the door was closed behind me.

Kevin took his time like he always did and I sat down and waited for him to finish. He'd learned that I was more willing to let him eat if he wasn't as hard on me, so he was a lot gentler when feeding than he used to be. It still hurt, but it wasn't as bad as before. When Kevin was done, I patted his back so he'd burp and cleaned him off when he had. Kevin told me he was tired, so I put him in his pajamas and put him in his crib so he could nap again in peace. I walked downstairs and found everyone right where I'd last seen them and joined them watching the game again.

When it was five, I knew Jacob would be home soon, so I got to the kitchen and started making enough dinner for Jacob and Billy. I assumed he was staying for dinner. There was pork in the fridge, so I did something with that. Jacob got home when I was ten minutes away from finishing dinner and he said hello to everyone in the living room before walking to the kitchen to hug and kiss me.

"How're you feeling?"

"I was feeling fine. All day as a matter of fact. Why didn't you wake me up?"

"I didn't want to bother you. You looked so relaxed and I knew you'd woken up early, so I thought you'd rather just sleep." I sighed.

"Just wake me up next time, okay Jacob. If I'm really in no condition to go to work, then I'll let you know. But until then, just wake me up for work and we'll get on with the day."

"Did you fall asleep at anytime that you normally wouldn't? And actually, when did you wake up this morning? Or afternoon?"

"I woke up at eleven. And thanks for leaving me a note telling me where Kevin was. I nearly had a heart attack when I didn't see him in his crib."

"I know, Nessie, but I wasn't sure when you would wake up and I figured Billy could use some time with Kevin anyway, so I let Billy take care of him. Then Edward and Bella heard Billy had him, so they went over to visit, and that was a bonus for Kevin. He was a little mad that you weren't there, but he got over it."

"Just wake me up next time, okay."

"Alright, I'll wake you up next time." I could tell my tone was starting to get irritable and I didn't want that, so I stopped the conversation there and let myself relax. Another factor of my last pregnancy that was creeping back up on me. "Dinner smells good." I smiled, knowing Jacob was trying to lighten my mood.

"I'm glad to hear it. It should be ready soon." Jacob bent his head and kissed my neck.

"Where's Kevin, by the way?"

"He's in his crib sleeping." Jacob chuckled.

"How much sleep does that boy need?"

"However much sleep he wants Jacob. The beauties of being a baby are that you have nothing to worry about, so sleeping all day is perfectly acceptable." Jacob sighed.

"You know, one of these days, when he has to wake up early for school, I'll just laugh." I smiled.

"You'll have to wait until high school I'm afraid. When he's a little kid, he'll probably be up before us all the time."

"I never got up early, even when I was little. Ask Billy, he'll tell you all about the mornings he'd spent pulling me out of bed to go to school." I giggled.

"He had time in the morning to do that?" Jacob chuckled.

"Sometimes he'd call Sue to come and get me." I smiled and rolled my eyes at him.

"If you say so, Jacob." Jacob smiled and kissed the back of my head before grabbing a beer from the fridge and walking out of the kitchen to the living room with Billy.

Once dinner was ready, I called Billy and Jacob to come get a plate and everyone came to the table in the dining room while I brought over the food for Billy and Jacob. Since Billy had overheard what Jacob had told me, he took the opportunity to tell me just how painful it was to get Jacob out of bed in the mornings when he was younger. When Jacob had taken on his wolf, the circumstances were different and he'd become a lot more lenient about it, but before that, he would have to hurl Jacob out of bed just to get him to twitch.

When Billy and Jacob were finished with their dinner, Billy decided he needed to go home and momma and daddy took him home, telling me good night and running up to say goodbye to Kevin even though he was still sound asleep. When they were gone, Jacob helped me clean up the dishes by drying them when I was done with them.

"Can I ask you something?" I wasn't planning on asking, but I was curious and I wouldn't be able to ask when daddy was around.

"Sure. What's on your mind?"

"Daddy told me I shouldn't bring this up, but I'm really curious."

"Nessie, chances are, if Edward told you to not bring it up, you probably shouldn't."

"Maybe not, but I want to know." Jacob sighed.

"Then what's on your mind?"

"I was wondering if your grandmother knew about Kevin." Jacob stopped drying the plate he was working on and sighed heavily while he placed in on the drying rack.

"Why do you keep asking about her?"

"I'm only asking if she knows about Kevin."

"Probably not, no."

"Jacob."

"Nessie, I don't talk to her. The only one who talks to her is Billy, and that's usually him calling her asking if she's still alive. She tells him she's fine and that's typically the end of the conversation."

"I don't believe that. Billy and his mom must talk at least a little bit more than that."

"They don't, Nessie. Dad and grandma were never close. And when my mom came in the picture and grandma didn't like her, that made their relationship worse. That being said, he probably doesn't want to talk about the grandkids because that would require he talk to her longer than he would prefer."

"And how much you want to bet she knows all about Maxi and is proud as peaches about him?" Jacob laughed without humor.

"She wouldn't be proud as peaches about Maxi, Nessie. Rachael and Paul would be lucky if they got her to say, 'oh, you have a baby, that's nice'. She's not a family type, Nessie."

"I get that she's not a family type, but she's still a great grandma." This time, Jacob laughed sincerely.

"Never say that to her face, Nessie. As far as she's concerned, she's still forty nine."

"Who'd believe her? Her youngest son's over fifty."

"No one in Las Vegas knows that. Except maybe her younger boyfriends whenever they're around. Just trust me, Nessie, the less she knows, the better, especially when we're talking about my grandma."

"Can I at least know what her name is, Jacob?" Jacob shrugged and picked up another dish to clean.

"Her name is Ruth. My grandpa's name was William, hence my dad's name and my middle name."

"I'm surprised your mom agreed to name you after your grandpa if they didn't get along."

"According to dad, he wanted to name me after himself, but mom didn't want to name me William Black. Her dad's name was Joseph, so her and dad compromised on naming me Jacob."

"I don't see the connection."

"There is none. They picked a name they liked and stuck with it and she agreed to make William my middle name, and everyone was happy."

"So why is Rachael's middle name Ruth but Rebecca's middle name is Beth?"

"Because mom and grandma hated each other. The only reason Rachael's middle name is Ruth is because dad said Rachael Ruth sounded nice."

"Where did Rebecca Beth come from?"

"Mom and dad were Kiss fans."

"So?"

"Beth is a song by kiss."

"Oh. Not the first time anyone's named their kid after a song I guess."

"It's better than naming a kid Shiloh or Apple."

"Those weren't songs."

"Nope. They're just really dumb names." I turned my attention back to cleaning the dishes and we were quiet a moment. Jacob was the one to cut the silence. "Let's just drop it, okay. So how was your day?" I was quiet a moment, but decided to just play ball.

"It was fine. What about yours? Did anything interesting happen while I was away?"

"Not really. A guy had pushed his car to our shop with a flat tire. When I asked him why there wasn't a spare tire in his car, he said his tire had blown two weeks ago and he never replaced it." I giggled.

"Talk about bad timing."

"Yeah. I made him buy a new spare tire and gave him a second one on the house just in case." I giggled again.

"Well that was nice of you."

"Yeah. I'm just glad Forks seems to know me already. Although, that might be thanks to your relatives."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, one time, I was taking on a client that wanted to get a new paint job and he said that Dr. Cullen recommended me, so he hoped I wouldn't prove his doctor a liar." I smiled.

"That's just one incident. And you can't blame my family for helping you out in that respect."

"Not at all. I'm just stating something that happened." I giggled and rested my head on Jacob's arm a moment, then took my head away and got back to washing dishes, handing him the dish I'd just finished. "So how are you feeling today?"

"Not bad. I haven't gotten sick or anything today."

"That's good to hear."

"Don't get too comfortable, though. I'll probably be getting sick soon."

"At least that doesn't last very long. I have to admit, I'm worried about the baby kicking. I don't know if I can handle seven months of abstinence again."

"Me either to tell you the truth. Let's hope this baby isn't as hyper."

"Yeah." The rest of the time we took cleaning the dishes was spent in a comfortable silence. While I was finishing up the last dish, I heard Kevin start crying from his room. Jacob took over cleaning for me while I walked upstairs to Kevin.

He just needed to be changed, so I cleaned him up and put him back to bed. He was still tired. Jacob was walking up the stairs when I walked out of Kevin's room and smiled at me before walking over to me and hugging me. He looked through the door at Kevin's crib, then back at me.

"Still sleeping?"

"He is now." Jacob chuckled.

"You want to start sleeping?" I hadn't thought about it, but now that Jacob mentioned it, I was really tired.

"Yeah. I'm tired. You have patrol tonight?"

"Yeah, I do." I smiled a little and Jacob followed me to our room. I still wanted a shower, so Jacob and I kissed at the balcony a moment and I wished him a good night before he left and he wished me the same.

I kept my shower short. I was beginning to feel drowsier as my shower wore on. The boiling hot water was soothing me and making it hard for me to stay awake. Once I was clean, I went straight to bed, not bothering getting dressed in pajamas. I pulled the covers over me and was asleep in seconds. I woke up when I started hearing the sound of footsteps. It was faint, but loud enough that my ears could pick it up. I turned when I heard the balcony doors open and saw Jacob walk in. He was drenched from the pouring rain outside and I could smell the woodiness on him. I noticed I was looking at him and smiled apologetically.

"Sorry. Did I wake you up?"

"Yeah. But it's okay." I looked over at the clock and saw that it was seven in the morning. "It's not too early or anything." Jacob walked over to my side of the bed and kneeled down so that he was facing me. I waited for him to talk.

"You went commando?" I giggled and nodded.

"Yeah. By the time I finished my shower, I was so tired that I didn't bother and just went to bed." Jacob chuckled and kissed me.

"And here, I thought you were trying to surprise me or something." I smiled and kissed his nose.

"I'll keep this in mind." Jacob grinned and brought his face to mine and kissed me. I kissed him back, but kept the kiss gentle.

Jacob's hand wandered up the bed and reached my elbow, where he kept moving his hand up my arm. Once his hand was on my arm, his other hand went to my face and held me where I was and tried deepening the kiss by licking my bottom lip. I let his tongue go past my lips and I joined in making the kiss more passionate and brought my hands to his face. But as Jacob was kissing me, I felt sick and I knew what was coming. I shoved Jacob away from me and leaped out of bed and ran to the bathroom and bent my head over the toilet to vomit. It was a moment before Jacob finally came to the bathroom and grabbed a hold of my hair while I got sick again. Once I was sure I was done, I groaned and fell to the side, resting my head against the wall.

"I'm sorry."

"Looks like the nausea's kicked in." I sighed.

"It looks that way."

"I know you hate it when I ask, but do you want to stay home?"

"Jacob, I can't stay home from work every time I get sick. Besides, this is just morning sickness. It'll pass as quickly as it came on. In fact, I already feel better." Jacob looked unconvinced, but he didn't argue with me.

"At least get a little more sleep before we have to go, please?" I sighed.

"Jacob, I fell asleep at nine last night. I've slept enough." Again, Jacob looked unconvinced, but we heard Kevin start crying, so I flushed the toilet and got my robe before running to his room to attend to him.

Once I had Kevin, I pulled the left side of my robe aside and let Kevin start eating. He didn't bother opening his eyes to look at me, he just dug in. Kevin was finished after five or six minutes and I covered up before lifting him to my shoulder and patting his back gently. Once he burped, I discarded the cloth on my shoulder into the hamper and went to the closet to look for something to make Kevin wear. Kevin was looking at the clothes with me, though he didn't give any input as to what he would rather wear. He figured as long as he was comfortable, why worry about it?

Once I chose something, I brought that and Kevin to his changing table and started getting him dressed. He was beginning to try and sit up. It put a smile on my face to see him try. I wanted to help, but he insisted that I let him do it himself, even when he was failing. So I just watched him and kept close while he tried to sit up. Eventually, he got tired and decided he didn't feel like trying anymore and that he'd try again later. Jacob was downstairs, dressed, and taking a nap on the couch. We didn't have to go to work for another hour, so I let him be, though I took the time to make him a quick breakfast that he'd be able to eat before we left. But as soon as I started cooking, I heard Jacob groan and lift his head to face me over the couch.

"What's for breakfast?" I smiled.

"Eggs and some bacon. Is that good?" Jacob chuckled and came up behind me and hugged me.

"It's great. I need the protein." I giggled and turned my head to kiss him.

"If you say so."

It didn't take long to finish making Jacob's breakfast and he didn't take long to eat it. Once Jacob ate his breakfast, we left for the shop and opened up with Brian and Steven waiting in their cars outside the shop. Brian was usually early whenever there was patrol, so we weren't surprised. Kevin and I went to my office and I let him be on the floor so he could practice sitting up again. To his disappointment, all he accomplished was crawling. But that made me overjoyed. When Kevin started crawling, I ran to the garage and pulled Jacob to my office to show him.

"He's crawling?" I nodded.

"Isn't it great? He's mad that he's not having any luck sitting up, but I'm still proud of him." Jacob smiled and walked over to Kevin. Once he was standing near Kevin, he kneeled down beside him.

"You want a little help sitting up, Kevin?" Kevin shook his head and turned around on his back and attempted to sit up again. He still wasn't having any luck. While Kevin persisted, Jacob brought his hand behind Kevin's back and held him in a sitting position. Once Kevin was stable, Jacob gently took his hand away and Kevin stayed up for two seconds before he lost his balance and Jacob caught him gently before he could fall.

"You did it, Kevin!" I smiled and kneeled down to Kevin and lifted him into my arms. Kevin smiled and hugged me back while I held him.

"He'll be sitting up on his own in no time." Jacob stood up and walked over to me and hugged and me and Kevin both. "See, Kevin, sometimes a little help is a good thing."

Kevin ignored Jacob for the time being and enjoyed his triumph for the time, snuggling into my shoulder with a wide smile on his face. Then Jacob kissed his forehead, then kissed me and walked to the door.

"I better get back to the garage. Let me know if he does anything else today." I smiled.

"I will, Jacob."

Shortly after that, I remembered that I still needed to call Rachael and let her know that I was pregnant again. She probably already knew by now, but I figured I should call her just for good measures. When I called Rachael, she already heard about my pregnancy that day from Paul, as I figured would be the case. She and Paul were already trying for their second kid and I was surprised to find that Kim and Jared were having a baby too. She'd recently found out about it and was really excited. She and Jared had said they would eventually have another baby, but they never knew when the right time was or they weren't ready for another toddler. But now they had another baby on the way. I realized that I needed to get together with the other women and catch up. I hadn't talked to them face to face in a while, which seemed odd considering we lived so close together.

Rachael agreed with that and told me that she wasn't doing anything this Saturday and neither was I. She told me she would call Kim and Emily and ask them if they wanted to get together too. I told her to call Alyssa while she was at it and she agreed to. She and Seth were still in their newlywed fog, so we were eager to talk to her too. Rachael called all of them and got back to me a half hour later, letting me know that they all thought Saturday was a great idea. I set up for all of us to meet at my house and I hung up after Rachael and I said goodbye and that we couldn't wait for this weekend.

That weekend, we all got together like we promised we would. Our husbands used the opportunity to all go fishing together, so everybody benefited. I was thrilled to see Alyssa again. It had been forever since I'd seen her and I was eager to catch up. As it turned out, she was pregnant too. She was a month ahead of me. Later, when I asked Jacob why he didn't tell me about it, he said he'd assumed I already knew and forgot to mention it. I just smiled and rolled my eyes at him a little. It seemed like everyone was getting pregnant this year. I was excited about that. Maybe our children would end up growing up to be close friends. Or at the very least, they'd be there for one another when they needed. Allison Shea was growing so fast. Mikey and Kate were growing too.

By now, Mikey was eight and Kate was five. Mikey picked on her all the time and Emily seemed to always get on his case about it. Allison Shea was seven by now and hers and Mikey's taste in varied drastically. Allison and Kate played together while Mikey played outside with one of his friends from school. It was amazing how much time had passed and how the time flew. It made me realize that Kevin would grow up on me eventually and how sad I would be when that happened.

As the months wore on, me and Kim and Alyssa and Rachael had gotten together almost every weekend. Rachael was pregnant again in no time and was eagerly awaiting being just as miserable as the rest of us. I was relieved when I found that Jacob could hold me without the baby hurting me. But this time, we weren't making love because I simply didn't want to. I couldn't understand what it was, but for some reason, I just didn't want to have sex. It seemed like a chore and Jacob never pushed it even though I knew he really wished we could. I felt bad about it and it made me even less in the mood, which aggravated me to no end.

Kevin had begun babbling when I was four months. It wasn't words, but it was vowels. And since he knew the words, it wouldn't be long before he was able to say his first word, then move on to his first sentences. And he managed to sit up all by himself shortly after Jacob showed him how to do it. Jacob was really pleased to see that. Kevin was more than happy to thank Jacob for all his help, then followed that with his little smile, thinking to us that he managed to sit up all by himself. I was so proud of him for it.

I had a bump before I knew it. Alyssa had started showing a few weeks before me, but once we got started, all of us had bumps showing up. It wasn't long before we were all complaining about how fat we thought we looked. When I was four months along, Carlisle was finally able to tell us what the sex of the baby was. I held Kevin while laying in the white bed in Carlisle's office and Esme, Alice, Rosalie, and momma were there with me and Jacob. They wanted to know the sex too. After Carlisle rubbed the gel around a moment with the monitor, Alice began to get impatient.

"So Carlisle, what's the verdict? Can I start buying dresses now?" Carlisle chuckled.

"Sorry Alice, but dresses wouldn't be appropriate. It's a boy." I smiled and, even though she was a little disappointed, Alice smiled too along with everyone else.

"That's great, honey."

"I can't wait. So can I paint the second guest room or shall we save that for a girl and make Kevin and Kyle share a room?" Jacob answered Esme's question for me when he realized Esme's statement had me star struck. Everyone already knew the names Jacob and I had chosen and hearing my baby boy, Kyle's, name said out loud made me ecstatic.

Jacob said we should make Kevin and Kyle share a room. He wanted to save the other room for a girl if we had one. That night when Jacob and I got home, I noticed the smell of human food was beginning to become appealing to me and that made me sigh. I didn't like it when that happened. I resisted Jacob's dinner and gave it to him when it was done, also taking dinner as an opportunity to feed Kevin. He wanted Jacob's food at first, but once he knew he didn't have to eat vegetables, he was content to just let me feed him. When he was full, he let go of me and I covered up while taking Kevin upstairs. He was barely still awake, but while he was, I changed him out of his day clothes and took him to the master bath and cleaned him up in the sink.

Once he was clean, I took him back to his room and changed him into his pajamas and put him to bed. When he was in his crib, his eyes closed and he let himself nod off. Then I went to our room to take a quick shower so I could go to bed right after. I was feeling groggy again. While I was taking my shower, I rubbed my belly looking at it with affection. I couldn't wait for Kyle. I pictured that he and Kevin would grow up becoming best friends and Kevin would look out for him and help keep him out of trouble and teach him what he knows. I could picture Jacob and me taking them camping and kissing the scraps on their knees from climbing trees. By the time I was completely clean, I'd started singing to my bump without even realizing it. I got out of the shower and dried off my hair before dressing into an oversized shirt that I'd started wearing to bed with a pair of shorts. While I was walking out of the bathroom, Jacob was walking into our room.

"You going out for patrol?" Jacob nodded.

"Yeah. It's been stressful lately. Seth noticed this guy swimming in the water to one of the rocks off First Beach a few years ago and he noticed he comes every year at least once. We aren't sure if it's a vampire or just a guy that likes swimming, but either way, he doesn't seem like he's causing any trouble. We're keeping an eye on him just in case."

"That's good. Has anything else worrisome been going on?" Jacob shook his head as he walked past me on his way to the closet to get his sweatpants and I was on my way to the bed.

"Not really. We have our share of vampires wonder into the area, but they usually run off when they see us anyway. It's kind of weird being known amongst this vampire world. They all know to keep away when they see us, so it's a little boring." I smiled.

"I'm sure you'll live, Jacob. You're lucky a million vampires aren't coming to the area for the sake of the challenge of killing off the wild dogs that helped the Cullens kill the Volturi." Jacob chuckled and walked out in his sweats, still wearing his shirt.

"If we're being realistic, we didn't really do anything. Vladimir and Stefan killed Aro and Caius, but that's about the extent of the Volturi death toll."

"It was enough for the vampire world to notice it." Jacob shrugged, then grabbed a hold of his shirt and pulled it over his head and threw it in the hamper. When his chest was bare, I suddenly felt something I hadn't felt in months. Sexual desire.

"Whatever works I guess. Either way, it keeps people in Forks and La Push safe and that's all that really matters." Jacob was walking to the balcony, then he looked at me and saw the look on my face. "Nessie, are you okay?" I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Then I stood up and walked over to Jacob and hugged him. I breathed in his scent and it gave me erotic chills down my spine. I couldn't explain it, but I wanted him now. Really badly. Unsuspecting, Jacob hugged me back.

"If you say so, Nessie. I'll see you when you wake up." I nodded my head and Jacob bent down to give me a kiss, which I more than eagerly returned. Jacob was surprised by how quickly I turned the kiss passionate, but he didn't argue about it and just went with me.

I wrapped my arms around Jacob's neck when I was able to reach my arms around him and pulled him down closer to me. Jacob wrapped his arms around my waist, but didn't make any movement to do anything else. I forced my tongue between his lips and Jacob followed my example and our tongues dueled. It was making my head spin and I could feel that my body was ready for him already. With all the strength I had, I tried pulling Jacob with me while I walked backwards in the general direction of the bed. When I felt it hit my legs, I let my weight go and tried to pull Jacob down. This time, Jacob kept standing and he ended the kiss.

"You're affectionate today." I smiled a little awkwardly.

"I was just suddenly in the mood." Jacob smiled and kissed me.

"It's a shame I need to go on patrol."

"I'm sure they can take care of themselves for an hour." Jacob raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Whatever happened to you not wanting me to think of you intimately while I was out on patrol?" I didn't have the patience for talk, so I told him so.

"Shut up and kiss me before I lose the drive." Jacob chuckled and I cut him off with another kiss.

I didn't let Jacob bother with foreplay. Jacob and I kissed each other passionately for a good half hour until I pushed him onto his back, pulled off his sweatpants and my shorts and panties and mounted him. I let Jacob take over from there and I came undone with a few thrusts. But for whatever reason, I wasn't happy with just that.

**JPOV**

Nessie was finally asleep. I was supposed to be out on patrol, but it was one in the morning and I was just now leaving. Nessie sleepily waved goodbye and was asleep shortly after that while I jumped out the window and started running towards the woods. I didn't understand what was wrong with her. Just yesterday, I tried initiating something and she just told me she wasn't in the mood, so I just let her be. Now, I had to pry her away from me so I could go on patrol. When I was far out in the woods, I took off my sweats and tied them around my ankle, trying to keep what happened out of my head. Once I was naked, I fazed and began running. But when I fazed, Leah was the first one I heard.

_Where the hell were you?! It's one in the God Damn morning and you're just now getting out here?!_

_Jesus, Jacob, what were you doing that kept you so long?_ I didn't want to answer Seth, but I couldn't help but think about it. Leah blew a fuse.

_You're late because you and Nessie were going at it?! Have you no dignity?!_

_Look, Leah, she wouldn't let me leave. I can't help when she's in the mood and how long that lasts. I'm here now, so calm down._

_Well, Jacob, I'm sure you'd much rather be going at it with Nessie than be on patrol. In fact, I would much rather be with Hailey teaching him how to play monopoly. So maybe I should just not come to patrol and be with him._

_Leah, stop being that way. It won't happen again and it's only happened once, so calm down. Besides, I'm the pack leader, so don't tell me what to do and don't talk to me like that. Not when we're on patrol anyway._ Leah growled, but held her tongue from there.

Like I promised, I didn't let Nessie make me late to Patrol again. But with that excluded, she seemed to want me just about all day and the nights when I didn't have patrol. I wasn't sure how long I could do this. At first, it was really fun and I was happy to make Nessie happy, but now I was exhausted. I couldn't keep up with her anymore. She would want to have sex five times a day, if I was lucky. Most days it was more than that and I couldn't take it anymore. I begged the guys to go out fishing with me just so I could get a few hours of not having to satisfy her.

"So let me get this straight. Nessie wants to have sex frequently, and this bothers you?" I glared at Paul.

"Paul, you don't get it. She doesn't stop. I haven't had a full night sleep in months because of this."

"I can tell Jacob. You've been getting really snappy at work lately." I looked at Brian, who shrugged and looked sorry. "Please don't fire me."

"I'm not going to fire you, Brian." Brian sighed.

"Thanks Jacob. I've been walking on eggshells with you for a while now, so I'm scared."

"Who'd have thought that too much sex could have the same effects on you as none at all. As I recall, when you and Nessie couldn't so much as walk near each other, you were a fucking ogre. I couldn't say hello to you without you blowing a fuse at me."

"That's understandable. I think Jacob would rather be able to at least hug Nessie even if they can't have sex. When she was pregnant with Kevin, he couldn't even do that so it's understandable that he'd be irritable." Paul shrugged at Seth.

"You know, Rachael's not a crazy pregnant woman, so I'm happy."

"Alyssa isn't a crazy pregnant woman."

"I never said she was Seth. I'm just saying mine isn't." Jared, who looked at me with pity and a sharp gaze combined, finally spoke.

"See, Jacob. I'm not so crazy am I? Now you know how I feel. Kim's the same way. At first, it's fun, but after a while, it's too much." Paul rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah, guys, a pretty woman you love more than anything is tearing off your pants to have sex with you. Life must suck." Jared and I glared at Paul. Brian broke it up.

"Hang in there, you two. It'll only last a few more months, then you guys can go back to taking care of the kids and being too tired for sex and everything will be fine."

"Brian, I'm not saying I don't want it anymore. I just want her to slow down for a bit. That's all."

"Yeah, I'm sure. By the way, did you two…"

"She wouldn't let me say no, okay." Brian laughed while everyone looked at him weird. Paul was instantly smiling, seeing a chance to tease me.

"What do you know, Brian?" Brian took a moment, then answered when he could through his laughter.

"A few days ago, Nessie made Steven get Jacob to go to her office saying she needed help with some 'paperwork', and he didn't come back for a good forty minutes." Then Paul burst into fits of laughing tears.

"Oh my god, Jacob, at work?! That's priceless!" Paul continued to laugh while I glared at him. After a moment, I looked at Brian again.

"Okay, now you're fired." Brian laughed a little and continued fishing.

"I'll see you on Monday, Jacob." I didn't bother arguing with him further. I just let it go and looked back at the water.

"Do you get it now, Jacob."

"Yes, Jared, I get it now, so you can shut up about it!" Everyone stared at me surprised from my outburst. I took a deep breath from embarrassment. "Sorry about that, Jared."

"It's alright, I get it."

**NPOV**

I could tell Jacob was starting to lose his patience with me. He never yelled at me or said a word about it, but I knew he was bothered. I tried to keep myself at bay, but it never seemed like enough anymore. This lasted for a good four months and at the end of it, Jacob was sleeping every chance he got. Alyssa told me that according to Seth, he was sleeping during patrol these days. It was really the only time he could and that made me feel horrible. He would tell them he was going to sleep and not to wake him up unless something happened.

But once I reached eight months, it seemed sated. I still wanted him, but it was the way I did before, in healthy and natural increments. Kevin had grown up so much in those four months and I couldn't concentrate on it because I was so damn horny. But Kevin had said his first word. Mommy. That filled me with pride like no tomorrow, especially when I was really paying attention to it. He was started to word a few of the words he'd learned, but they weren't always coming out in actual words, just vowels and continents that weren't supposed to be together. It was adorable. I could watch him do that all day.

"How's Kevin doing this morning?" I turned to face Jacob who was now standing behind me while I was getting Kevin dressed for the day.

"Good. He's a little cranky, but I think he'll be fine once he eats."

"You're not breast feeding him?"

"Carlisle told me I should give him more solid food and suggested I feed him solid food in the morning and for dinner, and I can still breast feed him for lunch." Jacob looked a little concerned.

"Should we be weaning him so soon?"

"I'm not making it immediate. Carlisle said I should make it gradual. I'll probably breast feed Kevin twice a day instead of once. I'm not sure I'm ready to stop." Jacob chuckled.

"As long as you're not still breast feeding him when he's old enough to unbutton your shirt himself, I'm happy." I giggled and turned my head to kiss him.

"He'll be off the breast before then."

"Good." While Jacob was hugging me, his hands started rubbing my eight month pregnant belly affectionately while I finished dressing Kevin. "It's almost November." I smiled. That's when Kyle was due.

"I'm so excited."

"How Nick doing by the way?"

"He's good." Nick was Alyssa's and Seth's new son. We'd found out a while back that Rachael was having a boy too, same with Kim and Jared. It seemed like everyone was having boys these days. Rachael and Paul were prepared with the name Travis and Kim and Jared were naming their son Luke.

"How old is he now?"

"Six weeks." Jacob chuckled.

"Why don't women ever just say, 'he's a month old'?"

"It's just how we do things." Jacob smiled and kissed my neck. Then I finished dressing Kevin and he sat up and stretched.

October seemed to go by so slowly. The only real highlight of the month was that I got to dress Kevin up as a pumpkin for Halloween. He didn't appreciate that much, but it was adorable. Alice and I took several pictures of him wearing his pumpkin suit while he was at the house and trick-o-treating with Allison Shea, Mikey, Kate, me, Jacob, Emily and Kim. By the time it was finally November, I was so anxious that I couldn't concentrate on Thanksgiving. It was supposed to be at our house this year and just about everyone was coming. Rebecca and John were even coming to see the house.

But when it was finally November, I could feel my body getting ready for labor. I would get pains in my abdomen from time to time that reminded me of the contractions I'd felt when I was in labor with Kevin. They were always gone after a few minutes and didn't happen often, but they were happening. I told Jacob about it, so he was panicking and keeping a close eye on me. When we were at work, he would pop into my office every half hour to check up on me. I think if he could, he would've begged Carlisle to take November off so he would be on call for us. I wouldn't let him even ask that. I doubted seriously that Carlisle would've been able to get a month off. It was a miracle enough that he was able to call out of work whenever it was sunny outside.

It was November fifteenth and Thanksgiving was only ten days away. Me, momma, and Esme had already bought all the food I would need for the day and the kitchen was large enough for them to be in there with me to help me cook. And Jacob was already preparing the living room with an extra couch for the game the guys would be watching. Jacob and I got home from work and were really tired when we got back. I went to the couch and sat down for a moment, putting Kevin right next to me on the floor while he was in his carrier, while Jacob took a seat next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"How're you feeling?" I shrugged.

"I've been getting contractions most of the day. I think I'll go into labor soon."

"Do you want to go to your parent's house?" I shook my head.

"I'd rather wait until my water breaks."

"Are you sure?" I nodded.

"Yes, Jacob, I'm sure. What do you want for dinner?"

"I'll take care of it. I don't want you exerting yourself when you're this close to labor."

"Jacob, cooking is hardly exerting myself." Jacob sighed.

"Nessie, please make me feel better and just stay off your feet for me. I'll even take care of Kevin for the rest of the night." I sighed and nodded my head reluctantly.

"Fine, Jacob, I'll take it easy." Jacob smiled.

"That's all I ask, Nessie."

"I am going with you to the kitchen though. I need to be there in case something goes wrong." Jacob chuckled and stood up.

"Fair enough." I smiled back at him, and Jacob took my hand and helped me stand up. He tried to hug me, but my belly prevented it, so he turned me around and hugged me from behind. I rested my head against his chest a moment, but then felt a pain, then wetness. "Oh my God!" Jacob suddenly took a step back, his left leg wet from my water breaking.

"I'm so sorry, Jacob, I didn't mean to." Jacob shook his head.

"No, it's fine, don't worry about it. Let's just change and then hurry to your parent's house so we can get you ready." I nodded through the contraction and Jacob helped me run up the stairs to our rooms where we changed into dry clothes.

Once we were clean, we got Kevin and the diaper bag and ran to the car and drove to my family's house. Daddy was outside waiting for us, as was everyone else. Esme took Kevin for me and Carlisle, Emmett, and daddy helped me to Carlisle's office where he had the operating table ready for me.

"Are you having a contraction right now, Nessie?" I nodded to Carlisle's question. "How many minutes?"

"About ten."

"Okay. Let me know when it stops." Once I was in the bed, everyone except Jacob and Carlisle left the study and Carlisle took a moment to examine me and see how far along I was. "You're currently a half inch dilated, so you're coming along nicely."

"How long do you think she'll be in labor this time?"

"It'll be a little less time. Her hips are a bit wider since she had Kevin, so that'll make this a little easier on her." Jacob looked at me and smiled.

"That's good news." I tried smiling, but the contraction was making it difficult.

"Just breath, Nessie." I breathed like Carlisle said, but it wasn't helping me much. I didn't want to yell at anyone like I had last time, so I kept every discontenting comment to myself while I was in labor.

It was two and a half hour before I was eight centimeters dilated. I ended up being in labor longer; Four hours. But when I was dilated all the way, Carlisle gave me the okay to start pushing. That took another twenty minutes, but was worth it when I heard a baby start to cry. Carlisle announced it was a boy, my little Kyle. Carlisle cut the cord and cleaned Kevin off and wrapped him in a blanket before bringing him to me so I could hold him. Carlisle helped clean me up while Jacob and I looked at Kyle.

Instead of looking like a mix between daddy and Jacob, Kyle looked exactly like Jacob, save my ears and mouth and eyes. Everything was Jacob. His hair was a dark brown, his eyes brown, and his skin tan just like Jacob's without a hint of my pale tone like Kevin had. Kyle looked at me and Jacob, but didn't do much more. I think he was disappointed to be out of his warm confines he'd previously inhabited.

"He looks just like you." Jacob grinned a little.

"He really does."

"How do you think Kevin will like knowing he has a new baby brother?" Jacob shrugged.

"I hope so. Although, I think he might be a bit young to have an opinion on something like this."

"I hope they get along well together." Jacob smiled and kissed my head.

"They'll be best friends, Nessie. I promise."


	3. Mother's Day

**Mother's Day**

"Jacob, did Kevin eat his peas?" I was in the kitchen cleaning the dishes. I wanted to have the dishes clean before I joined Jacob and the boys at the table. And I'd already fed Kyle, so I could just sit down and talk with Jacob.

"No. He's being stubborn again, Nessie." I sighed.

"Tell him he doesn't have an option."

"I did."

"Well, tell him again. He's not leaving that table until he eats his dinner." I heard Jacob in the background relay the message back to Kevin. He didn't take that very well, but he ate his peas with a pout on his face.

"I hated peas too Kevin, but you have to eat them."

"No like." I smiled. Even if he was arguing with me, the fact that he was talking now made me happy. He couldn't say much, but it was enough that he was always able to get his point across.

"I know, Kevin. But they aren't going anywhere and if you can't beat, live with them." I finished the dishes and went to the table, sitting between Jacob and Kyle, who was in a carrier taking a nap.

"You know, Kevin, you just make the process longer by arguing with us." Kevin didn't say anything. He just stared angrily at the peas while he ate them. He'd figured out how to use a fork by watching Jacob, so that saved us both the time of feeding him. He still breast fed from time to time, but it wasn't as often. And since Kyle got to breast feed all the time, I think Kevin was a little mad at me about that.

"You know, Nessie, the more you force him to eat them, the more difficult he'll be."

"Don't make me the bad guy, Jacob."

"That's not what I'm doing. I'm just stating the obvious." I sighed.

"Whatever you say, Jacob."

I didn't want to talk about anything at the moment. I was exhausted. Daddy had offered to take care of Kevin for me so I could concentrate on Kyle while at work, but Kevin had thrown a fit when he saw me leave with Kyle and not him. The only reason Jacob and I took Kevin with us to work today was because Kyle felt guilty and asked daddy to let Kevin come with. We'd found out, thanks to daddy, that Kyle had the mind reading gift like daddy, but he could chose what he heard. Consequently, when Kyle couldn't hear us, daddy couldn't hear him. His mind became completely closed when he didn't want to hear other people's thoughts. He couldn't hear anyone and no one could hear him. Daddy was jealous of that.

"So Nessie, guess what holiday's coming up." I sighed.

"I don't know, Jacob." Jacob smiled. I think he knew I was really tired, but whatever holiday was coming up, he was adamant about me knowing about it.

"This Sunday's mother's day." I smiled a little.

"Fun. I'll send momma some flowers."

"What about you? You deserve to get something for mother's day. You are a mother now after all. We didn't do anything last year and I feel really bad about it."

"Jacob, what are the boys going to do? It's not like they can afford to give me something. And to be fair, I'm not your mother." Jacob sighed.

"I know you're exhausted, Nessie, but try to be excited. Please?"

"I am excited. I'm just not animated about it right now. I will be later, I promise." Jacob smiled and reached over to kiss me.

"So what do you want for mother's day?"

"I'll be happy with anything, Jacob." Jacob smiled, then looked at Kevin, who was finished eating, and brought his face a little closer to his.

"So what do you think we should get mommy for mother's day, huh Kevin?"

"No tell. It surprise." Jacob and I smiled and Kyle clapped his hands in agreement.

"Exactly, Jacob. It's supposed to be a surprise. Do you know what they want to do already?"

"No idea. I didn't know they were planning anything to be honest with you. I was just asking." I giggled and reached over to give Jacob a kiss.

"That's alright. I can wait until Sunday."

**JPOV**

"How about this?" Kevin grabbed something off the shelf to show it to me. It was Saturday and we were in Port Angeles in the shopping district looking for a mother's day, as was every other person that waited until the last minute to get a mother's day gift. I felt horrible about it, but this was the only time all week that I had free time to take the boys out to look for a gift. Right now, Kevin was showing me a polka dotted bra.

"Kevin, you're not getting your mother a bra."

"But it lady thingy right? Momma's like lady thingies." I fought a laugh.

"Yes, mommas like lady things, but that's not the type of lady thingy you get your mother for mother's day. It's inappropriate."

"_You know, dad, we no have a hard time finding mommy present if not wait to last minute."_ I gave Kevin a stern look.

"Watch your tone with me, Kevin. I'm just as annoyed with myself over that as you are."

"Sorry." I sighed and Kevin and I kept looking. Kyle, who I was holding in my left arm resting against my shoulder, was finally waking back up and was looking around curiously. When I noticed Kyle was awake, I looked at him.

"Do you know what momma wants, Kyle?"

Kyle looked at me, then looked around a moment. I watched him look around and let him down when he started trying to get out of my arm. I grabbed Kevin's arm so I could get him to follow me while I walked closely behind Kyle, who was crawling around the ground in a line. Kyle ended up leading me and Kevin to the shoe section of the store, hit one of the columns, then turned back and crawled over to me and grabbed my leg. I lifted him back up onto my shoulder so he could go back to sleep. I looked at the row and saw all the stilettos lined up that Nessie would almost certainly love.

"I guess that works." I almost felt kind of stupid for not thinking about it, but it was something she'd love. All that was left to do was make the boys chose a pair for her and I could buy her a necklace or something. This was the first time in over twenty years that I'd cooperated in mother's day, so I'd been at a lose.

"What you get momma?" I looked at Kevin, who was reaching for a random box.

"I'll get her a bracelet or a necklace. Whatever the jeweler here has that's nice. What shoes are you picking?"

Kevin held up the box he'd picked and I took it and placed it on the little bench and opened the box. The shoes were red stilettos, so that alone was a bonus. They were covered in red lace, but were relatively simple shoes and had a peep toe. This looks like something she would really like. And luckily, Kevin had picked Nessie's size, so there was no need to look further.

"Momma like?" I nodded.

"She'll love these. I couldn't have picked a better pair myself." Kevin grinned proudly, then grabbed the box from me and put the lid back on the box and started walking off. I walked with him as he made his way to a cashier so I could pay for the shoes. "Kevin, slow down. I still need to get your mother a gift."

"You do that later."

"No, Kevin, I do that now." So Kevin wouldn't wonder away from me, I grabbed a hold of the back of his shirt and pulled him with me until he was following me willingly. He'd only recently started walking and he was really proud of it, so he refused to allow me or Nessie to carry him. He was starting to learn how to do a lot of things and had become really stubborn about letting people help him. I wasn't sure whether to be proud or annoyed of him.

"But I want to buy momma's gift."

"And you need me to pay for it." He shook his head.

"No. I has money." I gave him a weird look.

"Do you. Well, show me what you've got." Kevin grinned and reached into his pocket and pulled out some money. He had two dollars, eight pennies, four quarters and nickels, and two dimes. I fought a laugh. "I'm sorry Kevin, but those shoes cost more than $3.48." Kevin looked sad now.

"I can't afford?"

"Don't worry, Kevin, you and Kyle picked them out, so they're your gift, not mine."

"But you buy."

"It's still something you and Kyle picked out. Your momma won't care that I paid for it."

"I Help?" I smiled at Kevin's persistence and nodded.

"Sure. You can help me pay for the shoes."

With a smile, Kevin cheered up and followed me to the jewelry section of the store so I could look for a bracelet or necklace for Nessie. In truth, she had more bracelets than she really cared to wear. She always wore the woven band I'd given her a long time ago, but her other bracelets she wore sometimes. I didn't want to give her another bracelet she'd wear every now and then. And she always wore the necklace Bella had given her, so I wanted to pick a necklace that at least looked like it would go well with that locket. It was no time before I had a jeweler bugging me. I told him to let me look and I'd ask for his help when I needed it.

There was a large selection of mother's day jewelry, so at least I wasn't short on options. Unfortunately, a lot of the jewelry had, 'I love you, Mom', on it or something along those lines. And seeing as Nessie wasn't my mother, it wouldn't be appropriate. But there were plenty of gold hearts with diamonds and rubies, I found one heart necklace that was14 karat gold and had a diamond rose in the middle. It wasn't too large and it had a short chain, so it would go nicely with her locket.

"Can I see that necklace, please?" I pointed at the necklace through the glass and the jeweler walked over and took out the necklace for me.

"This is a popular one. Your mother's a lucky lady."

"This is for my wife, actually. Last mother's day, we were so preoccupied with a newborn and a new pregnancy that all she got were flowers from her relatives and I feel really bad about it."

"I see. What are you getting your mother?"

"I usually put flowers on her grave for mother's day. So does dad." The man looked apologetic.

"Forgive me, sir, I wasn't aware you're mother was deceased."

"Don't worry about it."

The jeweler didn't speak much more after that. We kept our conversation strictly about the necklace and I left to pay for the shoes as soon as I had the necklace paid for. Kyle stayed asleep most of the ride home and Kevin took a nap during the drive too. Billy always laughed at how often those two slept. He said it reminded him of how I used to do the same thing when I was little and when I became a werewolf. It made me jealous in all honesty. Every time I walked into Nessie's office and saw those two taking a nap because they were bored, I had a moment of jealousy. I'm sure Nessie did too. When I arrived home, I took a moment to hide everything in the diaper bag so Nessie wouldn't see the shopping bags.

I kept all the things hidden and got the boys out of their car seats and carried them to the house. Kevin woke up before we reached the door and started pushing against my chest demanding he get to walk on his own. I let Kevin down and he walked drowsily to the door and waited for me to open the door. When we walked into the house, I heard a fire in the fireplace and walked to the den to see Nessie reading a book. When I came in with the boys, she turned to look at us from her book and smiled.

"There you are. Where did you three go?" I held Kevin's shoulder, telling him to let me answer. Though I realized I hadn't come up with an excuse.

"We were just….in the woods." Nessie gave me a weird look.

"The woods? Why?"

"Kevin wanted to play out there."

"At six in the morning?" I shrugged.

"I don't control when he wakes up." The truth was that I had forced those boys out of bed so we could drive downtown and pick out a gift for Nessie. They were still mad at me about that, but it needed to be done.

"I suppose. How did I not hear them wake up?"

"I went to them the moment I heard something from the baby monitor. I couldn't sleep when I got back from patrol." Nessie smiled fighting a laugh. She'd probably figured I was lying and now she knew for sure. Me not being able to sleep was a boldface lie.

"Alright, Jacob. Did you guys have fun?"

"Yeah. It was fun. But they want their breakfast." This time, Nessie lost her smile.

"You didn't feed them before you left?"

"I forgot." Nessie sighed. She already knew I was lying, so I might as well tell the truth about the boys.

"Give me Kyle. And put Kevin in his high chair and give him a little cereal." I did as she said and Nessie walked upstairs with Kyle, leaving me to make sure Kevin ate his food.

Nessie was back downstairs with Kyle in twenty minutes and Kevin had eaten half of the cereal I'd laid out for him. Once Kevin finished eating, Nessie went to the den to finish reading and I took the boys to the garage to show them the underside of a car and it's workings. My grandpa had started young with me, so that's what I planned for the boys. We were all lying on blankets and Kevin and Kyle listened on and off while I explained things to them. Once the boys were too tired to listen, I took them upstairs and got them both dressed and ready for bed. When I was finished and they were asleep, I walked across the hall to our room and walked in the see Nessie in bed reading. I walked to her side of the bed and took a seat, getting her attention.

"So what are you reading?"

"Jane Eyre."

"What's that about?"

"It about a man who's married to a mentally insane women and he falls in love with another woman and they eventually get married when the insane wife dies in a fire."

"That's dismal."

"I know. But it's a good story. I've always liked it anyway. And I'm almost at the end. I've been reading all day."

"I figured."

"So did the boys like their little car lesson?" I nodded.

"I think they did. I'm hoping that if I start them out young, they'll love cars as much as I do." Nessie smiled and reached to kiss me.

"I'm sure they will. It runs in the blood." I laughed a little and rested my forehead on hers.

"Are you excited about tomorrow? I feel horrible that we didn't do anything last year."

"It's alright, Jacob. We were busy and I was too busy being a mother that I didn't have time to celebrate being a mother." We laughed a little again.

"I still feel bad about it."

"Don't worry. I'm excited about it. I can't wait to see what I get for pushing them out." I chuckled.

"You'll like it."

"You waiting until the last minute to get me a gift I assume."

"No."

"Jacob." I sighed and finally nodded.

"Okay, yes, I did. But don't worry, the gifts are still nice." Nessie giggled and kissed me.

"Don't worry, Jacob, it's okay. Between work, the family, and the boys, I'm amazed you found time to snatch them away from me to take them shopping in the first place." I sighed.

"When did we get so busy, Nessie? We used to have lots of time."

"That time went away when we had Kevin. But you know what, I wouldn't change it for the world." I grinned with her.

"You know, I wouldn't either. I've never enjoyed being so miserable." Nessie giggled and shook her head.

"Don't say it like that."

"Do you think we'll start getting that time back when they're a little older?"

"We won't get that time back until they move out. And I'm dreading that day." I chuckled.

"Let's see if we still say that after they've been through their teenage years." Nessie and I smiled and laughed a little before I kissed her again. I was tired, but Nessie and I hadn't been together in a while and I missed her. "How tired are you?"

"Not too horribly tired. Why?"

"We haven't made love in a while. I was thinking we could remedy that." Nessie giggled and nodded.

"I think I can deal with that." I smiled and she smiled back while I brought my lips to hers again in a kiss.

This time the kiss lasted much longer. Nessie gently placed her book on her nightstand wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me down to the bed so I was on top of her. I moved my legs so that I was completely in bed and pulled the blanket from her so there was only our cloths between us. Nessie cradled my hips between her legs and I took the opportunity to grind against her so that it would give us both a thrill. She moaned into our kiss and I was filled with pride. Nessie began pulling on my shirt and I took my lips from hers so she could pull it over my head. While I was still standing on my knees, Nessie brought herself to her knees and began kissing and sucking at my neck.

I held onto her so she wouldn't fall and her nails gently scratched my chest, making me shiver and groan. Never letting go of her, I pulled Nessie down with me while I rested on the bed so she was on top of me. I pulled Nessie's hips on top of mine and she began to repeat the grinding motion I'd done earlier while she continued to kiss and suck my neck. With a groan, I grabbed a hold of her butt and held her while she moved her hips against mine. While I did that, Nessie began kissing down my chest and licked my pecks and sucked the skin she'd licked. She stopped moving her hips and concentrated on what her mouth was doing. So I brought my hands to her head and ran my fingers through her thick hair. Her nails trailed along my skin and it made me shiver again and she smiled against my skin.

I ran my fingers through her hair until they were free and tried to find the hem of her shirt. When I was able to get a hold of it, I pulled it up until Nessie straightened out and let me pull it over her head. When her shirt was off, I immediately went for her bra and reached around to undo it. Nessie waited the few seconds it took to remove her bra before she brought her face back to mine and kissed me passionately. Once she was kissing me again, I turned so that I was on top of her again and our tongues dueled for several minutes while my hands roamed all over her midriff and breasts.

Eventually, I stopped kissing her and moved my lips along her jaw and neck until I reached her collarbone where I began kissing her again. She moaned my name and I moved lower to her breasts where I knew she wanted me to go. Nessie's right hand went to my hair and she brushed her fingers gently through my hair and her left hand stayed on my back and gently scratched my skin. It didn't hurt as much as it sort of tickled. Nessie kept moaning lightly while my mouth was sucking her nipple and her thighs tightened their grip on my hips. Then her feet locked behind me, keeping me where I was and she tightened around me all over. It took more effort to move to her other breast because of it, but I got there easy enough. I took my time with her other breast just as I had the first time, then moved my lips between her breast since I couldn't go down further because of her tight grip on me.

I reached my hands down until I reached her panties and she helped me pull those down and I was free to go further down without the grip she had before. I gently kissed down her midriff and her hands stayed in my hair and her eyes were closed in anticipation for what she knew I would do. She started whimpering my name and I smiled while I kept kissing my way down. Just to tease her, when I was close enough to her core, I strayed from there and kissed the inside of her thighs. She started whimpering, though she still moaned a little, so I was sure she still liked it.

"Jacob, please don't tease me." Before answering, I kept kissing Nessie's thighs and brought my right hand between her legs and inserted two fingers inside her and rubbed her nub with my thumb, making her moan.

"But I like teasing you, Nessie." I looked up at her and say her blushing face, twisted in desire. "I love the look on your face when I do."

"You're so cruel, Jacob." I chuckled and rubbed her with my thumb just a little bit harder and she groaned just a little louder and her fingers that were in my hair gripped me a little tighter.

"That's right, Nessie. I'm as evil as they come." Nessie giggled and moaned a little more. Thinking she was tired of being teased, I finally replaced my thumb with my tongue and moved my fingers around inside her and listened to her muffled scream from biting her lip.

Nessie took her hands away from my head and grabbed a hold of something else. I gave her my left hand so she would have something to grip onto and not rip the sheets. I moved my tongue in circles and up and down, and all the while, Nessie moaned my name. Every time she did, I got harder and my head was getting cloudy. I'm sure hers was too. I'd planned on making her cum, but I couldn't wait anymore. I gave both her thighs a tender kiss and took my fingers from inside her. She whimpered in complaint from the loss while I kissed my way back up her body. My right hand followed my kisses and I saw her smile from the touch tickling her just slightly. When I reached her breasts, Nessie grabbed a hold of my shoulders and pulled me up so our faces met.

After kissing me, her hands went down to my pants and she started trying to unbutton them. I let her do it herself and I helped her pull them down when she managed to unbutton and unzip them. Then she pushed my boxers down and I kicked them off the rest of the way for her. Once I was bare as her, I positioned myself at her entrance and pushed inside her, earning a breathy moan from her. My mind went blank for a few moments and I gripped onto the sheets and begun moving. When I did, Nessie clutched onto me and her legs wrapped around my hips. I started moderately, but when she was displeased with that, she tightened her grip and whispered in my ear, asking me to go faster, all the while licking and sucking on my ear. And that's exactly what I did.

Nessie and I stayed that way for a few minutes until she eventually pushed me onto my back and took over while she straddled my hips and moved at a slightly slower pace. I grabbed onto her hips to try and help her move just a little bit faster. I dictated most of her movements, but my grip on her was loose enough so that she could easily move. Nessie's hands stayed on my chest to keep herself supported and she moaned and said my name with every other thrust. All I could do was groan and bring one of my hands between her legs and rub her nub while she moved. She squeaked when I started and stopped moving, so I took over the thrusting movement for her. Then Nessie fell on top of me, resting her head in her little nook on my shoulder making small high pitched noises as I moved and rubbed her nub.

Nessie began sucking on my neck and licking while I moved and my eyes were rolling into the back of my head. Both my hands went to her butt so I could better control her hips while I moved. I could feel Nessie's nails digging into my skin. She was about to cum, and I wasn't too far behind her. I started moving even faster and Nessie bit my neck to muffle her scream. Then I felt her body pull me further inside and seemingly collapse around me. Then I couldn't hold it anymore and I came with her and tightened my grip on her for the whole time and didn't release the tight hold until I was spent. We took a few minutes to get down from our highs and Nessie cuddled to me lovingly while we did. When Nessie had enough composure, she removed herself from me and I felt the loss of her weight. I figured she wanted to go bed, but then I felt her hand begin to stroke my shaft. I was still slightly hard and I was still a little fogged up from just moments ago.

Nessie kept stroking me for a few moments and I kept my head on the pillow with my eyes closed and just felt what she was doing. I rested my hands under my head for comfort and almost signed in contentment. I knew I was smiling though. Several minutes later, Nessie bent her head down and took me in her mouth and I couldn't fight a groan while my body momentarily went stiff. It wasn't often that she did this and it used to worry me. But now she seemed to be able to do it without choking, so I just sat back and enjoyed myself. Nessie kept moving her hands up and down in a twisting motion while her tongue swirled around the tip. I breathed in and out slowly, trying to make sure I didn't groan too loudly. I took one of my hands from under my head and laced my fingers through her hair and gently clutched her head.

I groaned Nessie's name, and she smiled triumphantly at the sound and started bobbing her head up and down my shaft, taking in as much as she could from time to time. I noticed that my body was shaking subtly and it was getting harder and harder to breath slowly and deeply. Nessie noticed and smiled a little bit more. Then she took her mouth and hands away, forcing me to open my eyes and look at her. She had a wide grin on her face and she crawled closer to me to grab my hands and pull me up so I was sitting. She kept pulling me up until I was on my knees. Once there, she let go of my hands and rested on her hands and knees, reaching over to kiss my neck, letting me know what she wanted me to do.

I smiled and kissed her nose before going behind her and entering her again, grabbing a hold of her hips and moving her body accordingly. Nessie and I didn't last long. I came first, but I didn't stop until she did too. When she did, I finally allowed myself to fall onto my back and she cuddled close to me again. We were silent a moment, and we both almost fell asleep, but I remembered that we still had the lights on. So I walked over to the door to turn off the lights and walked back over to lie next to her in bed. Then I saw the clock and noticed it was midnight. I was surprised it was that late. I hadn't realized that much time had passed. But then I looked at Nessie, who was smiling at me lovingly. I smiled back and kissed her lips. She kissed back, then cuddled to my chest and I kissed her head.

"Happy mother's day, Nessie."

**NPOV**

Jacob and I were asleep almost instantly after he told me happy mother's day. When I woke up the next morning, I was completely covered by the blankets and I saw Kevin and Kyle in bed with me and Jacob. Jacob was already dressed and smiling at me. I smiled back at them and stayed under the covers. Then I noticed that I was dressed in a pair of pajama pants and my slipknot top. I couldn't imagine how Jacob had dressed me without waking me up, but I didn't say anything about it. I was looking at my two boys, both next to a box that said, 'Mommy', on a little card taped on.

"_Happy Mother's Day, mommy."_ I smiled at Kevin and lifted myself up so I was sitting. Once I was, I picked up Kevin and Kyle and cuddled them close to me with a big smile. Kyle was also about to cry. It was morning and time for his breakfast.

"Happy Mother's Day, Nessie." I smiled and looked at Jacob.

"Did the boys pick out their gift all by themselves?" Jacob grinned and nodded, but Kevin answered in his childish speech.

"We get nice thing for mommy. You like nice thing." I smiled and kissed Kevin's head.

"I'm sure I will. What did you get me, honey?" Kevin grinned wider.

"Secret. Open and see." I smiled wider and kissed his forehead.

"You're leaving me in suspense, Kevin." Kevin giggled and crawled out of my arms and went back to the box, handing it to me. Kyle wasn't crying yet, but he was getting impatient with not getting his food, I knew.

"Open, mommy." When the box was right in front of me, I tore the paper to reveal a shoe box and I had to fight a laugh. I opened the box and saw the shoes, lacy in all their glory and was happy to receive them and even happier to know that Kevin and Kyle picked them out themselves.

"They're beautiful." I kissed Kyle, then Kevin, and hugged them both. "Thank you so much."

"Mommy like?" I nodded.

"I like very much." Kevin grinned proudly and gave me a hug. I hugged him back, then he let go and hopped off our bed to go find something to play with. When Kevin was gone. Kyle started getting fussy for his breakfast. I lifted up one side of my shirt so my right breast would be exposed and Kyle latched onto me and started drinking.

"Now that he's calmed down, I got something for you." I looked up from Kyle to Jacob.

"You did?" Jacob nodded.

"Yeah." Then he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a black box. I smiled and took the box with my free hand and Jacob opened it for me. The necklace inside was a sweet flower in a heart.

"It's beautiful, Jacob. Thank you." Jacob smiled and took the necklace out of the box and scooted next to me on the bed so he could reach around and lock the necklace for me. I think Kyle saw it and started gently playing with it while he continued his breakfast.

"I'm glad you like it. It was one of the few that didn't say mom on it. I probably shouldn't get anything like that." I giggled.

"We'll, seeing as I'm not your mother, that's probably for the best. But thank you for thinking of me." Jacob laughed under his breath.

"I always do, Nessie." I smiled and reached over to kiss Jacob. Kyle made a whimpering sound and I took my lips away to look at Kyle. He stopped whimpering then and Jacob and I sighed. "Funny how kids dictate people's lives." I smiled.

"I don't mind so much."

"Yeah. Me either." We smiled at Kyle and Kevin walked into our room with a toy from his and Kyle's room and started playing with it. "What are you playing with, Kevin?"

"It's a toy. And it makes funny sound. You know, with the high sound like birdie." Jacob and I tried not to laugh at his description of the toy he had. It was one of those toys that made different sounds with four colors and made a color and sound pattern that the player had to follow. He could never get passed the third level, but he loved that toy.

"You want us to play with you?" Kevin shook her head and brought his toy a little closer.

"No. Myself." We smiled and watched Kevin as he played with his toy. I was proud he was growing up, but sometimes I missed how he depended on me. Now he wants to do everything himself. I will admit, I'm a little sad that he's so independent. But that's part of Kevin growing up and I would never complain about that. Jacob sighed.

"When did he stop needing us?" I giggled and rested my head against Jacob's shoulder. Then Kyle finished his breakfast and I pulled down my shirt to cover myself. Jacob took Kyle so he could burp him for me while I fixed up my shirt. Once Jacob had Kyle burped, I took him back and Jacob went to the closet to change into a different shirt.

"When he learned to walk, Jacob." Jacob chuckled and patted Kevin's head before walking to the closet to change.

"It won't be long and Kyle will start walking." I looked at Kyle after that. He was looking at me and gently playing with my new necklace.

"Don't say that, Jacob. Let me pretend he'll never grow up for a while." Jacob walked out of the closet with a different shirt and sat down next to me and kissed me, then kissed Kyle's forehead.

"Sure, Nessie."


	4. Red Night

**Blood Shot**

**JPOV**

I was sitting on the couch with Billy right next to me in his wheel chair and Charlie in the easy chair to Billy's right and the boys were sitting on the couch with me. Kevin was sitting and walking all on his own and was even talking now. He was turning two years old soon and Kyle would turn one this month and we were all really excited about it. Right now, they were sitting up on the couch all on their own and Kevin was able to talk to us, though his sentences were still choppy sometimes, but he was progressing fast and he had in all his baby teeth. Kyle was starting to get them all in and he complained about his mouth hurting all the time. Earlier, Billy had rubbed some whisky on his gums. I wasn't sure if it made the pain go away or not, but when I asked Billy, he just said that it shut me up when I was little, so it was sure to work on Kyle. We shared a little laugh and I watched as Kyle began looking just a little out of it. But on the bright side, he wasn't crying anymore. I told Billy to keep the remedy between us, though. I had a feeling Nessie would pitch a fit if she knew we rubbed whisky on Kevin's gums. Eight now, we were all sitting together watching a football game. During halftime, Charlie started talking to Billy.

"Did you hear from your mom?" I looked at Charlie a little and Billy nodded.

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"I saw the package addressed from Nevada on your table. How's she doing?" Billy shrugged.

"Decent I suppose. She got some hefty winnings and sent me some. That's good news. And she asked about Maxi and Travis. She's happy to hear they're doing well." Then Billy gave me a critical look. "Speaking of great grand kids."

"Dad, just don't talk to her about them."

"She's going to find out eventually, Jacob. A white woman is hard to hide forever, especially when you've had kids with one." Charlie sighed.

"Remind me what your mom's problem with white people is?"

"I don't know anymore, Charlie."

"I thought she had a crush on Kennedy."

"He was what she considered a rare exception to white trash that was the Caucasian race."

"I'm sorry Billy, but I really don't miss your mother." Billy laughed.

"I'm sure. My mother could probably be on an episode of the Boondocks."

"She'd fit into the show, that's for sure." Billy laughed and nodded, then he turned his attention back to me again.

"Anyway, Jacob, I didn't tell her this time, but next time I probably will."

"Dad, Nessie doesn't know grandma and she hasn't come to visit since I was fourteen. I would like to keep both that way. And besides, she wouldn't treat Kevin and Kyle the way they deserve to be, just because of Nessie and that's not fair to them."

"Who you talk about, daddy?" I looked at Kevin and patted his head.

"No one important, Kevin. Just watch the game." Kevin smiled and looked back at the screen as I told him to. Billy sighed again.

"Jacob, I'm serious. You need to just tell her. Take the bitching and yelling while she has breath in her lungs, then you can forget it all when she dies."

"Dad, she's almost eighty, smokes, drinks, and overexerts herself. She'll be dead in a year." Charlie laughed after that and looked at Billy.

"Is your mom still claiming to be forty?" Billy laughed and nodded.

"Yep."

"Does she know her son just turned fifty?" We all laughed and Billy nodded.

"Yeah, she knows. But I'm sure she tells people I'm still in my twenties."

"How old does that make me then?" Billy looked at me with the straightest face.

"You're a fetus, Jacob." Charlie and Billy started laughing and I smiled. Kyle and Kevin laughed, but I doubt they knew what Billy and Charlie were talking about.

"Daddy, what that make me and Kyle?" I smiled and shrugged.

"Really itty bitty." Kevin and Kyle looked at me, not getting the joke, so I looked back at Billy.

"Jacob, Next time I talk to her, I'm telling her about Nessie and the kids. It's bad enough that you never sent an invitation to your own grandma."

"You know why I didn't dad."

"That doesn't make it right, Jacob. You could've at least put in some effort."

"I don't see you putting in any effort to visit her or get her to visit us."

"That's different, Jacob. I had to live with her for eighteen years. I've had all I can take. You only had to tolerate her from time to time for ten years until she moved after your grandpa died."

"You know, it still bothers me that she was so happy at the funeral."

"They didn't like each other, Jacob, I don't know what else to tell you. Dad cheated on mom all the time and he was a bit of a dead beat husband. She's bound to be happy to see him dead and out of her life."

"I'm surprised that doesn't bother you."

"Of course it bothers me, Jacob. I was furious with mom for days. I'm still mad about it, but I let it go." I sighed and didn't talk anymore. I didn't want to talk about grandma.

"Why hasn't she visited you guys for so long?" Billy shrugged.

"Hell if I know. She calls, that's the only indication I have that she's still alive. My guess is she didn't want to leave a dry heat for constant rain." Charlie sighed.

"I don't think it's that bad."

It was still halftime, so we kept most of our attention on that after our conversation. The boys got excited when the game was over. By the time the game was over, it was seven and the boys were getting tired and hence a little cranky. They'd already had their dinner and were ready for bed. I was glad that both of the boys were weaned for the most part now. Kyle still got a little from time to time, but Kevin was completely off the stuff now. We did as Carlisle said and did it gradually. Eventually, Kevin simply didn't want it anymore and always wanted my food. I think Nessie was a little sad when Kevin didn't want to breast feed anymore, but she never showed it. Nessie was playing the piano when I got home. She stopped playing as soon as we all came in and walked over to the door. As always, Kevin insisted on walking himself and he went to Nessie to give her a hug while I kept holding Kyle.

"Hi honey. Did you have fun at grandpa's house?" Kevin nodded.

"We watch men run into each other. They carry weird ball and make sounds go boom. When they did, weird man in white and black come out and scream with small shinny thing in his mouth." Nessie listened attentively as Kevin described everything to Nessie in grueling detail, even if half those details didn't make much sense. She would say the word he meant, like referee and whistle, whenever they came up.

"That sounds like it was lots of fun. Are you tired after all that?" Kevin nodded and yawned.

"I real tired. I want bed." Nessie smiled and picked him up. Though I think he was a little reluctant, Kevin let Nessie carry him. Nessie hated that Kevin was getting so independent, so it was nice when Kevin would suck it up and let her baby him a little.

"Let's get you and Kyle to bed then." Nessie looked at me and turned towards the stairs and I followed her upstairs where we took Kevin and Kyle for bed. Kevin was still in a crib, but lately he'd been insisting that he was ready for a big boy bed. Nessie, again, was a little reluctant. Every time she and Alice went cloths shopping for the boys, which was seemingly every week, it was like a slap to her face that they were growing up. It was worse when they crossed milestones. She was proud, but she thought they were growing up too fast on her.

We both walked upstairs and put the boys in their cribs and I left to go back downstairs while Nessie stayed and told them a story. There probably wasn't s good game on right now, so I went out to the garage to work on my bike. I've been dying to drive to work with it, but I was waiting for the weather to be just right. Sadly, November weather was rarely kind. Kyle was turning one this Friday and we were planning to throw a mini-birthday party for him at the shop, then Alice had something special planned for him at their place. Then we had a lot of birthdays in December to worry about. We toyed around with the idea of picking a day to have a combined birthday, at least for the first few early years. Last year, we just had individual little parties.

In truth, Rachael deserved a break in general. She was pregnant again and for the last time. She was due February and was desperately hoping for a girl. After two boys, she was hoping she could end with a bang and have a girl. But regardless of gender, after this baby, they were done. She was even talking to Carlisle about maybe getting her tubes tied. Carlisle was happy to do it for her at minimal cost. The only reason he needed some form of payment was because she wanted the procedure done in a hospital. She was trying to get Paul to agree to it, but he was adamant about not doing it.

I was trying to make another addition to my bike to make it even faster. When Bella had first brought me this bike, no one would ever guess that I'd be able to make all the alterations that I'd made to both over the years. Rosalie had made a few adjustments of her own to Bella's bike by getting new paint and other exterior adjustments. She even put white leather on her bike seat. I stuck with black leather because it was masculine. White was too girly. While I was working, Nessie came into the garage and I looked at her when she came in.

"Hey. Are they asleep?"

"Yeah, they're out. They fell asleep when I got to the part where the hero went on his way to the cave to slay the dragon." I chuckled.

"Good. Kyle was starting to get cranky on our way home."

"I know. He tends to do that." I smiled and Nessie walked over to me and took a seat in my lap while I was working. "So what are you doing to your bike this time?"

"I'm making it faster." Nessie giggled.

"Again?"

"Yeah again. I want this bike to be as fast as possible."

"It's not like you ride it a lot."

"But the few times I do, I would love for it to go as fast as possible. And guess what, on Kyle's birthday, it's supposed to be sunny so maybe I could take him for a ride." Nessie gave me a wide eyed look and I knew the answer. "I'm kidding."

"I hope so. He's too little to be on a bike right now."

"I know, Nessie, I know." Nessie smiled and hugged me while my hands kept working on the bike. "You know what we should do."

"What should we do?"

"We should go riding. Give Kevin and Kyle to Billy or your parents and drive the bike. Just for a few hours." Nessie kept smiling and sighed.

"It's been a while since we've had some time to ourselves hasn't it." I nodded.

"We haven't had that time alone since you came home from college."

"We had a year or so."

"But you were pregnant. And as you recall, I couldn't come too close to you without Kevin getting upset. When that happened, neither of us were happy." Nessie sighed.

"I suppose you're right."

"Yeah. So how about this Saturday, we make Kevin and Kyle stay with their grandparents and we have a day to ourselves." Nessie giggled and kissed me.

"I think that would be nice. But only for a few hours."

"Sure. Just a few hours. Who do you want to watch Kevin and Kyle?"

"Momma and daddy. They haven't had them in a while. And I know Alice would love to take them shopping." I rolled my eyes.

"Again?"

"Jacob, they're growing like weeds. And frankly, that's all your fault as far as I'm concerned."

"This from the woman that was married at six."

"Shut up, my growth doesn't count. I'm a unique case." I laughed and kissed her again.

"Fine, Nessie."

"I'll go call daddy and ask him to watch the boys." Nessie walked away until she reached the door, then she turned to look at me again. "When are you coming to bed?"

"Do you want me to come to bed now?" Nessie shook her head.

"No. I'm just asking is all." I shrugged.

"I'll be inside in an hour." Nessie smiled.

"Okay." Then she walked out of the garage, closing the door behind her, and went to the phone to call Edward and then do whatever.

As I said I would, I came back inside at the end of the hour, my hands dirty from working on the bike. I heard the shower going and decided to sit at the edge of the bed and wait for Nessie to be done when I got to our room. Nessie took a little longer than I would like, but she finally came out and gave me a loving smile as she walked to the closet. I smiled back and took the bathroom so I could take my shower. I stripped down and went to turn on the shower and held my hand under the stream waiting for it to get hot enough. Then Nessie walked in and we looked at each other.

"Momma and daddy said they'd be happy to watch the boys for us this weekend." I smiled.

"Good to hear. I know you just took a shower, but do you want to join me?" Nessie grinned and walked in.

"Sure. I haven't cleaned you in a while. You could use my obsessive touch." We laughed and I gave her a quick kiss before taking her clothes off for her quickly. "Jacob, don't get too excited."

"Why?"

"It's that time of the month." I lost my grin.

"Oh." Nessie gave me a guilty smile.

"It's a mood killer, I know."

"A little bit. When did it start?"

"Yesterday morning." I sighed.

"Okay. You'll be fine by the end of the week."

"Do you still want me to join you?"

"That might be cruel, Nessie. I'm never a fan of teasing when there's nothing to look forward to in the near future." Nessie gave me a weird look and I shrugged. "I'm saying I can wait."

"I know what you're saying. I'll let you take your shower and see you in bed." Nessie came over and gave me a quick kiss before grabbing her clothes and walking out.

I took my shower as soon as the water was hot enough and tried finishing my shower as fast as I could. As soon as my hair was clean and the soap was off me, I walked out of the shower, dried off, and walked out of the bathroom and across to the closet to get some pajama pants. Nessie was in bed and lying down with the lights off when I walked to bed, but she wasn't asleep yet. I'm sure she was getting there. I got in bed and took her into my arms and she turned in my arms so she was facing me and cuddled her face into her little nook. We fell asleep like that and I woke up to the sound of our alarm clock and Nessie cuddled in my arms still. I groaned and started banging the alarm clock until it finally shut off.

"Jacob, stop hitting the alarm clock. I don't want to buy a new one." Shortly after, we started hearing crying from the other room. That was Kyle. And since he was crying, Kevin would soon follow him. "I'll take care of the boys. You get some clothes laid out for work."

Nessie left my arms and got out of bed to go to Kevin and Kyle's room and attend to them and get their breakfast and clothes ready. I did as Nessie said and got our clothes out and ready and shaved really quickly before getting dressed. Any other man loses his hair with age; I was growing more of it. I used to be able to go weeks without Alice Scissorhands needing to cut my hair. Now she needed to do it at least once every three weeks. And I needed to shave more often than before. It was driving me crazy. I needed to shave every morning and night now. I used to be able to get away with not shaving for two days. Now I can't.

When I was done shaving, Nessie walked back in and got dressed really fast before running out to go back to the boys. I got dressed and ran downstairs where Nessie had some eggs ready for me and was feeding Kevin and Kyle some cheerios in his high chair. Kyle had probably already breast fed. We had him on the same weaning time as Kevin. Before going to work, we dropped the boys off at Billy's house. Nessie wanted to take them to work with us, but we couldn't anymore. Kevin had formed a new habit of looking through things he shouldn't and getting into trouble. The last straw was when he'd gotten into the waiting room and tried rummaging through a customer's purse. Nessie spent twenty minutes calming the woman down. In the end, I had to give her free services to have a shred of hope that she would be a client to us again.

We stopped letting the boys come to work with us after that and made them spend the day with Billy. I suggested we send them to a daycare or preschool, but Nessie said they were too young. That and she just doesn't trust other people with our boys. I'm not sure if she's scared something will happen to the boys or if the boys will do something to the people watching them. They weren't horrible kids or anything, Kevin was just starting to get a habit of entertaining himself in ways that are harmful or disrespectful to others, like looking through their stuff, or playing with things he shouldn't. I figure it's a stage when he's being curious, but I try to get him to stop it. He's a stubborn kid, that's for sure.

Once we had the boys dropped off, Nessie and I went to work and got about our business for the day. Later that week, we had Kyle's birthday at Nessie's family's house. Kyle was barely interested until the presents came up. Once those were opened, Kyle and Kevin and all the boys played together while we all caught up and talked. Kyle wasn't talking much, but he was learning words really fast. According to Edward, the mindreading thing made him learn words much faster. I was just hoping Kyle didn't listen to Emmett and what went on in his head.

"Hey, Jacob." I looked at Alice and looked slightly cautious.

"What?" Alice looked serious, so I was extremely concerned at the moment.

"The first thing I want to say is something I think we both know about. You need a haircut. It's starting to get long again." Edward was paying attention, so I knew that wasn't the only thing she was talking about. "The second thing I need to talk to you about is something that's kind of serious."

"What is it? Is a large coven on their way or something?" Alice sighed.

"Not necessarily, but it's something you'll probably consider just as bad. There will be a lot more vampires coming through here. They might be threatening, they might not be. But they're all going to a blood bar that just opened up in Seattle." Now, Alice had everyone's attention. Seth was really surprised.

"A what?" Carlisle interrupted.

"Alice, are you sure about this? This is serious."

"I'm positive. The owner is a vampire that you know, so we'll all get an invitation to opening night shortly."

"Who's the owner?" Carlisle looked really concerned now.

"Her name is Gretchen. Officially, her name is Gretchen Mason according to her mailing address." I took over.

"Why didn't you tell me about this, Alice? We could've avoided this!"

"Right, Jacob, what are you and the pack going to do? March into Seattle as wolves and attack? You'll have the National Guard on your tails in an instant. And none of us want to deal with that. That would be exponentially worse."

"Fine, Alice, but you can't expect me to be okay with this. This means more people dying." Carlisle interrupted.

"Maybe not. There's been an odd number of orders for donated blood from the hospital I work at and a few others in the Olympic area. This would explain it. They might just being using that to avoid detection."

"That doesn't solve anything. What if a human walks into one of those places?" Emmett chuckled a little.

"It's called a bouncer, Jacob. If a human tries to get in, they simply don't let them in." I rolled my eyes and Paul had his say.

"Well, who's to say they bother? Why pay for blood when you could get it for free?" Jared nodded and spoke.

"Exactly. That's what I don't understand about these damn blood bars you guys are talking about. Vampires go out and hunt for free. Why would they pay?" Edward answered.

"Because it's more discrete believe it or not. No one's found dead because a lot of bars take the blood from hospitals. They didn't used to and that's why the Volturi made them close down. Some blood bars even pretend they're a blood donation center and get blood that way. It's a great way to get clean blood. Believe it or not, you can tell when blood is infected with something, like malaria or AIDS or Hemophilia. It has a taste that gives it away and makes it unpleasant. It's the bars responsibility to make sure that blood's never offered."

"That still doesn't explain why they would pay for it."

"Some blood bars charge, some don't. I suspect this place does, but Northern vampires, like Carlisle, sometimes hold up jobs. It makes them feel human again. And since they have the money, it's easier to just go to the blood bar and buy a pint or two of blood than to actually look for someone healthy." We all looked at Edward with a weird stare. Nessie spoke next.

"So what are we going to do? Are we planning to just let this go?" I interrupted.

"No. I put up with vampire relatives and comings and goings of friends of yours, but I'm not taking this sitting down, Edward. I'll take visitors only because you guys are family, but I'm not tolerating this." Edward sighed.

"Fine, Jacob, but there's not much you can do. You can't kill every single vampire that comes through here to go to that blood bar. Especially with how many will show up if this place is successful." I was about to talk, but he interrupted me. "And attacking them directly is out of the question. I'm not going to let you cause a scene."

"Oh yeah, Edward, and who made you the boss here?" Nessie looked at me.

"Jacob, stop it. He's just trying to help. They don't want this going on either." Then Jasper surprised me and spoke with a shrug.

"I support it. If I could stop this vegetarian crap and go to a bar and not kill anyone, than why should we close it down? And like Carlisle said, they're probably using donated blood." Alice looked at Jasper.

"Jasper, don't."

"Alice, I go with the vegetarian diet because of you. If you didn't want to do this, I would never tolerate it. I like all of you, but you know I have a hard time with this. We all do." Carlisle sighed.

"I know, Jasper. But you understand why we do what we do."

"And with a blood bar that uses donated blood, I don't see the issue anymore." Alice interrupted.

"That donated blood should go to people who need blood transfusions. Taking them from hospitals is almost the same as ensuring a person's death." Edward spoke next.

"Look, Jasper, what we're concerned about is the collection of vampires that will start showing up because of this. It could mean more deaths. Maybe they're on their way to the blood bar, but they can't wait and they end up attacking someone. And what if those vampires take permanent residence here? That could lead to territorial wars."

"Which is why I say we kill them off at the source." Edward rubbed his face and looked at me.

"I said we aren't doing that. Carlisle agrees with me. If we're going to act, we need to be discrete about it and charging in with a temper and a vendetta is hardly the way to handle it."

"Fine, then how do you propose we handle it, Edward?"

"Don't give me that tone, Jacob."

"I will give you that tone, Edward. You're not my father." Then Billy spoke.

"I agree with Jacob. It's the only thing we can do." Charlie, who was sitting next to Billy, stayed out of the conversation. I'm sure he had an opinion, but he didn't want to get involved. And I think Jasper's comment made him extremely uncomfortable.

"It's not the only thing we can do, Billy." I spoke again interrupting Edward.

"Yes it is. We don't have to be as our wolves on the way there. All we have to do is wait until we're inside, then we go loose."

"Jacob, that's the dumbest idea I've ever heard. You think they're going to just let you in? You all smell like wet dogs. You'll be lucky if they even let you stay in line."

"I don't see you coming up with anything better."

"You're not letting me!"

"Edward, your idea is to reason with them! Vampires can't be reasoned with, you should know that!"

"Your tribe reasoned with Carlisle several years ago and that went well, didn't it?"

"That was different! You guys swore that you didn't drink human blood, so we set up the boundaries and pretended you didn't exist as much as we could. And hell, we all saw how well that worked out in the end! Even so, this is different. They're openly drinking human blood in the middle of a city! And these people probably have no reason to be discrete aside from the Volturi. Well, they're gone. What reason do they have to behave now, huh Edward? I'm waiting for an answer!"

"Then shut up and let me give you one, you fucking mutt!" Bella held onto Edward, trying to calm him down. I think I felt Nessie do the same thing. Meanwhile, Charlie stood from his chair.

"I should leave." Bella looked at Charlie.

"No dad, please don't. They'll take it outside." Then she looked at Edward and me sternly. "Right?"

Neither of us said anything. Instead, me and my pack and Edward, Emmett, Jasper, and Carlisle walked outside while everyone else stayed inside. I think Nessie followed, but she stayed inside. I think she wanted to make sure that this didn't turn ugly. I would let it turn ugly if Edward didn't give me a better way to handle the situation or if he pissed me off anymore than he already had. I heard Edward let out a condescending breath at my thoughts, but I ignored it. Once we were outside in the backyard, we all faced each other, my entire pack at my back and the vampires across from us.

"I'm putting my foot down on this Edward."

"I never said you couldn't. What I'm saying is that you need to approach this appropriately. Barging in and fazing in the bar will only get you guys killed. It'll be the eighteen of you against over two hundred vampires. Those aren't good odds, especially against seasoned vampires. And frankly, Jacob, my daughters husband or not, I won't get your ass out of that one."

"Sure Edward, then you can go to my house and explain to your daughter why she's a widow."

"She's got two boys Jacob. As far as I'm concerned, you've served your purpose." I growled and heard my pack get defensive. Carlisle stopped the fight.

"Edward, that was inappropriate and you know it. Look, Jacob, I agree with Edward that we need to handle this rationally. Barging in there and picking a fight is not the way to handle this. Alice said that Gretchen owns this bar and I know her very well. Maybe I could simply convince her to move the bar to a different location."

"No offense Carlisle, but a bar can't be picked up and moved. It's a lot more complicated than that." Emmett rolled his eyes.

"No shit, Jacob. He knows that." Jasper spoke.

"I still say we leave it be. Honestly, what's the worst that could happen?"

"What do you think, Jasper? Territorial wars for one! An increase in the death rate in this area! Is that enough reason for you or should I continue you selfish prick?" Jasper hissed at me and looked like he would attack me but Carlisle held him back.

"Jacob, stop. Arguing isn't getting us anywhere." Emmett huffed.

"They started it." I growled at Emmett and simply flipped him off.

"Real mature, Jacob." Carlisle hit Edward's shoulder and looked at me again.

"Jacob, please. Let me go there and try to talk to her. I'm sure she'll take my opinion to heart. We were good friends when I lived in England." I sighed.

"Carlisle, I'm not sure being good friends with her is going to make her get up and leave. She may like you, but there's more to moving a business to a different location than just picking up and leaving, especially if she plans to keep it going."

"I know that, Jacob. I'm just saying this is the most peaceful way to go about it."

"Fine then, but what if she says no?" Carlisle sighed.

"Let's compromise on this, Jacob, please. Give me a chance to talk to her and get my point across. If after that she refuses, then I'll warn her about you and your pack. If she still says no, then I'll let you do it your way. I only ask that you not make a scene."

"We come with you when you talk to her, Carlisle. If she says no, that's the last opportunity for her to agree."

"Jacob, that's not fair to her."

"I don't care, Carlisle. If she says no once, that's tough." Jasper laughed.

"And how to you plan to stand up to all those vampires, Jacob? Like Edward said, it'll be a minimum two hundred against eighteen. You won't stand a chance and you know it. And we're not helping you." Carlisle sighed.

"Yes we are." We all looked at Carlisle, a little surprised. Jasper responded.

"You can't be serious." Carlisle nodded, then looked at Edward.

"Edward, whether you agree with Jacob about this or not isn't relevant. He's your daughter's husband and he's been very good to her and us and I'm ashamed that you would deny him assistance, even if you don't truly agree with his method. He's acting like this because he's thinking of everyone's wellbeing, particularly the wellbeing of your daughter and grandchildren. So if things go south, we are helping, no questions asked. And we help because they're family." Jasper sighed again.

"I'm not helping. You guys can help, but I'm not. I say there's nothing wrong with this place. And hey, if anything happens to Jacob, there's always Marcelo." I practically roared and was shaking violently. The pack held me back and Jasper didn't even flinch. This time, Edward came to my defense.

"Shut up, Jasper. I'd rather Nessie married a toad than Marcelo."

"Edward, I doubt Nessie will take a frog as a replacement for a lapdog. We should at least give her a cat right Emmett." Emmett laughed a little and I growled again and continued to shake violently. Carlisle spoke.

"You're helping, Jasper. Alice will make you, I can promise you that much." Jasper rolled his eyes and didn't say another word. "Can we agree on that? Let me talk to her first. If that fails, then you can do what you wish and we'll help you." I nodded.

"I can agree to that."

"But please, wait for me to tell you it's okay to attack, please." I was silent a moment. I was thinking about it and Edward was waiting for me to come to a decision so he could tell Carlisle what I was thinking. When I decided, Edward spoke for me.

"He agrees." Carlisle finally smiled a little.

"Thank you, Jacob." Then we were silent again when we noticed Edward looked like he was listening to something. We all started listening and heard footsteps in the background that only we could ever hear. Then I smelled the unfamiliar sweet scent of a vampire and I got defensive, as did the others.

"Don't worry, Jacob, he's just delivering what Alice said was coming." I looked at Edward, a little less defensive.

"What are you talking about?" Edward didn't answer me. Instead we all looked in the direction he was looking, to his right, and waited for what was coming. We didn't wait too long and there was a man, a vampire, standing before us.

He was about Edward's height, so marginally puny for a male size, though I could just think that because I'm pushing seven feet tall. He had black hair and was tan, but still had that pasty demeanor that all vampires had. I would guess he was Mediterranean of some nature or maybe even a really good looking Middle Eastern man. He was dressed very casually in slacks and a deep blue polo shirt and tennis shoes. His hair was really short and spiky a little like mine, but he had longer hair in the back. I got a little excited when I saw that he had a mullet. That meant he was either fashion forward for his time or he was changed in the eighties. Making him obviously American born.

"Um, am I interrupting something?" Carlisle shook his head.

"Not at all. Who are you?" The guy scrunched his nose and looked at us.

"Jesus, boys, it's called a bar of soap. It's not expensive." Carlisle spoke before we could react.

"They're the Quileute wolves. They just naturally smell like that." The guy looked at Carlisle a little surprised.

"They are? I always pictured them, you know, looking like wolves." Edward laughed to himself and Carlisle explained.

"Well, they were human first. They turn into wolves at will. Now please, you have something for me?"

"I do if you're Carlisle."

"That's me."

"Awesome. This is for you." The guy took out an envelope that was black and had some fancy purple ribbon around it. "It's an invitation from Gretchen for you to come to her new blood bar. It's called Red Night. She's really proud of it and she's eager to see you there." Carlisle smiled kindly.

"I will take a look." The guy looked nervous.

"I promise, nothing questionable goes on there, if that's what you're concerned about. We got some donated blood from hospitals to start and once we really get going, we'll open up a blood bank nearby and get donations from people. Not a soul has to die. Gretchen said that would be a concern of yours." Edward and Jasper took a moment to give me a stare that said, 'told you so', then looked back at the guy.

"I will admit, that was a concern. And these gentlemen here," Carlisle gestured his hand towards me and my pack, "have the same concerns. If what you're telling me is true, I might be able to convince them to leave your establishment alone." I interrupted.

"No can do, Carlisle. They leave or we fight. No ifs, ands, or buts." The guy laughed.

"Good luck, dude. It's you eighteen against an average three hundred, capacity of eight hundred, vampires. Frankly, if you can stand against that many, I'll suck your dick." Emmett laughed while I gave the guy a dirty look.

"I'd rather you didn't."

"Maybe one of the dancers we have. They're all pretty. But you can't have Bethani. She's mine."

"Not a problem?" Carlisle waved his hand at me.

"Never mind that. I'd be happy to pay a visit."

"Fantastic. Gretchen will be thrilled to see you." Carlisle nodded.

"And they must be allowed to accompany me." The guy looked at us and scrunched his nose again.

"Only if you can make them not smell like wet dogs. Gretchen will be very displeased if her customers leave because the house smells bad." Carlisle smiled.

"We'll try. And your name was?"

"Timothy. Just call me Tim. Opening night's tomorrow. And don't worry about dressing up or anything. We're taking requests, so the music will be pretty eclectic. But once people know about us, we'll start having themed nights. Bethani's looking forward to eighties night. And any time she can sing Lady Gaga songs. I'm not sure which she likes better, the songs or being allowed to wear a phone on her head." Emmett had a quick laugh and Carlisle continued to smile.

"Well, Tim, thank you for the invitation. My coven and I will certainly attend." Tim nodded.

"Before I leave, any song requests you'd like to make ahead of time?" Emmett spoke.

"No Mamas and the Papas. Spare me the hippy music." Tim chuckled.

"I'll see what I can do." Jasper spoke next.

"Forgive me for saying, but your blood bar's starting to sound a lot more like a nightclub than a bar." Tim shrugged.

"Just because it's got a blood bar doesn't mean our customers shouldn't get to dance and have fun. Gretchen has one of these things in New York and it's been running strong for a solid three years now. No problems coming up, and plenty of customers, vampires and human, mind you." My eyes widened.

"You have humans come there?" Tim nodded proudly.

"Indeed we do. We have alcohol and blood at that bar, so everyone's serviced. And humans are never the wiser. And we have bouncers on constant patrol in the bar and a strict new born policy. I guess you could call it the 'drinking age' for vampires. No one under seven years old." I laughed without humor a little.

"And how, may I ask, do you check that?"

"Gretchen knows a lot of vampires. And besides, it's not hard to pick out a new born out of mature vampires, believe me. And vampires aren't allowed to leave the bar with a human. We can't help what they do once they've left the premises, of course, but we try." Jasper smiled.

"You're starting to sound like a huge ass right about now, Jacob."

"Shut up, Jasper." Tim interrupted us.

"And just in case you're interested, the bar's a theatre during the day." This got my attention and Esme came rushing out to greet Tim.

"You don't say." Tim nodded.

"Yep. It's a huge coven we've got. About thirty vampires and counting. We have plenty. And it's a lot of fun anyway. And tomorrow before the bar opens, we're showing Beauty and the Beast. Bethani's not playing Belle, though. Belle's being played by Lyndsay. Bethani's actually playing Madam La Grande Bouche." I gave him a weird look.

"Who?"

"The dresser."

"Oh."

"And I'm playing Cogsworth. It'll be lots of fun." Esme grinned.

"I can't wait."

"Awesome! We'll see you tomorrow for the play, then for opening night of the bar." Tim finally turned his back and ran away the way he came. Esme looked at Carlisle.

"I've never heard of a vampire theatre in anything but movies."

"They had that in that movie with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise." Seth looked at Paul.

"Vampire Diaries?" I shook my head.

"No, that's a bad show. I think Paul's talking about True Blood." Seth shook his head.

"No, that's another bad show. Alyssa loves that show. I'd rather she watched Martha Stewart over that show." Edward sighed.

"You guys are thinking about Interview with a Vampire." Paul nodded.

"Yeah, that one."

"Yes, there was an Italian coven run by Antonio Banderas and they were vampires who pretended to be humans that played vampires. Vampires have had their own theatres for centuries sense the Greeks started it. They were exceptionally popular in Europe and Asia until the Volturi put an end to those too."

"I never realized vampires had a culture." Edward laughed and looked at Seth.

"Seth, I'm surprised at you." Seth smiled and shrugged.

"Sorry. Before you know it, vampires will have their own currency." Edward shrugged.

"With the Volturi gone, vampires could do whatever they like. We could even come out about our existence if we wanted to."

"And I'm hoping, Edward, that your coven will take responsibility to make sure that doesn't happen." Carlisle looked at me sternly.

"Jacob, you can't expect us to do that. We didn't kill the Volturi. That was Vladimir and Stefan. And Titus was the one to kill them. If you're thinking anyone should take responsibility, it should be Titus Valerius." Edward laughed without humor.

"Please. Stalin or Franco would make better leaders. They may have been nuts, but at least they cared about their countries. Titus wouldn't care at all. It would be no better than when Vladimir and Stefan had control. In his case, the indifference would be significant, almost painful even." Jasper spoke.

"Not to mention, Immortal Children might make a comeback when someone has the balls to push their limits. That would be bad too." Carlisle sighed.

"You don't have to tell me twice." I shrugged.

"Just call yourselves the new rulers of the free vampire world and be done with it. I don't even care if you tell people you control our pack, so long as order is maintained." Carlisle sighed.

"That's a tall order, Jacob." Esme spoke, taking Carlisle's hand in hers.

"We may have to. It's partially our faults the entire mess happened to begin with." Carlisle sighed and I looked down when I felt someone tug onto my pant leg. Kevin was looking up at me.

_Mommy want you._ I sighed.

"She does, huh?"

Kevin nodded and held up his arms, letting me know he wanted to be carried. I picked him up and walked back to the house. I heard everyone follow me inside and Nessie was sitting at the couch waiting with Kyle asleep in her arms with a small toy in his hand. When Nessie noticed I was walking over, she stood up and asked Bella to take Kyle. She walked over, put her hand on Kevin's arm a moment, then Kevin pushed me, saying he wanted to be put down and ran over to Bella when he was on his feet.

"Can I talk to you a minute?" Knowing she didn't need to wait for me to say yes or no, she walked past me back outside and I followed after her. Once we started walking out into the woods further from the house, I was getting an eerie sense of rendezvous. I didn't need to ask to know I was in trouble. The question I had was why was she mad at me at all. Once we were in a spot Nessie deemed appropriate, she stopped and looked at me.

"What did I do?"

"What do you think you did, Jacob?" I shrugged.

"I don't readily know Nessie, but if you'd like, I'll go sit in a corner and think about it a little until Edward tells me I figured it out."

"Don't give me that, Jacob."

"Just tell me what I did."

"You were disrespectful to daddy, that's what you did."

"I've done this before and you chose now to bitch about it?" I learned just how bad a choice of words that was when Nessie's face nearly turned red with anger.

"Jacob!"

"I don't know what to tell you, Nessie. I have a right to put my foot down."

"But you don't have a right to back talk my father when he's only trying to compromise with you."

"He wasn't trying to compromise with me, Nessie."

"Yes he was, Jacob." I sighed.

"Fine, whatever, Nessie."

"Don't whatever me, Jacob."

"I'm not apologizing to them if that's what you're asking. I'll apologize to Carlisle, but you can forget me apologizing to anyone else."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Jasper was being just as mean as me, and I'm not apologizing. And don't pretend you didn't hear your dad tell me that I've lost my usefulness to you and shit."

"Jacob, he wasn't right, but neither were you. Frankly, you should both be apologizing to each other, all of you. I guarantee momma's telling daddy the same thing I'm telling you."

"As if, Nessie." Nessie growled a little to herself.

"You're being so unreasonable, Jacob."

"What do you want me to do, Nessie? Just sit there and say, 'sure, I'm cool with this whole blood bar thing. Let casualties increase, by all means'? And hey, since I'm doing that, why don't I just kiss your dad's ass?"

"That's not what I'm saying, Jacob! I'm saying, the least you could've done was act like a rational adult about it."

"I was rational!"

"Oh yeah, Jacob, real rational and mature. Flipping off Emmett and calling Jasper a prick, that's real mature, Jacob. I don't know why I was complaining."

"Don't give me sarcasm, Nessie. I'm not in the mood to put up with it."

"Put up with it? Is that all you do is put up with what I am and what my family is?"

"You're twisting what I said, Nessie."

"Am I Jacob? You put up with my family, you put up with their friends, you put up with the fact that I'm a half breed, so what you're saying is that you hate what I am!"

"God damn it, Nessie, that's not what I'm saying and you fucking know it! I wouldn't change a thing about you, and you should know that by now!"

"You wouldn't change the fact that the idea of a blood bar is extremely tempting for me?"

"Now you're just setting me up for a bad answer."

"Yes or no, Jacob. Would you or would you not, if you could, change about me that I like blood and could easily, and happily, live off human blood?"

"I plead the fifth." This time, Nessie let out a small screech.

"There's no reasoning with you, Jacob!"

"Me? You're the one who's accusing me of hating things about you! I can't believe you would even go there!"

"All I'm asking is that you apologize to my family and you're refusing to!"

"Because I'm not apologizing to people that don't deserve it!"

"Whether they deserve it or not isn't the issue Jacob! It's the fact that you're being the bigger man and admitting you were wrong! But obviously, you can't even do that!"

"I'm not saying I'm sorry, Nessie!"

"Fine!" Nessie started walking past me, having had enough of the conversation. I turned to watch her walk away. While she did, she was mumbling to herself about how much of an ass I was being at the moment. I held my tongue, not wanting to make the situation worse.

I didn't follow her back to the house. The last thing I wanted was Edward staring me down expecting the apology I'm sure he thought he deserved. Instead, I went to Forks and checked in on the shop. I had a group of college kids that worked there on the weekends and they hardly ever saw me. They're usually looked after by Brian, who was surprised to see me when I got there.

"Hey you. What brings you here on a Saturday?"

"I'm just checking in." Brian was silent a moment.

"Did something happen?"

"Go to Nessie's office and I'll tell you what's wrong." Brian nodded and left the front desk and walked into Nessie's office. Normally, Steven was at the front desk, but on weekends, we had a high school girl named Katrina. She was a nice girl and best part was she never hit on me. I followed Brian into Nessie's office and closed the door.

"So what happened?" I sighed.

"A blood bar's opening in Seattle. Carlisle plans to go there and try to convince the owner to close down. Evidently, they're friends."

"Are you sure we should leave it just up to the Cullens?"

"No, that's why we aren't. We're going there with Carlisle. If she refuses, we attack."

"How many will we be up against?"

"At least three hundred. That's what the messenger said." Brian looked nervous.

"Can we stand against that many?" I sighed and rubbed my face, the reality really setting in.

"I don't know. Carlisle said the Cullens would fight with us, but even then, I don't know what our odds are."

"But by the same token we can't let this go."

"I know. It's too dangerous."

"So maybe we should be a little more sneaky about it?"

"How do we do that, then?" Brian shrugged.

"Should we call everyone together and talk? Maybe even ask Sam for his opinion. He might be able to come up with something."

"That's a good idea. Be at my house tonight when you get off work. I'll get the others there too."

"Sure thing. I'll call Sam for you and let him know he needs to go to your place."

"Thanks, Brian. I'll see you later tonight."

I left the shop to let Brian get back to work and sent a text to all the pack members that had texting on their phone to let them know they needed to meet at my house. When I got home, Nessie wasn't there. I figured she'd still be at her family's house, so I wasn't surprised. I went to the garage and worked on my bike to pass the time. There wasn't much else I could do to my bike anymore. I'd made so many adjustments and changes to it that it was pretty much a one of a kind bike made from the scrap metal Bella had given me about eleven years ago. And thinking that number just made me feel old. I'd already had Nessie's birthday in September to remind me she was ten now. That also meant Bella was twenty nine and next year she would be thirty. I was looking forward to rubbing that in her face.

I was in the garage cleaning and re-cleaning my bike for a few hours before I heard the doorbell. I rushed out of the garage and went to the door to let the pack in. Everyone arrived at the same time, probably waiting for Brian to tell them all he was off work. I noticed it was seven and Nessie wasn't back yet. I assumed she was still at her family's house at the moment, so I took a moment to make something really quick for us to eat. I figured the guys hadn't eaten in a while. All I knew how to make was eggs, so I just made some scrambled eggs for them. If they didn't like it, tough. Once the eggs were done, I brought out paper plates and a huge bowl of eggs and we had at the eggs at will.

"Brian already told me the original plan about handling this place." I nodded at Sam and rubbed the back of my neck.

"I figured. You don't think that's a good idea?" Sam sighed.

"I think you're starting to feel that way, frankly. And if so, I'm in agreement."

"I don't know how else to handle this, though. We can't let this go, Sam, you know that."

"Of course I know that. But in truth, there's no way to do this privately. Killing them off one by one at the source won't work. They're too smart for that. Killing them one by one as they come will take too long." Tentatively, Seth said something.

"Maybe we should see where this goes." We all looked at Seth surprised.

"What?"

"Well, like the messenger said, they don't kill humans for their blood supply. And they have alcohol for human patrons and strict rules. Maybe this Gretchen lady is like Carlisle." I sighed.

"I don't think so."

"There's not much else we can do, Jacob. Any form of attack we take will be too conspicuous."

"I know. But what other choice do we have?" Seth sighed.

"Maybe we should kill the vampires we can and expect Gretchen to keep her promise about human treatment and her method for retrieving blood. No human's are harmed when they donate blood. Isn't that better than draining humans of their blood directly?"

"I still don't like this. I don't plan on letting this go on." Paul patted my back.

"None of us want this to go on." Jared spoke next.

"Think of it this way, Jacob. Carlisle's looking at the place tomorrow. If there's any vampire's judgment I'd trust, it's his. And if he says it's okay, maybe we don't have to worry so much. And like Seth said, we can always kill unfamiliar vampires as they pass through. That's more vampires dead, right?"

"I guess so. But I still don't like this."

"None of us do, Jacob. None of us do."

We kept that as an option, but spent another hour talking, trying to come up with other solutions. But everything we came up with was just about the same as my first instinct of attacking them indirectly or directly. And no matter how many times I said it, it was never a good idea. We eventually stuck with the only good idea we had; let Carlisle talk to Gretchen and if he's okay with the place, settle for killing as many vampires making their way there as we possibly can. I wasn't too thrilled with the idea, but there wasn't much else we could do. Everyone left as soon as we made a decision, some to go out for patrol. It was Seth's night to lead the pack, so I stayed home. I realized it was nine and that Nessie still wasn't home with the boys. I was really beginning to worry, but she finally came home with Kevin and Kyle fast asleep while I was cleaning the bowl and cleaning up.

"Why are you so late?"

"I need a reason to spend a few hours at my parent's house?" I was taken aback by her tone, but I didn't respond. I didn't want us to risk an argument in front of the boys and waking them up.

Nessie walked upstairs with them and put them to bed while I finished up downstairs. Once I had everything cleaned, I went upstairs to our room and took a shower. Nessie was still in the boys' room when I went to the shower. I was done in fifteen minutes and took another five minutes to shave and brush my teeth. When I was done, I walked across to the closet and got my pajamas. Once I was dressed and hung my towel back in the bathroom, I began to walk to bed where Nessie was now sleeping. I thought she was sleeping until I crawled into bed and she flinched.

"Go downstairs." I looked at her a little surprised.

"Why, what's wrong?"

"I'm still mad at you." I was silent a moment, sort of dumbfounded. When I could speak, I was bordering yelling.

"You're kidding me. You're fucking kidding me. How can you still be mad at me?"

"Jacob, get out of bed or I'll make you."

"I'm not sleeping downstairs. If you're so mad, you sleep downstairs."

"I'm not the one refusing to act like an adult. I'll have you know daddy's more than happy to apologize to you for what he said today, as is Jasper."

"Oh, bullshit, Nessie."

"You need to leave, Jacob." I finally got out of bed, throwing the covers off me.

"Fine, I'll do that. I'll go out on patrol since I'm not wanted at home."

"Sure, Jacob, I would hate for you to have to tolerate me being mad at you." I was still a minute, trying really hard to not yell at her.

"Right now, Nessie, I'm tolerating a hell of a lot from you."

"Get out."

"I AM!" While I was walking to the window, Nessie threw my pillow at me and I opened the French doors and jumped outside and started running to the woods. I fazed as soon as I reached the woods and Seth heard my thoughts.

_Do you want to talk about it, Jacob?_

_Shut up and do your damn job!_ Seth was quiet a moment, as was everyone else.

_I guess that's a no._

I didn't really pay attention to what anyone was seeing. I just began making my way to Canada. I wasn't sure why I was going, all I knew was that I needed to clear my head and all that would do that is a good, long run without stopping. And if I could kill a vampire on my run, all the better. I was getting madder during the run as I realized I was already starting to get over how mad she'd made me. I used to be a man with a spine, but evidently that went bye-bye when earth was no longer my source of gravity. I heard a few of the guys laugh a little when that thought crossed my mind, but I didn't respond to them. I wasn't in the mood.

**NPOV**

I was up the next morning when I heard Kyle crying through the baby monitor. I groaned and forced myself up so I could go to their room and get them ready for the day. I was supposed to see Alyssa and Rachael today so the kids could have a play date and I was hoping that what happened yesterday wasn't going to put a damper on that. I would admit I was a little iffy about the blood bar, but I don't think the owner will let it get out of hand. If she's a good friend of Carlisle's I would imagine that she's a nice lady and would be able to keep vampire patrons at bay. But was I was more upset about was that Jacob acted as rudely as he did, and to my father no less. I already give daddy and Jasper a piece of my mind for the way they acted, hence why they were willing to apologize, but Jacob simply wasn't and that was annoying me.

Once I had Kyle and Kevin fed, I went upstairs really quick to get dressed and come back down to put Kyle in his carry-on and Kevin walked to the car with me and patiently waited for me to secure Kyle before I got Kevin in his little car seat. When they were secure, I got to the driver's seat and drove to Seth's house where Rachael and Alyssa were already waiting for me with their kids. They told me that Kim was planning to come later too with Allison Shea and Luke. I placed Kyle on the ground next to Kevin and he followed Kevin to Maxi, Travis, Jason, and Nick. Allison Shea played with the boys, but sadly, she wasn't having as much fun as she would have with Katie. I couldn't believe she was already ten. That meant that Mikey was eleven and Katie was eight and both already in school together. Sam couldn't believe it either. He always said it was a reminder that he was thirty two.

I wasn't planning on going to the blood bar tonight. I wasn't in the 'partying' mood and just wanted to stay home. I told Rachael and Alyssa, and Kim when she arrived, what had happened. I wasn't surprised when they told me they already knew. They also knew about the argument that me and Jacob had and I wasn't prepared to talk about that, so I immediately changed the subject. We talked about work and how our kids were progressing in life, anything but me and Jacob, and we didn't stop until I heard the front door to the house open and saw Seth and Leah walk in, Hailey close to her. Hailey was walking in close to Leah. He was clutching her with a little nervousness in his eyes. I looked at Leah.

"Is Hailey alright?" Leah sighed.

"He says he is, but I don't know. Hailey, did you take your meds this morning?" Hailey shook his head.

"Jack told me not to. He said they're bad." Leah sighed heavily. Jack was one of Hailey's hallucinations. He was one of three. It was Jack, Parker, and Tammy. Sometimes, Hailey would interrupt daddy whenever he was talking so he could listen to Tammy tell him that daddy was being manipulative or something. According to daddy, Leah was the only one his hallucinations didn't hate.

"Jack is lying, Hailey. Those meds help make you feel better."

"I feel fine, Leah."

"Hailey, please. I know you don't like taking them, but please. For me." Hailey looked at Leah, then he looked to his left, appearing to listen attentively to something. Or someone. It was frightening in all honesty. We knew nothing was there, but he spoke to his hallucinations as if they were plain as day to everyone like they are to him.

"Leah doesn't lie to me, Tammy." I looked at Kyle and noticed he was staring at Hailey with a great deal of interest. He could read minds, so I suspect he was in his head and listening in on the conversation. What was worse was that Hailey was clearly scared of them; Tammy, Jack, and Parker.

"Hailey?" Hailey looked at Leah. "You know they're not real right?" Hailey shook his head.

"They are." None of us said anything. There wasn't anything we could say. Instead, Leah picked up Hailey and carried him close to her. Then she looked at me.

"I wanted to talk to you, Nessie."

"Sure, what about?" Leah took a deep breath. She looked angry for some reason.

"I realize you're upset with Jacob, but kicking him out of bed? Isn't that a bit extreme? I mean, sure, he's being stubborn, but it's not like he cheated on you or something." I sighed, really not wanting to talk about this. Seth came to my defense.

"Leah, Jacob was being a little stubborn about the matter. And this is between them."

"Well, they aren't going to fix anything if Jacob's all the way in Canada." I was quiet. "Would you like to know when he plans to come home, Nessie?"

"When he's cooled down?" Leah kept a frown.

"His exact thoughts were, 'I'm not coming home until Nessie pulls the stick out of her ass'. So is it out yet, or should I make Seth tell him not to make his way home yet?" He glared at Leah and Seth spoke for me again.

"Leah, seriously, this isn't your business." I took the opportunity to finally speak.

"You can tell Jacob that if he wants it gone, he better swallow his pride and apologize like daddy and Jasper are ready to do."

"He shouldn't have to apologize, Nessie. You're dad and Jasper insulted his manhood for Christ sake. All he did was tell them he wasn't going to allow a blood bar be in service, which he had every right to do. I know, I was there. He's bended the rules for your little family a lot more than he wanted to and ever should have and it's all because he didn't want to start anything with your relatives and upset you. And now that he's putting his food down on one thing, he's the bad guy? I don't think so, Nessie."

"It's not your business regardless, Leah."

"I'm making it my business because it won't get handled otherwise." Seth stepped in again.

"Seriously, Leah, just drop it. He only said what he said because he was really mad. Jacob's already cooled down a lot since the last time I heard him and is already making his way back home."

"Yeah, and guess what, he's going to tell Nessie he's sorry and say the same to Jasper and Edward and he shouldn't have to."

"That's not for you to say, Leah."

"You know what, Seth, you might not mind being a vampire's bitch, but I do." Hailey laughed and we all looked at him, alleviating a great deal of tension.

"Tammy said you made a pun." We looked at him a little surprised. Me especially. I never thought a three year old would know what a pun is, let alone how it's used. Leah finally smiled.

"I guess I did, didn't I." Hailey kept smiling and Leah smiled too, evidently having been calmed down enough to lose the need to yell at me. Seth took the opportunity to convince Leah to not butt in.

"Leah, didn't you promise to take Hailey with you to the park?" Leah looked at Seth critically, then sighed and looked at me again.

"I'll butt out for now." Then Leah walked out of the house with Hailey and Seth stayed behind. He walked over and kissed Alyssa and went to another room to leave us to talk. Everyone looked at me a moment, but Rachael was kind enough to change the subject.

I spent the entire day at Alyssa's house with the boys and got a call from daddy later that day saying that they were leaving for Seattle to see Red Night. Esme and Carlisle had left earlier because Esme wanted to check out the theatre they claimed to have. I asked daddy about that and he said that Esme was extremely impressed with it. I sighed to myself when I hanged up the phone. I began to wonder if maybe Carlisle would end up saying he didn't have a problem with this place. That would make Jacob angrier. It was unlikely, knowing Carlisle, but he has said yes to more outrageous things that I never thought he'd agree to. Like helping make Ryan and Valerie for one. Sure, he had conditions to his assistance, but he still agreed in the long run. I would never say I wasn't happy that Emmett and Rosalie were able to have their kids, but it was still odd for Carlisle to agree to something like that.

I tried not to let it bother me that night. Jacob still wasn't home and there was no word from anyone saying he was on his way home or that he was still mad and in Canada or anything like that. I was really starting to regret what I'd said the night before and had been feeling worse and worse about it since the day went on. Kevin and Kyle kept asking where he was and all I could tell them was that daddy was out running. That was the only thing that didn't sound like anything was wrong. I called the pack to ask, but none of them answered the phone. I looked at the clock and saw ten, realizing that they were all probably at the bar by now. I just hoped everything went smoothly.

**JPOV**

"Jacob, you're back home!" I saw Brian walk over to me from the line they were all in. I swear, the line to get into the bar cleared most of a block, like any really good night club. I could already tell this place would bother me.

"I needed to come home to see this place after all. Did Carlisle and Esme already get here?" Brain nodded and he walked me to the line where the other pack members still were, waiting in line. Thankfully, we were close to the front.

"Yeah, they did. Esme wanted to see the theatre that Tim guy had told them about."

"What did she think about it?"

"According to what Edward can hear, she was really happy with it. The songs and scenery were great, the costumes were beautifully made, the acting was superb, and so on." I sighed.

"Are they in the bar right now?"

"Yeah, they are. Edward says he's already talking to Gretchen and explaining his fears about this place."

"Is it getting heated?" Seth shook his head.

"Not even remotely. I think she was prepared for Carlisle's concern and pretty much thought of everything that would put him at ease. At least, that's how it feels at the moment." I groaned.

"Don't worry about it too much, Jacob. So far, this might now be so bad after all." I looked up and saw Edward in the group. Edward came a little closer. "Look, Jacob, what Jasper and I said the other day was inexcusably wrong. We should never had said things like that to you and we're both deeply sorry. Why don't we just let it go. If nothing else, for Nessie's sake." I was quiet a moment, then I groaned to myself, finally swallowing my pride and admitting defeat.

"Yeah, I'm sorry too." Edward smiled just a little.

"You might not dislike this place as you'd anticipated. Gretchen's pretty much done all the thinking for us." I gave Edward a weird look.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, all the bouncers she has aside, she has a group that go scouting the city. It seems that she'd given Carlisle's lifestyle a great deal of thought and had wanted to do it herself. But she couldn't resist the taste of human blood, so she created a scam where she posed as a blood bank with a few other vampires and got people to donate their blood to her so she never had to kill anyone for her blood. She decided to apply that principle into a blood bar and she first tried it out in New York and it's been booming. And she's really proud of the fact that the vampires she employs to look over the city do their job well."

"You mean she employs vampires to look through the city?" Edward nodded.

"Yes, she does. They don't stop human related crimes, but anything regarding vampires, they take care of. Some of the vampires that work here are her coven mates and get a share of the profits this bar makes. But most of them are employed here. She gives them a little money and free access to blood whenever they need it and they do their jobs well. And those employed vampires are the ones bouncing at the door." Bella spoke next, coming a little closer to me.

"Jake, this place isn't as bad as we thought it would be. You might even like this place."

"Bella."

"I know, Jacob, you're still weary, and I don't blame you. But try to look the place over with an open mind. Who knows, we may even have new allies thanks to this bar. God forbid, anything happens, we have more friends that are willing to help." I looked at Bella a little put out.

"You know, Bella, that sounds dangerously close to something the Volturi would think." Bella gave me a partial glare.

"I'm not thinking of it that way. I'm thinking of them as people that believe the way Carlisle does and want to make sure the city's safe. And that's something that's to your benefit, isn't it?" I sighed.

"I'm still not sold." We were interrupted by a vampire that was in front of us.

"No one cares, Clifford, you're stinking up the line." I looked at that guy and was again stopped from speaking by a guy that was behind us.

"Jesus, if I wanted it to stink this bad, I would go to a Eukanuba Dog Show. This is fucking ridiculous." I was about to defend me and my pack, but there was instantly a man standing next to me. He was the first man I'd ever met that was just as tall as I was. He was a black man with a buzzed head and a look on his face that let you know you didn't fuck with him.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Coming to mine and my packs defense, Edward, Emmett, and Jasper walked up to him.

"Look, they're with us. We're here to talk to Gretchen."

"I don't give a shit. These dogs of yours need a bath and I'm not standing the smell." Shortly after, the man from before, Tim, came out to our defense.

"It's alright, Otto. They're VIP guests." Paul poke his head forward.

"That's right, big guy. Learn your acronyms." I looked at Paul, telling him to shut up, and Tim defused the situation.

"Just let them all in. Gretchen already said it was okay. These are the Cullen's, Carlisle's coven and theses men with them are the Quileute wolves she told us about." The bouncer, Otto, shook his head.

"They don't get in until I hear from Gretchen they're allowed in."

"I'm telling you they're allowed in."

"Yeah, well you're not the one who signs my checks, now are you? Get Gretchen out here to confirm, or they don't get in." Tim rolled his eyes before running inside and coming back a minute later with a short, 5'2" at best, woman with brown hair and a one piece silk outfit that reminded me of something from the eighties and had a belt at the waist.

"Gretchen, these are the people Carlisle told us about." Gretchen looked at us all with a sincere smile and when she spoke, it was with the heaviest British accent I'd ever heard and it took everything in me not to laugh at it.

"You're the Cullens! And the Quileute wolves I've heard so much about! It's a pleasure to see you all finally arrive. Please, come in, come in. Welcome to Red Night. Tell the bartender that Gretchen said you were allowed free drinks for tonight." I was surprised by her enthusiasm, but Otto finally let us in, before the fourteen people ahead of us in line, and we all followed Gretchen into the bar.

It looked like a typical nightclub in my opinion. There were accents of red everywhere, enforcing the theme of the bar's name. And there was a stage at the back of the bar where live music was being performed, not by a DJ, but what were obviously vampires. I didn't know the song they were singing at the moment, but it sounded familiar and they were dressed in short shorts and corset like tops, both with army prints, and commando boots. There were three, the blonde at the front, the brunette to her left, and a redhead at her right. The chorus to the song was candy man.

"I've been talking to Carlisle at length about this bar and so far, he's still a little reluctant. But I think I might be able to convince him to let me stay in business. I never took Carlisle for the type to want to be a leader, but of course, with that whole mess with the Volturi a few years ago, what choice did he have, poor thing."

"Gretchen." Gretchen turned and looked at me with a kind, warming smile. Even her bright red eyes seemed kind.

"Yes, milove." I was quiet a moment before I spoke.

"Edward told me what you were telling Carlisle, you know, about the night dog watch thing of vampires, but that doesn't solve the problem of vampires coming our way. We don't get many vampires, especially since we've become well known in your world. And I would really like it to stay that way. I can't count on that with this place here." Gretchen sighed and nodded her head understandingly.

"I understand completely. But the fact is they still widely know about your pack. No vampire that knows about you guys will dare go through Forks. You might get a few new born misfits, but that's something no one can control. As it is, there's an age limit on newborns. I would never tolerate such indiscretion in my bar. You have no fears there."

"Look, I can tell you have the best intentions, but this really isn't something I can just let go." Gretchen smiled and patted my arm.

"I know, Carlisle told me. He's just as concerned. He and Esme are waiting for me to come back in a private room behind the stage. If you'll all come with me, we can discuss this in a place a little quieter."

After she was done talking, the song that had been performed finished and there was a round of applause before a distinctly Lady Gaga song came on. The same blonde from the previous act came back on stage, but this time was in an outfit that only Lady Gaga would ever where and the human crowd went wild while the vampires simply clapped enthusiastically. And the blonde sang with virtually no differences to the song at all. At least, none that I would ever notice. Gretchen noticed I was looking at the stage and she smiled.

"That's Bethani by the way. She's one of my better performers, mostly because she has a gift that makes her able to have mini lightshows while she's on stage. And she's just a fantastic singer. She can impersonate just about anyone. She's one of my coven mates. Now, if you'll follow me, we'll discuss this privately."

When Gretchen was done with her explanation, she started walking towards the stage at a pace that looked human for the few humans that appeared to actually be in here. We all followed her and she opened a door to a back room behind the stage and we all walked in before her, then she closed the door behind her when we were all inside. When she closed the doors, I could barely hear anything from outside. A sound proof room. I was relieved we had that much. Carlisle and Esme were already there, sitting patiently. We all took seats on the long couch that lined almost all of the room. Then Gretchen took a seat on the single easy chair in the room that I assumed was hers to begin with.

"So, Jacob, you're the pack leader, am I right?" I nodded. Carlisle then spoke next.

"We share the same concerns, so just about everything we've spoken about is what he wants to talk about as well."

"Indeed. So most of the conversation's already taken care of." She spoke in an enthusiastic voice. She reminded me of Carlisle in the sense that she was hard to dislike. She was sweet and cheerful and cared. "Now, Carlisle, and you, have told me of your concerns about vampires wondering into Forks. I admit, I can't make any promises about Forks. But I can promise you that nothing will happen to the people in this city. Or any of the people in the other cities where my establishments are." I groaned.

"With all due respect, miss, you can't stop every vampire in the area." Gretchen smiled reassuringly.

"As a matter of fact, I most certainly can. I have forty lookouts in Seattle alone. In Chicago, I have eighty five, in New York, one hundred twenty six, and counting for all three. And I've been asking Carlisle to get me contact with the former Volturi guards so I could maybe convince them to make my scouts stronger. The cities have never been safer from vampire attacks." Edward spoke next.

"Even so, that doesn't ensure secrecy." Gretchen lost her smile a little and sighed.

"I was hoping that wasn't going to be an issue for you." Carlisle continued.

"Gretchen, you have good intentions, I know that. But I think it would be best that we keep ourselves as secret from humans as possible. If we became widely known, imagine the problems that would come up. It could be something as devastating as the witch hunts or the red scare to something as difficult to deal with as when homosexuals started becoming public. Either way, we'll have more obstacles than I think any vampire would want to deal with." Gretchen nodded her head in admittance.

"I know, I know. Secrecy is something I'm concerned about too. That's why I have the scouts, the age limit on newborns, allow humans in my bar, all that. In fact, a designer from New York had a show in my bar not long ago and he's currently in Chicago to show his line and planning to come to my new location in Seattle." That got Alice's attention.

"You're having a fashion show here?" Gretchen smiled and nodded.

"Yes. He's a new designer and aside from the other shows in New York and Chicago, it's his first showing. In a sense, I'm launching his career. Those of you who wish to come to that are welcome to. And you'll be my VIP guests once again." Alice was extremely excited.

"I would love to come! I don't get to go to fashion shows as much as I would like. I used to go all the time when we lived in New England." Gretchen kept smiling and Jasper spoke next.

"If I may, do you separate the blood in any way? I've heard of some bars that separate it by blood type." Gretchen nodded.

"It's an option. But I will admit it's more expensive. And if you want something like O negative, that's infinitely more expensive. It's the hardest blood type to get in the US and it costs a lot to get that blood. But it's much more affordable to just get a mixture." Then suddenly, Gretchen gently hit her forehead. "Oh pish posh, where are my manors? I didn't offer any of you drinks. I'll have some blood brought in and for you gentlemen? My bartender makes magnificent cocktails and mix drinks if you would like. Or water if you prefer."

I was a little cautious, but I figured I should at least have some water and make sure I wasn't being rude. The rest of the pack started out with water, but a few started ordering some drinks when we were a little more comfortable. The sting of the overly sweet smell in the place was painful, but we were beginning to get used to it. Through the whole meeting, Gretchen continuously reassured us that she had good intentions and that she wanted this to remain as discrete and safe for humans in the area as possible. She even introduced us to all her coven mates that shared in the profit of the franchise. The most talkative of them was Bethani. She was a dirty blonde with a weird half long, half short, haircut. It was becoming on her, but was dangerously close to looking like an emo man's haircut. She was wearing jeans and a white t-shirt right now. This was the same woman who, not long ago, had a weird platinum wig on and a weird outfit, mimicking Lady Gaga on stage. And when I first met her, her boobs were the only thing I could look at. I felt awful about it, but I think those things were about the size of her head.

To Bethani's left was her mate and the guy who told us about the place, Tim. And to her right was Lyndsay, the brunette that had been on stage with her earlier on. Then next to her was her mate, Sammy. Sammy was the redhead who'd been on stage. I would admit, it was the first time I'd met a lesbian vampire. As odd as it sounds, I never thought that vampires would ever be like that. It seemed like such a human thing. Though I guess they used to be human anyway and their human habits and orientations would be the same as vampires. Five of the bouncers she had were actually in her coven. There was Otto and his mate, Maleshia. Evidently, Maleshia was the one who would sing anything done by Beyoncé, Rhianna, Diana Ross, and what not.

There was one bouncer in particular, Mathew was his name, that had worked for Martha Stewart when he was human. His mate, Alexis, brought it up because she thought it was funny to watch everyone's different reactions to the news. Esme was impressed, as was Alice. Most of us either didn't know enough about Martha Stewart to have an opinion, or thought so poorly of her that we said a string of apologies for his misfortune.

"So, is she as..?" Mathew interrupted Emmett with a pained nod.

"Worse, my friend. Much worse. Remember when they made fun of her on Celebrity Jeopardy, on Saturday Night Live? Think of that, just more bossy." Jasper sighed.

"I grieve with you, I really do. But at least it's over."

"Thank God too. I worked for that retched woman for twenty years. Poor Alexis had to listen to me complain every day when I came home from work. Our kids used to ask if the dragon lady yelled at daddy today." We all laughed a little. Rosalie voiced a concern.

"So….you two were married when you were human?" Alexis nodded.

"We married each other right out of high school. We probably should have waited, but I wouldn't change a thing."

"What about your children?" Alexis looked sad after Rosalie asked that. Mathew ended up answering.

"They're grown. But we were changed while they were off to college. They think we were killed when a person invaded our house. We still send them money, but they think it's from other relatives. They're relatives they barely spoke to, but I suppose they don't care enough to question it."

"How old are they now?"

"22 and 19 now. They're both in college together."

"Where do they go?" Alexis grinned with pride.

"They're going to University of Columbus in Ohio. Our eldest son, Michael, is studying to be an orthodontist and our younger son, Steven, is studying to be a Veterinarian. We're so proud. I don't know how we'll go to their graduation, but we'll figure something out." Rosalie smiled.

"I know you two will."

"I hear that you and your mate have children." Rosalie nodded.

"Fraternal twins. Ryan and Valerie. They grew up way too fast. They're already five years old. They've been going to school in Forks and they'll graduate soon." Alexis smiled.

"They always grow up too fast no matter what."

"Yeah. And Felix hates their son." We all looked at Paul, Alexis perplexed.

"The Volturi Felix? Why would he hate their son?" Paul grinned.

"Because he likes his daughter, Lia." I rolled my eyes.

"Any boy would. She's got long legs, long hair, and an angle face. Any man would like her." Emmett sighed.

"He really likes her is what they're saying. Felix doesn't want to give Lia up to anyone just yet because of what happened when he was human with his sister, Lia, and all. And Ryan tends to flirt with her whenever he can."

"I've told him not to, but he's a flirt like his father." Emmett laughed and hugged Rosalie.

"I assume they're not here right now?" We all laughed and Rosalie nodded.

"He's under aged by both your newborn standards and by legal standards. The world may think he looks like he's in his twenties, but he's not." We all laughed a little again.

"And I hear Edward and Bella have a daughter." Edward nodded.

"Renesmee. She's actually married to Jacob." Edward looked at me and the rest of Gretchen's coven did to. Otto smirked.

"I take it the wet dog smell doesn't bother her." Maleshia, his mate, was kind enough to slap him for me and looked at me apologetically.

"Please, forgive Otto. He tends to be a jackass." I smiled.

"Thanks for that."

"Think nothing of it. He needs to be reminded of his place at times." A few of the bouncers laughed a little while Otto gave Maleshia a bit a of a dirty look.

"And no, she doesn't mind the smell. In fact, she likes the way I smell." One of the other bouncers spoke.

"To one their own, right? Or does she smell something different?" Edward laughed.

"Renesmee thinks that Jacob smells like pine and maple."

"Better than what we think you guys smell like." We all laughed a little, even me and my pack, before Gretchen stopped us all.

"Back on a serious note. I can promise you that I will take the responsibility of making sure all my human patrons are safe, in and out of my bar. I have vampires all over the city making sure that they're safe and I trust and know those vampires very well. And I'll make you a deal, Carlisle. Give my bar a year. If at the end of that year, you're still unsure about it and concerned about my human patrons' wellbeing and I fail to do what I've promised, then I'll shut down, no questions asked. But if I do my part and fulfill everything I've promised I would, then I get to keep this place going."

Carlisle was quiet a moment. He looked like he was being really thoughtful about her proposition. I figured he was trying to come to a solution that we all could be comfortable with. I still didn't want this place to stay open, so I wasn't sure how me and the pack would be happy with whatever the outcome of this turned out to be. I wasn't sure what I would do about this to be honest. I already decided that the pack and I would kill any unknown vampire that wandered into this area regardless of their intentions. Even if that was all I could do, it was something. Finally, Carlisle looked at Gretchen.

"One year, Gretchen. And I'll be fair about how I feel about this place in a year. But if anything happens, anything at all, I want this place gone. I don't want a confrontation to come up from this. You and I have been friends for a long time and I don't want anything to change that."

"I don't either, Carlisle. And I'm so happy that you're willing to let this place have a chance. I promise I won't disappoint you Carlisle." Carlisle smiled and they stood together and walked across to the middle of the room to shake hands with each other.

After they shook hands and agreed on what they would do, Gretchen encouraged us to enjoy ourselves for a little bit longer. Jasper made sure to take advantage of the one night the bar would be completely open to him. Emmett joined him and by the time we left that night, their eyes were red as rubies and it was extremely creepy. Brian had also taken advantage of the open bar and helped himself to a few Screw Drivers and Moscow Mules. I ordered him to be sober by the time he had work tomorrow. Then I remembered that I also had work tomorrow. I hadn't been home since Nessie and I argued that night. And she would almost certainly be asleep by the time I got home tonight. While I was thinking about that, Edward patted my back a little to get my attention.

"Let her know we reconciled and apologize for being stubborn." Paul spoke next.

"Yeah, Jacob, and remember what I told you. You can either be right, or you can be happy. Be happy Jacob. Being wrong and happy is better than being right and miserable." I sighed.

"I know." Emmett spoke next.

"And it wouldn't hurt if you bought her something shinny either."

"Like what? She already has more necklaces and bracelets than she can handle. She wears all that stuff every day, even the mother's day present I got her."

"Well, you find her something else. Like I ring. You've never given her another ring besides her engagement ring and wedding ring."

"I'll see what I can get."

"And surprise her at work or something. Nessie would never yell at you at work, so get her while you're in a place she would never want to cause a scene at." Brian, who was a little drunk, opened his big mouth.

"She already had sex with him at work while she was pregnant. I think she's pretty much crossed that line." Brian laughed a little and I hit him over the head and Emmett laughed.

"You're kidding! Did Edward already know about this?"

"Yes, I knew about it, now change the subject!"

I took the opportunity to leave then. The others that had patrol tonight were going to do that. And thankfully, it wasn't Brian's night to patrol tonight. I stayed out with the pack to get back in the swing of the schedule. I stayed out until the sun was completely up and I knew Nessie would have already gone to work. I went home and got dressed into some decent clothes. I had a feeling getting her jewelry would only make her angrier at me, so I decided to go to a store in Forks that sold flowers and got her a bouquet of red roses. When I got to the shop, I saw Nessie's car up front and hid the flowers behind my back just in case. She wasn't in the waiting room, which meant she was in her office. I looked at the couch and saw Brian laying there with his head in his hands. I walked over to him and kicked the chair, making him wake up.

"What!" I sighed.

"I told you to be sober by the time you came to work." Brian groaned.

"I am sober. I have a hangover."

"Well, take some Excedrin and get back to work."

"You're the one who's late."

"I own the place, I can come and go as I please." Brian groaned again.

"Just give me five more minutes."

"You know, any other boss would send you home. But I'll be nice. You have five minutes." I looked at the desk at Steven. "Time him for me, will you?" Steven nodded.

"Yes sir."

"What are the flowers for?"

"There for shutting the hell up and getting back to work." I left Brian alone after that. I figured I'd tortured him enough and I had more important things to handle anyway. I knocked on Nessie's office door and came in when she said it was alright to come in. As soon as I walked in, I closed the door behind me and Nessie looked up at me. She looked like she was still a little upset with me.

"Hey."

"You were gone all weekend." I sighed.

"I know. I figured I should cool my head properly before I came home."

"I figured. You're explaining that to the boys when we pick them up today, I hope you know that."

"I will." We were quiet a moment. I was the one who eventually broke the uncomfortable silence. "I apologized to Edward and Jasper."

"I know. Daddy told me."

"And I'm sorry that I yelled at you and made things worse."

"Good." I groaned.

"Look, Nessie, I don't know what else to say. Just say you forgive me and let's get over it, please." I remembered the flowers and brought them to her desk. Nessie looked at them, then took them in her arms to smell them.

"I forgive you, Jacob. I feel bad about what I said to you too. I just wish you would be a little more respectful to daddy and my uncles. They're usually very kind to you and I like it when you return the favor." I nodded and walked around the desk. I kneeled before her and took her hand in mine.

"I will. I take it Edward already told you what we did about the bar?" Nessie nodded.

"Yes, he did. And I was really happy to hear that you guys were able to come to a compromise."

"I still don't like the idea, but if all I can do for now is kill any vampire that wonders into the area uninvited is all I can do, at least I know I'm doing something."

"What will you even do if things go south with that place?" I shrugged.

"We'll have to tackle that when it gets her."

"You mean if it gets here." I chuckled and kissed her hand.

"Yeah. If." Nessie giggled and bent down to give me a kiss. It lasted a while and during the kiss, I pulled her down into my lap so we were both sitting on the floor, her in my lap. When the kiss stopped, Nessie rested her head in her nook on my shoulder. "Why don't we leave the boys with your family tonight."

"They're with your dad. And we can't tonight, Jacob, I ran out of birth control pills and I haven't gotten new ones yet." I smiled and looked down at Nessie. She looked back. "What?"

"Who cares? Let's risk it."

"What?"

"Let's risk it. If you do get pregnant, then we'll have another baby. If not, we'll wait longer."

"But, Jacob, we already have two toddlers. Kevin's turning two this month and Kyle just turned one. I don't know if we should bring in another baby until the boys are a little better about taking care of themselves."

"Think about it. That's all I'm asking. And hey, if you still don't want to risk a baby just yet, I've got an umpteen amount of condoms we could use instead. It'll be the first time we actually planned for a baby."

"And watch, now that we're planning, it'll take months for me to get pregnant." I laughed a little.

"Well, that gives us extra time at least." Nessie giggled and cuddled her face back in her nook. "Does that mean you want to start trying?" Nessie sighed and nodded.

"We're done after this, you hear me? No more. I don't care if it's another boy, we're done." I smiled.

"I thought we agreed on four."

"We agreed on two to three."

"Then you said three to four. This would only be three."

"Do you have to carry the baby, Jacob. Do you have to gain fifty pounds of water and baby?"

"No."

"Then it's my say, and I say we'll meet in the middle and have three. No more."

"What if we waited until much later to have a fourth?"

"Three and we're done. That's none negotiable. I'll get Carlisle to tie my tubes if I have to. He did it for Rachael."

"If Carlisle manages to tie your tubes, I'll have truly seen a medical miracle." Nessie giggled.

"You get snipped then."

"Nessie, I'd rather lose it all together than get snipped. Even if we don't want any more kids, it takes away that ounce of risk. I mean, take the venom out of a snake and all you've got it a belt that bites."

"Are you saying you would willingly walk up to a poisonous snake just because there's the risk it will poison you?"

"We have sex don't we?" Nessie gave me a weird look for a moment, then she just started laughing.

"We're done after this, you hear me? No more." I sighed.

"Fine, Nessie, no more." Nessie smiled.

"Thank you, Jacob." Nessie cuddled to me again and I brought my face to hers to kiss her again. She made us stop when the phone rang and she sat back in her chair to answer it. I kissed her forehead and walked out of her office and went to the garage. I saw Brian half asleep while he was looking in an engine.

"I said five minutes and you're still sleeping." Brian groaned.

"Shut up, Jacob. My head's pounding and you're not helping."

"You're still going out on patrol tonight. I hope you know that."

"Come on, Jacob, that's cruel." I shrugged.

"What have we learned?" Brian groaned.

"Never get hung over before work?" I nodded.

"Close enough."


	5. Daddy's Little Girl

**Daddy's Little Girl**

**NPOV**

A month ago, Jacob and I had decided to try and have another baby. But as I had predicted, even though it was jokingly, I wasn't getting pregnant right away. It was the first time Jacob and I had been planning to have a baby and now that we were waiting for it, it seemed like it was taking forever and getting really difficult. I asked Carlisle a little about it and he just told me that this was common for couples that were actively trying to have a baby and that we just needed to be patient. He figured that since I'd not had a hard time getting pregnant before, it was simply a matter of being patient and taking a pregnancy test every so often to keep on track. He even wrote down a test I could take to tell me when I was ovulating. I'd recently started using those.

"How do these things know when you're going to ovulate?"

"I don't know. They just do." Jacob shrugged.

"So what did the test say?"

"It was a mix between the two colors, so I'm not positive."

"Why don't we just have sex and see what happens. That's worked for us before."

"We weren't planning for a baby before hand, though."

"Nessie, don't worry. Like Carlisle said, it just feels like it's taking longer because we're planning for a baby. Now come to bed and we can try again." I giggled while Jacob walked over to me where I was at the bathroom sink and wrapped his arms around me and kissed the back of my head.

"You know what Rachael suggested?"

"What did Rachael suggest?"

"She said that if we stopped worrying about it so much, I might get pregnant faster." Jacob chuckled.

"It sounds like a wives tale. Speaking of Rachael, how round is she right now?" I rolled my eyes.

"She's due next month, Jacob. How round do you think she is?"

"I know, I know. When Paul thinks about her, I can't help but laugh. She looks like she's about to pop. And Paul's thrilled to death that they're having another boy." I sighed.

"I hope she's not too disappointed. I know she was hoping for a girl, but a boy's good too."

"Would you be disappointed if we had another boy?" I sighed.

"I don't want to answer that." Jacob chuckled and kissed my neck.

"We don't have a name for another boy though." I groaned and rested my head against his chest.

"I don't know. We could name him after daddy." Jacob laughed without humor.

"No way, Nessie. I'd start yelling at him just to let out frustration I have with your dad."

"Since when do you and daddy argue enough for something like that?"

"I'm just saying, if we name him Edward, he'll look too much like you so it'll feel like…we're just not naming the baby Edward okay."

"Fine, fine, we won't name the baby Edward."

"Besides, Kevin's middle name is Edward, that's good enough. And Kyle's middle name is William after my dad, so everybody's happy."

"That still doesn't solve the problem of what we'll name the baby if it's a boy."

"We could name the baby after me." I giggled.

"No, Jacob."

"Why not? What's wrong with having a Jacob William Black Junior?"

"Because the government and mailing services don't always know the difference between Junior and Senior. What if our son gets your bills and forgets to give them to us?" Jacob chuckled.

"Okay, fine. No junior. Let's just hope we have a girl, because I'm coming up with nothing. Wait, how about…never mind, that's Seth's son's name."

"Yeah, not that. Let's just hope for a girl. Oh, if it's a girl, Natalie, like we always agreed, and if it's a boy, Nathan."

"I can live with Nathan." I smiled.

"I can too. So Nathan or Natalie."

"Great. Now let's actually make the baby." I giggled while Jacob lifted me up into his arms and carried me to our bed and made good on his offer. In the morning, I woke up to the boys crying and get a robe on and attended to them.

Once the boys were taken care of, Jacob took them for me and started loading them into the car so I could get dressed and ready for work. We dropped the boys off at Billy's house and went right to work and went about our days like usual. Once work was over, Jacob and I decided to leave Kevin and Kyle at Billy's house just a little longer so we could have a few hours alone to try again for a baby. This had sort of become a bit of a routine for us, but Billy never complained about it. He just handed them back when we came to get them and would send us on our way. But finally, in January, I took another pregnancy test and it came out positive.

"So what does it say this time?" I looked at Jacob, who was in the closet getting dressed and I was in the bathroom.

"It's positive. We're finally pregnant." Jacob smiled and came to me and took me into a tight hug.

"Finally. I was beginning to think it would take forever."

"I know, right. We'll talk to Carlisle after work today and let everyone know I'm pregnant." Jacob chuckled.

"Geez, poor Carlisle. He was just about to get rid of Rachael, and now he has to help you." I swatted Jacob affectionately.

"Shut up Jacob. We're finally having a baby, so be happy."

"I am happy. Ecstatic even." I smiled and cuddled close to him.

"Me too."

"Are you sure we're done, though?"

"Positive."

"What if we do have a boy? Won't you want a little girl too?"

"We're done, Jacob. Done, done, done." Jacob chuckled.

"Don't say that, Nessie. I mean maybe we'll make sure we don't have any kids in the near future, but since we're pretty much immortal, we could always have more kids when Kevin, Kyle, and this new baby are born." I sighed.

"It's a thought I suppose."

"Exactly, it's a thought. We don't have to keep having kids soon; let's just keep ourselves open to more later."

"Then let me put it this way. We're done for now." Jacob smiled and kissed my neck.

"That's what I wanted to hear."

"Why do you want more kids?"

"Because you promised me four." I giggled and rolled my eyes.

"Fine, Jacob, if you say so." Jacob chuckled and lifted me into his arms and took me with him to the closet so I could get dressed for the day.

We dropped Kevin and Kyle off at my parent's house for today. Billy and Charlie wanted to go fishing since Charlie had the day off and I think Billy wanted a break from his grandkids. We let everyone know that I was pregnant again and Esme assured me that she would let Carlisle know he needed to come home early today. Before we left, Alice hugged me tightly.

"I hope you have a girl, Nessie. I have so many dresses and outfits that are going to waste." Then she looked at Jacob. "I hope you made us a girl, Jacob." Jacob shrugged.

"I do what I can." Alice snickered and we hugged each other a little longer before Jacob and I left to go to work. While Jacob and I were driving to work, Jacob got my attention. "Hey Ness, can I talk to you about something really quickly?"

"Sure. Is something wrong?" Jacob shook his head.

"Not at all. I actually wanted to talk to you about maybe putting Kevin and Kyle in preschool. Or at least Kevin."

"Already?"

"Yeah. Leah told me about the preschool Hailey's parents were sending him to and I've been thinking about it for a while. I mean, Kevin doesn't know many kids his age other than his cousins. And I talked to Paul and he's thinking of sending Maxi too, so Kevin will have at least one person he already knows. And the Quileute school has a preschool program. And we can choose between having teachers only or let high school kids look after them under adult supervision. I just think it would be really good for Kevin. Then once Kyle's old enough and Paul's other kids are old enough, we can send them to preschool and hopefully, they'll have other friends by then."

"I don't know. High school kids?" I know high school kids. I wouldn't trust a high school kids to clean my house let alone handle my children.

"That's why we have teachers as an option too. They're a little more expensive, but if you'd prefer adults, we can pay the extra money. And hey, they'll get a head start in school."

"I suppose. I'd rather meet the teachers first before we enroll them."

"Mrs. Sunbird's been doing the program for a long time. Granted, it's with the high school kids, but if there's anyone I would trust Kevin with, it's Mrs. Bird. And I'll remind Kevin to call her cake. You know, keep the family tradition going." I giggled and rolled my eyes.

"I do remember liking her. I'd still like to talk to the teachers first."

"I'm sure they'll let you. We can probably get an appointment with the principle right now." I smiled.

"I'll call the school during work then. They have a website?" Jacob chuckled.

"Yes, they do. The number's at the bottom."

"I'll do that when we get to the shop." Jacob smiled.

"At least think about it. Our kids need to be friends with more than just their cousins. The kids from the Makah rez go to that school too, and I know a few people around here that are sending their kids to school. Kevin and Maxi will have plenty of other kids to play with. And they learn their alphabet and numbers and all sorts of other stuff." I smiled.

"I said I would call them, Jacob. Don't worry about it." Jacob chuckled and kissed me as soon as he was parked in front of the shop.

"Thanks, Nessie."

"We better get in. You have a whole bunch of car inspections to do today." Jacob sighed.

"Yeah, I guess. I wonder if maybe there's a town wide panic or something and that's why everyone's getting their cars inspected at the same time." Jacob and I got out of the car and kept talking while walking in.

"I think it has something to do with that kid who was in an accident because his brakes failed or something." Jacob shrugged and opened the door for me.

"Maybe. I guess that's what happens when you live in such a small town. Rumors spread like a wild fire. Hey Brian." Brian waved at me while he took a drink from his coffee cup.

"Hey Jacob. Our first appointment for the day came in. And we had a walk in not long ago."

"Okay. And why aren't you in the garage?" Brian laughed. Jacob and Brian had a weird love hate relationship when they were at work. Jacob pretended to be a mean boss and Brian pretended to be a deadbeat employee and they heckled each other endlessly.

"Forgive me, Jacob. My coffee comes before an oil change." Jacob rolled his eyes and went straight to the garage after giving me a quick kiss. I went to the back room first to put Jacob's lunch in the fridge, then went to my office after saying hi to Steven, who was on the phone with a client.

When I got to my desk and turned on my computer, I went to Google and typed in the school Jacob had gone to and clicked on the homepage at the top and found the number at the bottom of the website. When I called, a woman at the front desk answered the phone. She sounded like an older woman, which wasn't surprising, and seemed to be just a little tired because it was still early in the morning.

"_Hello, this is the Quileute Tribal School front desk. I'm Mrs. Cleven, how may I help you?"_

"Hello. I'm Renesmee Black. My husband is Jacob Black." The woman's seemed to be a little higher from awareness.

"_Ah yes, Jacob's wife. I've heard a lot about you, Mrs. Black. But husband being tribal leader and all, it's only natural we'd all hear about you. So to what do we owe the pleasure of your call?"_

"Well, I'm going to guess you know Jacob and I have a son, Kevin. He's only two now, but he'll be three by the time we plan on sending him to school."

"_You wish to know about the preschool program we have? Of course. What would you like to know?"_

"I was actually hoping I could have a little chat with Mrs. Sunbird if that's alright. Jacob said she was a preschool teacher for the school now?"

"_Yes she is. I don't think she's in yet, but she'll be here soon I'm sure. Now do you want Kevin to come for the morning classes or afternoon? The afternoon classes are when Mrs. Sunbird teaches preschool, but it's also a class for the high school kids. Your son would come around fifth period and would stay until eighth period when school ended and he'd have several different high school teachers assigned to him. If you did the morning classes, he'd have two preschool teachers, but they wouldn't be Mrs. Sunbird. She still teaches kindergarten in the morning."_

"I see. I think Jacob has his heart set on Kevin getting Mrs. Sunbird. But I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the idea of high school aged teachers."

"_I understand Mrs. Black. But I can assure you, all are properly supervised and the students interested in caring for the children are required to take two child psychology classes before they can take the preschool teacher class. So none of the student teachers are any younger than juniors in high school. Your son will be in very good hands. So when was he born? December right?"_

"Yeah. December 14th."

"_Alright. So he won't be eligible until next year, but when he is, he's welcome. And Max Reid will be in preschool than too. So you can talk with your sister in law about putting them in the same class if you wish. Though I wouldn't recommend it only because if you do that, they're not as likely to talk to the other children. Part of the point of sending a child to school is to properly socialize them after all."_

"I know. And actually, he'll be in this class for two or three years before he can start kindergarten right?"

"_It depends on when he was born. Your son was born 2019 am I right?"_

"That's right?"

"_Alright. So he's at the same cut off time as any child born around that time. The cutoffs are in late June, so he'll still be five when he'll be able to start kindergarten and turn six halfway through the school year."_

"Okay. What would you recommend me and Jacob do with Kyle? Should we make sure they aren't in the same preschool class?"

"_That depends. Kyle is how much younger than Kevin?"_

"Eleven months."

"_Okay. So he'll be starting school with the other children his age, but not with his brother. I'd say it wouldn't be bad to let them be in the same class for preschool. It's the only time during their school time that they'll share. Kevin and Kyle are the only children you and Mr. Black currently have, am I right?"_ I nodded.

"Yeah, they are. But I found out I'm pregnant this morning." The woman giggled.

"_That's wonderful news, Mrs. Black. Congratulations. We definitely look forward to having your children come to school with us. Do you have any further questions? Would you like us to give you a call back once Mrs. Sunbird gets in?"_ I thought about it a moment, then answered.

"Yes, please. Ask her to call me. She's met me before."

"_Of course. Is that all you needed Mrs. Black?"_

"Yes, that's it. I look forward to speaking with Mrs. Sunbird."

"_Of course Mrs. Black. We can't wait to hear from you again. Take care."_

"You too, Mrs. Cleven. Bye."

Once I hung up the phone, I started getting a few things done. It was the nice thing about living on the reservation and being the tribal leader's wife. Everyone knew who I was and what my circumstances were with the boys, so they didn't need to ask too many questions. They typically already knew most everything already because they were either friends and family or acquaintances. I worked for about fifteen minutes before the phone in my office rang and I answered it.

"Black Repair, this is Mrs. Black, how may I help you?"

"_Mrs. Black? This is Mrs. Sunbird. You said you wanted to speak to me?"_

"Ah, yes, I did. Jacob told me that you were involved in the preschool program at school and Kevin's approaching the right age. I was told you run the program that makes the students teachers?"

"_Yes, that's right. Mrs. Cleven said you had some concerns about that?"_

"A little. Jacob really wants you to be Kevin's and Kyle's teacher, and I would like it too."

"_But you're weary about high school students handling the children?"_

"Yes."

"_I understand Mrs. Black. I can assure you, they're never alone with the children. If I'm not there, another teacher is."_

"That's good to hear. And other than the classes, are there any other prerequisites to being able to do the preschool teaching class?"

"_Well, good grades and good school ethics of course. For example, if they were involved in questionable activity of any kind on or off campus, then they won't be able to qualify. And the students have to get a C or better in the other classes that are required before they can qualify. And there are a large number of kids who want to get into this class, so we pick the thirty two best students for all four periods my class is available and each child get's their own teacher. Sometimes two depending on the teacher to child ratio available. And at the end of the year, we have a little graduation for the preschoolers."_ I smiled.

"That sounds nice. How many children are usually in your class at one time?"

"_We have a capacity in my class of eight children. Sometimes we get less than that, but if my class is full, the children will take one of the morning class or vice versa."_

"So how much are the classes?"

"_The morning classes are the ones that cost a little money. It's 100 dollars a month. But the afternoon class with the student teachers is only fifty. So it fills up fast and that's just a simple first come first serve."_

"I see. When can we start signing our kids up for it?"

"_Not until next summer. But I'll tell you what. You and Jacob talk a little more about what you want to do and get back to me later on. And whatever you decide, I'll save a place for Kevin_." I smiled.

"Thanks. I really appreciate it."

"_You're welcome. And I'll do the same for Kyle. And I'll even make sure there's room for Maxi and Kevin to be in the same class."_

"I'm sure Paul and Rachael would really appreciate that." Mrs. Sunbird gave me a breathy laugh.

"_I bet. And the new baby will always have a place in my class too." _

"Thank you, Mrs. Sunbird. I really appreciate it."

"_You're welcome, Mrs. Black. And if you have any other questions, you know where to find me."_

"Thank you, Mrs. Sunbird. I'll keep in touch."

"_Alright, Mrs. Black. Tell Jacob I said pie."_ I giggled.

"I will."

Mrs. Sunbird and I said goodbye to each other and hung up the phone. I went right back to work after that call, making a mental note to myself to talk to Jacob during lunch. When I did, Jacob was happy to hear that I'd gotten to talk to Mrs. Sunbird. He was also very pleased to hear that she would reserve a spot for Maxi and Kevin in her class. Another customer came in, so Jacob and I decided to wait until later to talk any more about it later that day. I'm sure momma and daddy and Billy would be happy to know they soon wouldn't have to watch the kids for us all day. Especially Billy. He loved Kevin and Kyle, but he was ill-equipped to take care of two boys that loved running around. I took a moment during the day to call Rachael and tell her about the conversation I'd hard with Mrs. Sunbird.

She was happy to hear that our sons would be able to share a class together and we spent an hour talking on the phone after I told her. I was happy that Rachael and I got along so well now. She might have disliked me at first, then learned to tolerate me, then decided I wasn't so bad, and now she thought of me as a good friend and sister-in-law. It was a nice change from where we'd been in the beginning. Jacob pretended that it irritated him that me and Rachael were friends, but I think he secretly liked it and also knew it was in his best interest that we get along anyway. We made plans to see each other in the near future and she took the job of calling the others and inviting them over too. I decided they'd come to my house this time. I told Jacob when we were on our way to my parents' house and he laughed.

"If I didn't know better, Nessie, I'd say you and my sister are becoming BFFs, or whatever it is chicks call it these days." I giggled and smiled.

"Indeed Jacob. Is it so bad that Rachael and I get along?"

"I'll live I'm sure. I'm just not sure I'm happy that my wife is befriending one of my childhood tormentors." I rolled my eyes while fighting a laugh.

"You weren't much better than they were, Jacob, if I recall correctly." He shook his head.

"You do not recall correctly, Nessie." I finally giggled.

"Really? So you never systematically stole your sister's clothes just to annoy them?" Jacob shook his head innocently.

"Of course not."

"I see. And you never intentionally put dead rodents under their floor boards so their rooms would stink?" Jacob was fighting a smile and shook his head.

"I'm hurt you would think so Nessie. Honestly, do I look capable of something so gross?"

"Do you really want me to answer that, Jacob?" Jacob finally smiled all the way and laughed a little.

"I'm not the only one who ever did mean stuff. Did Rachael ever tell you about the time she and Rebecca had a party without telling dad and blamed the mess on me?"

"Yeah she did. And she regrets that your dad found out what actually happened anyway."

"Not to mention the countless times those two have forced me to do their chores, and picked on me, and got mad at me because I ate the last bag of sour gummy worms." I smiled.

"That's what siblings do, Jacob. That's why I'm happy I grew up an only child." Jacob made a fake angry pout and mumbled something unintelligible. "You mad at me?"

"A little yes." I giggled.

"What can I do to make you not mad?"

"Go back in time about eleven years and tell you parents how to have another baby so you can have a sibling. Then you will understand my pain. And make sure it's a brother." I giggled.

"You're so silly, Jacob." I reached over and gave Jacob a kiss on the cheek. He smiled and kissed me back really quick and immediately put his eyes back on the road.

When we got to my parent's house, daddy and momma were in the living room sitting on the floor with Kevin and Kyle teaching them how to play Clue. Daddy was closest to finding out the culprit. Momma was in last place while Kevin and Kyle were head to head. Kevin looked really excited. Kyle looked sleepy and was dozing in and out while lying against momma's arm. Alice and Rosalie were watching them play and I couldn't find anyone else. Jacob and I took a seat on the couch where Alice and Rosalie were watching the game.

"So where is everyone?" Rosalie answered.

"Carlisle's still at work and Esme's upstairs reading. Aside from us, everyone's at Red Night." I was a little surprised.

"Even Ryan and Valerie?" Rosalie nodded.

"Yeah. We got a notice this morning from that Tim guy saying there would be a huge party for one of Gretchen's employees and we were invited to go. And that included Ryan and Valerie."

Interesting. It wasn't really odd that Jasper would accept the invitation. Since they'd first gone, he liked going whenever he could. Emmett preferred not to because Rosalie didn't want him to lose his gold eyes, but Jasper was happy to have the opportunity to have human blood readily available to him in a way that didn't make him a guilty person amongst us. His eyes had started being an almost permanent rose gold color since Alice still insisted that he stick to animal blood as much as possible. Carlisle simply refused to drink the blood, even if it was donated. He'd spent centuries not drinking it and he had no intention of starting now. He and Esme went to the theatre Gretchen had, but that was about it. Daddy and momma felt about the same way Carlisle did. Momma never had human blood and she didn't intend to start, and daddy didn't want to because it brought back bad memories when he did. I'd always known daddy had a rebellious period and that was all I needed to know about that matter. Alice didn't mind going with Jasper every now and then, but tonight she had preferred to stay with momma and daddy with Kevin and Kyle.

"That sounds fun. What was the occasion?" Alice smiled.

"Evidently, she has a Scouter who had Leukemia when he was human and they celebrate his birthday by making a whole bunch of paper cranes and turtles and hanging them around the bar. It's her way of saying she's glad he survived T-PLL. Or as much as possible." Jacob looked at her confused.

"T-PLL?" Daddy was the one to explain.

"T-cell-prolymphocytic leukemia. It's a rare and aggressive form of Leukemia that usually happens primarily in adults. It's rarely found in kids, but in this person's case, it happened early. He was diagnosed when he was four if Tim's thoughts serve me well."

"That sucks. But what do paper cranes and turtles have to do with it?" Alice explained next.

"Because in Japanese culture, it's said that if you make 1000 cranes, you'll live through your ordeal, and if you make ten thousand paper turtles, then you'll live and be healthier than before. At least I think that's how it goes. I've never looked up much on Japanese culture." Jacob shrugged.

"Either way, it sounds like a nice gesture. But isn't that a personal thing?" Daddy answered.

"When Tim told us about it, he mentioned that whenever they do this, they like to cosplay." Jacob laughed and I looked at daddy confused. "Cosplaying is when you dress up like an anime or video game character. I called Seth to let him know because I knew he appreciated that sort of stuff and he went to see the costumes." Jacob laughed again.

"Oh god, would he ever. Watch, about an hour from now, he's going to call me and tell me how many people dressed up as Cloud or Kefka. And dear lord, if anyone dresses up like Reno and Rude, he'll call me squealing like a fan girl. Did he bring Alyssa with him?" Daddy chuckled.

"Yes, he did." I was still confused.

"Who's Kefka? And what kind of names are Cloud, Reno, and Rude?" Jacob chuckled.

"Don't mock those names, Nessie. Final Fantasy 7 is arguably one of the best Final Fantasy games made. Seth's played all of them I think. We all played 7 together and we all liked it. Even Sam liked it. But anyway, Cloud's the hero of 7, and Reno and Rude were Turks in the game, a.k.a a section of bad guys working for Shinra inc. Kefka is the bad guy from Final Fantasy 6. If I remember, that's the only one Leah played and she really liked it. But figures she would love a game with a cheesy love story and a crazy clown hell bent on destroying the world. But that's based off what little I know about it."

"You talk about this like I know exactly what you're talking about." Jacob chuckled.

"Sorry, Nessie." Then Jacob looked at daddy again. "So when did they leave?"

"An hour ago. Ryan wanted to get there early." I noticed daddy was smiling in humor.

"What's so funny, daddy?" He sighed and smiled at once.

"Felix decided he wanted to see the bar and he brought Lia with him naturally. They're seeing it tonight." I couldn't fight a grin.

"So that's why Ryan wanted to go?" Momma giggled and daddy just smiled. "Do you think he'll ever be able to ask her on a date?"

"Not if Felix has anything to say about it honestly. Emmett agreed to talk to him and attempt to distract him while Ryan had a chance to talk to Lia."

"Does she know…?" Daddy nodded.

"She knows. She's not positive if she likes him back because she hasn't been able to talk to him much because of Felix. In all honesty, Ryan's still at the point where it's more like a crush. But those two would work together. If they don't end up staying together forever, they'll at least date for a really long time for sure."

"So do you think if things go right, Ryan will come home with a girlfriend?"

"Almost certainly. Girls have always liked Ryan anyway. And the fact that he's a charming kid works in his favor too."

"Aren't those two still in high school?"

"They're both seniors now. They graduate this summer." Jacob sighed.

"I feel old right now." I giggled.

"Why? You're only 29." Jacob smiled and looked at momma. Daddy laughed.

"That means you're thirty, Bella." Momma rolled her eyes.

"You'll be thirty this year." Jacob shrugged.

"You turned thirty first." Daddy chuckled and patted momma's back.

"Don't worry, Bella. You're still younger than me." We all shared a collective laugh and continued the game. Kevin was so pleased when he managed to win the game. Daddy helped him a little, but he pretended to be a winner on his own. "So anyway, let's get to the more important subject at hand." Momma looked at us still not knowing yet what was going on and I went right into what he was talking about.

"Oh yeah. We're enrolling them in preschool in September." Momma looked torn on how to feel.

"So we won't be watching them anymore?" I gave momma a guilty smile and I'm sure Jacob did too.

"Jacob thought it would be good to enroll them and get them started in school early and get them to start making friends with some of the other kids that aren't related to them or within the pack."

"I understand. I'm just a little sad we won't get to have them all day anymore." Jacob smiled.

"Preschool's only a half day thing, so you can still have them for a while. And I think I got Nessie to agree to Mrs. Sunbird's class in the afternoon." Daddy interrupted Jacob.

"That's also the class that has high school students as teachers." Momma looked thoughtful a moment and shrugged.

"It sounds like a good idea. I mean, it's not like anyone can get into that class. They have to qualify, and if they're in the class, obviously they're good enough."

"I'm planning to drop by sometime this week to see for myself what it's like. I don't doubt Mrs. Sunbird knows what she's doing, it's the students I'm just a little concerned about."

"I'm sure they'll let you."

"And with the guaranteed spot in her class, it's a hard offer to pass up anyway since it's a smaller class of kids and less expensive." Jacob nodded.

"That is a big plus." Kevin interrupted the conversation.

"No. I want to stay home with grama and grampa." Momma smiled and lifted Kevin into her arms.

"Don't worry sweetie. You'll still be able to come over as often as you want. And you'll still spend the morning with us."

"But I want to spend whole day with grama and grampa. And aunties and uncles." Rosalie smiled and started brushing her fingers through Kevin's hair to sooth him.

"Don't be nervous, Kevin. You'll love school. And you and Maxi will make a whole bunch of new friends." This got Kevin's attention and he seemed to cheer up a little.

"Maxi's going too?" Jacob nodded and answered him.

"Of course. You're both the same age. And your teacher was nice enough to make sure that you two would end up in the same class." Kevin smiled.

"It might not be so bad." I giggled and reached to Kevin to hold him in my arms. Momma handed Kevin to me and Jacob picked up Kyle in the meantime and I held Kevin close.

"You're growing up so fast, Kevin."

"I know mommy. I'm a big boy." I giggled and cuddled Kevin closer. I think being smothered bothered him, but for me, he took it like I would want.

Jacob had patrol that night, so I decided to stay at my family's house for the night. Kevin and Kyle had plenty of people to choose from to hold them while they slept and I could always sleep on the couch or in my old room when I got tired. Kevin and Kyle were asleep by the time Carlisle got back home and I eagerly told him the news. He was happy to hear that I was pregnant and laughed a little when I once again insisted this was the last time. I finally went to bed around midnight and stayed in my old bed at the cottage. I knew I would regret staying up so late, especially since I was pregnant, but I wanted to stay up and talk to everyone that was home. No one was back by the time I went to bed.

**Narrator's POV, Earlier that night**

"You came! It's so nice to see all of you." Gretchen was at the door and greeted the group as they walked towards the entrance. There were already people lined up outside, some dressed normally, and some dressed in odd costumes, some really odd. It hadn't been near one year since the bar opened, but Gretchen had so far proven good to her word and Carlisle's fears were pretty much gone. The pack was still nervous, but with each month passing, they became less and less skeptical that Gretchen would be able to pull this business off to a point where all were happy.

"We heard it was a birthday party and it sounded fun." Alyssa, Seth's wife, gingerly walked to the front with an eager smile.

"May I ask how many Final Fantasy cosplayers are in there?" Seth smiled and listened for Gretchen's answer. She giggled.

"Many. Though I only know what characters look like and their names. The whole reason I know any of that is because of the birthday boy." Valerie giggled.

"He sounds like a nerd." Gretchen shrugged with a big smile.

"He is. But when you're stuck in a hospital bed all your life with nothing to do but play video games, it's sort of inevitable." Valerie shut up then and felt bad for saying anything. "Oh, where are my manors? Please, come in, come in. Jasper, we have a pint waiting for you inside." Gretchen began to gesture them inside, but Alyssa was stopped when she saw Otto at the door guarding as usual.

"Oh my god." Otto rolled his eyes.

"Oh Jesus, not again."

"What? You're not cosplaying as Rude from Final Fantasy 7?"

"I'm only dressed this way 'cause Mr. I-Have-Leukemia charmed my wife into convincing me to dress like this. I don't know jack shit about this damn Rude sucker. All I know is I'm 'spos to stand here not talkin' while keepin' my sunglasses in place. Fuckin' Jap makin' me dress like this. Imma beat his pasty white ass when I see him next."

"I'm sorry. I was just making an observation. I didn't mean to offend you." Seth brought Alyssa closer to him and Gretchen defended her.

"Otto please, don't snap at her because Maleshia controls you like a marionette."

"She don't control me, Gretchen. She just knows how to get under my skin." Gretchen sighed.

"If you say so, Otto." Then Gretchen looked at the group with a big smile. "Anyway, shall we go in?"

Gretchen motioned for her guests to go inside and they all walked in with her following behind them. Alyssa's face lit up when she saw the inside of the bar. There were origami cranes and turtles hanging all over the ceiling and almost everyone in the bar was dressed up as a videogame character of some nature. Some were really good, and some were horrible. Alyssa focused on the ones that were really good and Seth did the same. While the others were looking the place over, Alyssa caught site of a close to perfect Vincent impersonator. He had the long black hair and red headband and cape with black body armor like one piece suit and gold long pointy feet and a gold mechanical clawed hand. It was so perfect, it could be the real thing and Alyssa smiled widely and ran over to that person. Seth followed, and Gretchen noticed who they were running to and smiled.

"That's the birthday boy." Emmett looked at the Vincent impersonator a moment.

"So…he's a robot?" Gretchen shook her head.

"He's Vincent Valentine from Final Fantasy 7. All the bar members are dressed as those characters. It's the theme for this year. You saw Otto who's playing Rude. Our bar tender is playing Reno. Mathew is playing Rufus and his wife is playing Tifa, and so on and so forth." Jasper looked Gretchen over a moment.

"Who are you dressed as?" Gretchen, who was currently wearing a blonde long haired wig and a provocative red dress, giggled.

"I'm playing Scarlet. She's one of the members of Shinra and a bad guy. At least that's what I was told I was playing." Jasper didn't ask for elaboration. "And Bethani begrudgingly agreed to be Yuffie. I can't imagine why she wouldn't want to be Yuffie. She's so cute. And Maleshia was willing to dress as Cait Sith and we got one of our scouters to dress up as Cloud and Sammy's Aeris. He wanted a Red XIII character but every attempt didn't turn out right, so he decided to not have him. He was a little sad about that."

"Well, of course. He was in my final party at the end of the game. I'm just glad we were able to get Peter to play Barret." Gretchen shrugged at the Vincent impersonator who'd just walked up to the group with Alyssa holding his metal arm with excitement and Seth just staring.

"You did say he's the only one who could be Barret."

"Well, yeah, he's big and black and he thought it would be cool to wear a gun on his arm. I was lucky to get Otto to agree to wear a black suit and sunglasses. I can't imagine how he'd react if I asked him to be Barret." Gretchen giggled.

"You never actually asked him. You agreed to do some of Maleshia's work for her if she agreed to make Otto dress up for you." The Vincent impersonator smiled.

"It worked didn't it?" Valerie was looking at the impersonator for a moment. She'd pictured him being ugly when she first saw Seth and Alyssa run toward him, but now that she saw his face, she realized he was really handsome. And the makeup made him look almost videogame like. Gretchen interrupted Valerie's thoughts.

"By the way, everyone, this is Tae Sook. He's the one this party's for."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Emmett and Jasper smiled kindly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too." Then Emmett turned his attention back to Gretchen, knowing Ryan was getting anxious. "So anyway, Gretchen, has Felix and Lia shown up yet?" She shook her head.

"Not yet. But I assure you they'll be here soon. And a little birdy told me about this…shall we say, 'plan', and I'm more than happy to help. I can take advantage of the time to ask him to stay here and join my coven or work for me. It would be delightful to have him on my team." Jasper laughed to himself.

"Good luck, Gretchen. The man's stubborn as a mule, so you'll be lucky if you convince him to even let you make a proposition."

"It's worth a try I would say." Gretchen pulled them all towards the bar, including Ryan, and Valerie stayed by the Vincent impersonator's, Tae Sook's, side.

"I'm sure you've heard this all night, but this costume is superb." Tae Sook smiled at Alyssa.

"Thank you. It took forever to make. I even changed to an animal blood diet for a while because I knew it would give me yellow eyes." Seth and Alyssa looked up and were stunned.

"I can't believe I didn't notice that." Alyssa then noticed what was in the gun holster. "And you have Vincent's ultimate weapon? Could I see it?" Tae Sook pulled the gun out and handed it to Alyssa.

"Feel free. This one I had to buy online, but it's still a really awesome prop."

"I'll say." As Alyssa was looking at the large gun, Seth looked across the bar and saw a guy dressed in an almost perfect Kefka outfit.

"Alyssa. Look, it's Kefka." Alyssa's eyes shot up where Seth was looking, but she couldn't see him very well from her height and distance from the person. She put the gun back in Tae Sook's holster and Seth grabbed her hand and pulled her with him to the Kefka impersonator, leaving Valerie and Tae Sook alone to talk.

"So….you're Tae Sook." He smiled and nodded.

"That's right. Tae Sook Hanamura. And you are?"

"My name's Valerie Cullen. It's nice to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too. I've heard a lot about your family. Gretchen says your family killed….the Volturi were they?" Valerie nodded.

"It was before I was born, but yes, that's right."

"How old are you then? I thought this happened like, eight years ago was it?"

"I think so. My brother and I are only six. We're half breads, so we age faster." Understanding spread across Tae Sook's face.

"I see. That explains it."

"Why don't you know more about the Volturi, though? They're pretty much common knowledge in the vampire world aren't they?" Tae Sook shrugged.

"To most I suppose. But I've only been a vampire for four years." Valerie's eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"Oh. I guess that explains it. I'm sorry. I'm always surprised when a vampire's really new." Tae Sook chuckled.

"Don't worry about it."

"But isn't there a newborn age limit on this place?"

"Yes. That's why I'm not normally allowed in. But since it's my birthday, Gretchen makes an exception."

"I see. That's really sweet of her. But since you're a vampire now, what's the point?" Tae Sook smiled a little more.

"Because, right now, I'm technically twenty three years old. My doctors told me I would be lucky to live past sixteen. And I did. I lived my human life until I was nineteen when I was changed." Valerie, after paying close attention, noticed the slight accent Tae Sook had.

"You weren't born here I assume?" Tae Sook shook his head.

"No. I was born in Seoul, South Korea. We moved to Yokohama, Japan when I was four. My dad had close friends there that specialized in the type of cancer I had and they were willing to take a few charges off my treatment because they were college buddies."

"So you're not all Korean?"

"No. My mother is Korean and my dad is Japanese." Valerie giggled.

"That's a really odd combination." Tae Sook smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I know. But they love each other; even if my dad is seventeen years my mom's senior." Valerie was a little surprised.

"Seriously?" Tae Sook nodded.

"The thing is, my mom needed to get married anyway because she was technically a refugee from North Korea." This really surprised Valerie.

"You're North Korean?" Tae Sook nodded.

"Yeah. My mom managed to get a pass from the government to go on vacation for two weeks to Seoul where she had family and she never came back. South Korea had a legal obligation to deport her back, but she married my dad before hand and the law couldn't touch her then. I guess you could say their marriage started out as pure convenience and they fell in love over the years."

"Was it just for your mom's convenience?" Tae Sook shook his head.

"Not at all. My grandma on dad's side was nagging him about getting married for years, but he had other things he wanted to do first. He wanted to become a doctor and earn a PhD in Physics and that's what he did. He went to South Korea for his PhD and that's around the time he met my mom. She told him her story and they came to the mutual agreement to get married so she could stay in South Korea and so he could get his mom off his back and give her a grandson, me." Valerie smiles.

"It sounds oddly romantic." Tae Sook shrugged.

"In a way. They didn't fall in love with each other until after I was born. I guess I was the glue that held them together. At least, that's what mama used to tell me."

"She sounds like a lovely lady." Tae Sook nodded.

"She is. I still keep in touch with her actually." Valerie was yet again surprised.

"You do?" Tae Sook nodded. Valerie was really intrigued now and wanted to hear all of Tae Sook's story. "Why don't we sit somewhere and start from the beginning." Tae Sook gave Valerie a weird look, but smiled.

"If you would like. Should I order us some drinks? Or would you rather not drink human blood?" Valerie shook her head.

"Water's fine for me. Should I go find us a sofa?" Tae Sook smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. I'll get you that water."

Tae Sook walked away to get Valerie some bottled water and Valerie took a moment to look at the upper levels of the club and managed to find a round couch that was pretty empty. There was a chick in a white cloak sitting there with a guy in a red outfit and a hat with a feather in it, but it was the freest of all the sofas. Valerie walked up the stairs in the left corner of the club and took a seat across from the two people already there. Tae Sook was sitting next to Valerie in no time and said hi to the two cosplayers sitting across from them.

"They're dressed as a red and white mage from the original Final Fantasy games if you're curious." Valerie giggled.

"I take it Final Fantasy's the theme for tonight?" Tae Sook chuckled.

"For the staff here yes. But there are plenty of people dressed as characters from other games and shows. On my way here, I saw a guy dressed as Dante from Devil May Cry and another guy dressed as Inuyasha, though that's been done to death if you ask me. And there were a few people dressed as Persona characters from 3 and 4 and there was another girl dressed as the main character from Fatal Frame. Now that was a good game. Creepy, but entertaining. Some people think dressing like those characters is a copout, but I don't think so. They're still really cool looking outfits. That and I just think the Fatal Frame III outfit the main chick is wearing is really sexy. And actually, there was someone sitting on the other side of the bar that's dressed as Yuri from Shadow Hearts 2. I liked the first two Shadow Hearts games. The third one was kind of dumb in my opinion. I personally think they should have stopped with the second one. That's when Yuri's story ended, so they should've moved onto making a new game." Valerie had no idea what he was talking about and didn't bother trying to understand. She just sat there and tried to listen, even though she was completely clueless to what he was saying. "I'm sorry. You wanted me to start from the beginning?" Valerie nodded.

"Yes. According to Gretchen, you were diagnosed when you were four?" Tae Sook nodded.

"Yeah. I was diagnosed with a rare leukemia that typically affects adults, so I'm a one in a million kind of case. The doctors in Korea said I wouldn't live to be a teenager, and the doctors in Japan said I wouldn't live past sixteen. And I lived to nineteen."

"So you said. Did you at least get to go to school?" Tae Sook shrugged.

"I would go when I could, but for the most part, I had tutors that would teach me what I know and they would bring me my homework so I could move on in school without having to always be there. I didn't have many friends because of it needless to say. Most of my friends where my doctors and nurses because I saw them all the time and I was friends with my tutors too. I even dated one of my tutors for s short time. Short being the prominent word."

"Why so short?" Tae Sook shrugged.

"We were friends, but when we tried dating, we realized just how little we had in common and she wasn't willing to continue dating me when she found out just how serious my condition really was. She knew I had leukemia, but when she found out what type and how low my chances of survival were, she broke it off. She stopped being my tutor after that too. But that can't be helped. It's not like she was the smartest tutor I had anyway. It wasn't hard to find another one."

"It sounds miserable." Tae Sook shrugged.

"Compared to a normal life, I suppose it is. Video games became my primary pastime, so that's why I'm such a nerd." Valerie giggled.

"So if you were in a hospital most of the time, how were you changed? And why would a vampire be interested in your blood anyway if you had leukemia? Wouldn't they be able to smell that and be repelled by it?" Tae Sook lost his smile when the unfortunate, though not quite so unfortunate, memory came to his mind.

"Well, what happened was, on my nineteenth birthday, they said I was well enough to be let out of the hospital. I'd made so much progress and I was gaining color back and I was growing my hair back too. I wanted to grow it out long, but my current hair is all I managed. What I'm wearing now is just a wig."

"So you got better against all odd, huh? That's so inspiring." Tae Sook shook his head.

"Actually, no. I only looked like I was doing better and tests were showing that everything was close to normal. But it didn't last very long. I had started going to college once I was out of the hospital and I'd managed to make some new friends in my classes. About three months after I was let out of the hospital, some of those new friends and I went out for dinner, karaoke and a movie." Valerie giggled.

"Karaoke?" Tae Sook smiled.

"It's popular in Japan. They have karaoke bars all over the place and DDR joints are popular too."

"Okay. Just curious, what were you planning to study?"

"Chemistry. Dad wanted me to get into science like him, but I hate physics. So we agreed on my majoring in chemistry. What about you? What are you studying?" Valerie shrugged.

"I don't know yet. I know I want to be a wedding planner, but that's as far as I've thought it out. I'm only a semester away from graduating high school." Tae Sook was a little surprised.

"You're still in high school? I assumed you were in college by now. Wasn't your cousin in college by now or something?"

"That was Nessie and she was in college at my age because the smart ass skipped a grade. She's the child prodigy of the family. Me and my brother are just able to get A's and B's, so we were stuck with junior year." Tae Sook chuckled.

"Someone's jealous of her cousin." Valerie rolled her eyes.

"I envy her luck."

"Luck has little to do with grades and getting to skip."

"I say it does. The girl studied a little, yes, but she also had her dad to help her."

"And your Uncle never helped you and your brother?" Valerie shrugged.

"Whenever we asked. With Nessie, he would actually hover over her and make sure she did or didn't need his help. The man may be a mind reader, but he still worried about Nessie too much as far as I'm concerned."

"The more you talk, the more you're proving my jealousy theory."

"Don't get me wrong. I love Nessie. She's a doll and no one else would ever be good enough to be my cousin like she is. I just get jealous that she's the golden child. That's all. There, I admitted I'm jealous of her. Happy?" Tae Sook raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry if I was offending you." Valerie shook her head.

"No worries. Nessie may be the smart one, but I'm still the prettiest." Tae Sook burst into laughter that took his a minute to recover from. This time, Valerie was a little offended. "What's so funny?" Tae Sook tried to control his laughter and shook his head.

"Sorry. The way you said it just made me laugh. It was so certain."

"Why is that funny?"

"Because. It just sounded really narcissistic and it was funny." Valerie sighed.

"You call it what you want I guess."

"I'm sorry. I'm being rude." Valerie shrugged.

"Let's get back to you. You were talking about college and karaoke bars." Tae Sook smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. Well, anyway, I was hanging out with them and I walked home on my own, but while I was walking home, I started feeling really sick. It started with just being tired, but then I started feeling heavy joint pains and abdominal pains and there was blood in my mouth. I knew what it was the moment it started happening and I was in a lot of pain. I was near crawling when I came across a Shinto temple and I went to the altar and just prayed. I didn't know what else to do but pray. I threw what little money I had left into the altar and begged the Gods to spare my life. I wasn't ready to die. While I was praying, a woman came out of nowhere and started talking to me.

"'Men only pray like this when they're going to die,' she said. I asked who she was and she told me her name was Midori. 'It's a terrible shame that someone so young is so worried about dying,' she said. I told her I had leukemia and asked her to call an ambulance. Then she said she would do something better. She said she would make my pain go away all together and make me more powerful than the cancer that threatened to kill me. I asked her how, and that's when she bit me. She ran off right after that and someone finally came to help me when they heard me screaming.

"The woman that found me called an ambulance and I was rushed to the hospital. After that, I only remember feeling like I was on fire. But I guess when you're changing that's all anyone would remember. When the burning stopped, I wasn't in pain anymore. I had a burn in my throat and attacked one of the nurses attending to me without a thought passing through my head about it. When I realized what I'd done, I was horrified and the other nurse ran out screaming. Then my mom came in and asked what was wrong with me. She was the one that realized what had really happened to me though and she just started crying. I stayed as far away from her as possible because I didn't want to risk doing to her what I did to the nurse."

"What ended up happening that you still are able to keep in touch with your parents?"

"When I was about to run off, mom stopped me and begged me to not leave her. I told her that if she was right about what I was, that meant I was dangerous and she just told me she didn't care and that I was her son. She told me I was always welcome to come home and told me to always keep in touch with her and let her know what I was doing and so she could tell me how she was doing. I promised her I would and I haven't seen her since. I call her all the time and let her know how I'm doing, but I left Japan a month after I was changed. Partially because I was hot news because I'd killed a nurse and also because I didn't want to be around Midori anymore. She wanted us to be in a coven together, but I was a little depressed and didn't want to be around anyone. I ended up swimming to California and didn't stop running until I ran into one of Gretchen's New York Scouters. She felt bad for me and took me in and told me what went on in this world and said she was willing to employ me and take care of me."

"So what are you doing here in Seattle?" Tae Sook shrugged.

"I went to Chicago when that Red Night opened up, and now that this one's opened, I came here. I've discovered a liking for traveling since I changed. Because of it, I'm able to live my life in a way I wasn't able to before. So I'm grateful, but I'm mad too because now I have to keep my distance from my parents because I'm scared I'll hurt them. It's a double edged sword I guess you could say. You know what I mean?" Valerie nodded.

"Yeah. I think I get it. I want to say sorry, but I feel like the last thing you want to hear is me pitying you." Tae Sook smiled at Valerie in appreciation.

"You'd be right about that." Valerie smiled back at him. She realized he had a beautiful smile in that moment. As they were smiling at each other, a song came on that caught Tae Sook's attention and he smiled at Valerie again.

"You like this song?" He nodded. Valerie couldn't understand the words when they came on. She assumed it was Chinese, but Tae Sook told her otherwise.

"It's a song mom used to sing to me when I was in the hospital. It's more a song from my generation, but she loves it. Inyeon is what it's called. That's fate in Korean."

"It's beautiful. What's the song about?"

"She's singing about meeting a man for only a brief moment and knowing then that she loved him and what they had was special, as short as the experience was. It's more a romance, but mama liked to apply it to our situation. She used to say singing to me comforted her."

"That's so sweet." Tae Sook's smile this time was nostalgic in a way as he looked at Valerie. Then he held out his left, metal gold hand to her.

"You want to dance?" Valerie stared at the metal hand a moment, but smiled and gave him her hand.

"I would love to." Valerie stood up and Tae Sook walked with her down the stairs to the dance floor where all the other people were dancing and took her other hand in his right, not metal hand and brought the gold left hand around her and rested it on her lower back while Valerie brought that now free hand up to his neck. While Valerie was dancing with the Vincent impersonator, Felix and Lia walked into the bar and Felix took a moment to look around.

"It looks really nice doesn't it, daddy?" Felix took a moment to look around and saw Emmett and Jasper and Ryan sitting at the bar and shrugged.

"It's certainly a versatile looking place." Then Felix looked at Lia and hugged her close. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, daddy. What's on your mind?" Felix sighed. He hadn't known that the Cullens would be at the bar. Obviously, Demetri told them he was. He wasn't all too fond of Ryan. He was a good kid, but he was interested in Lia and that bothered him. He wasn't ready to give her away. He'd only had her for eight years now. To any human, she should still be tiny and hanging onto him and not interested in boys. She was a woman now and he had a hard time with that reality.

"I know Ryan's going to talk to you." Lia smiled a little.

"Oh, the Cullens are here? That's nice. That means we have people to talk to while we're here." Then Lia began looking around. "Did you see Valerie anywhere? I haven't seen her in forever." Felix was relieved that Ryan wasn't the first person that came to her mind, but he still knew that Ryan was the first one who would talk to her.

"Yeah, I did. She's dancing with some guy in a ridiculous outfit." Lia looked a little more and saw Valerie slow dancing with a man with really long black hair, a red bandana and cap and a black one piece suit with a claw like gold left hand and gold pointy shoes and a huge gun in his holster.

"I believe it's called cosplaying." Felix chuckled.

"Whatever, Lia."

"Why does it upset you that Ryan likes me so much, daddy?" Felix sighed.

"Because you're too young to be dating and that boy's interested in you that way. I know you know that." Lia smiled.

"Daddy, I know I grew up a little too fast, but I'm grown up all the same. So in truth, if Ryan's interested in me and he's a nice boy, I shouldn't just blow him off because you don't like him."

"It's not that I don't like him. I just don't think he's good enough for you." Lia smiled and hugged Felix's arm.

"Oh, daddy. You worry too much."

"I'm your father. I'm allowed to." As Lia and Felix were talking, Emmett, Jasper, Gretchen, and Ryan walked over to them to start conversation which Gretchen started.

"Felix of the Volturi. It's a pleasure to meet you." Gretchen reached her hand out to shake his and he took hers to be polite.

"Former member of the Volturi, actually."

"My apologies, Felix."

"I take it you're the owner of this bar?" Gretchen nodded.

"Yes, indeed I am. I actually wanted to talk to you about something. You see, I have a group of scouters that patrol the city." Felix held his hand up.

"I'm sorry, but I don't really care. Anyway, Emmett, Jasper, how's life been for the Cullen family?" Lia smiled at Gretchen apologetically for Felix's rudeness.

"It's been great. Ryan and Valerie graduate from high school this year and they're applying for colleges right now." Felix looked at Ryan.

"Wonderful news. Where do you want to go?"

"Washington State."

"Is it a good school?" Ryan shrugged.

"No idea. I just want to be in close reach to the family so I can come home whenever my roommate pisses me off." Lia giggled.

"You don't even know who your roommate will be and you already dislike him?" Ryan smiled at Lia.

"Well, with my luck, I'll end up with someone bad. I won't go into details of what I anticipate, but if you know anything about men, I'm sure you can do the math yourself." Lia fought a laugh since Felix thought the joke was inappropriate. Emmett elbowed Ryan.

"Don't make assumptions, Ryan. It's the best way to get your ass in trouble." Ryan took the hint from Emmett and shut up, though Lia was smiling sweetly. "So are you guys still living in Rome?"

"Of course. And this is just a rumor mind you, but I feel the need to get back at Demetri for letting it slip that I was planning to come here. Dante and Amadora might be getting married some time soon. I haven't heard anything from Demetri yet, so it's not official, but it'll probably happen. So be prepared to be invited to a wedding in Germany or Russia or Italy. It depends on what they want to do. Though with the type of weather those Slavic countries get, I'd be horrified if they chose to have a wedding in Germany or Russia." Emmett and Jasper smiled.

"That's always good news. It's a shame they've waited so long, but at least it's happening." Felix shrugged.

"I would never say this in front of Afton of course, but why buy the cow when you're getting the milk for free as far as I'm concerned." There was an awkward silence for a moment before Ryan broke it.

"Weren't you married in your human life?" Felix looked at him with a straight face and dead in the eyes.

"Yes. I killed her and her lover." Ryan had already known because Lia told him, but the way Felix said that creeped him out and he just kept his mouth shut. Lia at least came to Ryan's defense.

"Don't be mean, daddy. He wasn't trying to be rude." Felix responded, still not taking his eyes off Ryan.

"I know, Lia." Instead of saying anything else, Lia just sighed and let Jasper change the subject.

"So, Felix, why don't we go to the bar and have some drinks while the kids have fun."

"I notice you come here from time to time judging by the pinkish hue in your eyes." Jasper shrugged.

"I come here more often than Alice would like, but I still drink animal blood."

"I can tell." Felix then looked at Lia. "You have fun. Go bother Valerie seeing as you haven't seen her in a while." Emmett, Jasper, and Gretchen smiled and walked towards the bar. Felix followed, but not before giving Ryan a dirty look that let him know he was being watched like a hawk. When Lia and Ryan were alone, Lia spoke.

"Don't mind daddy. He's just overprotective sometimes."

"Clearly." They were silent a moment as they smiled at each other. "So how've you been, Lia?"

"I've been great. Like daddy said, Dante and Amadora are considering getting married at last. It's not official, though, so let's keep it between us as much as possible."

"Sure thing. But I'm more interested in you." Lia smiled.

"How gentlemanly of you. Just curious, who's you sister dancing with?" Ryan looked over as Valerie and Tae Sook were walking off the dance floor and going back to the booth they'd previously been sitting at.

"He's the guy this party's for. Gretchen said his name was Tae Sook."

"Who's he dressed up as?"

"Seth said he was playing Vincent from Final Fantasy 7. That's about as much information I can provide I'm afraid."

"Don't worry about it. I know you're a more outdoorsy type than someone who plays video games. So you're graduating this year. That's exciting."

"Yeah it is. I'll be happy not to be in high school anymore. Everyone knows we're related to the Cullens, so me and Valerie are the intrigue of the school. And Valerie exploits that like nobody's business."

"How so?"

"Well, my sister's never had sex with anyone or anything, but she's got like ten guys at school that worship the dirt she walks on and she can get them to do anything she wants just by batting her eyelashes. Mom admits she was a little like that when she was younger so I can't say I don't know where she gets it from. She's a cock tease to an extreme that should be considered cruel." Lia giggled.

"With a pretty face comes willing puppets I guess."

"Please tell me you don't." Lia shrugged.

"Not often. But if I can charm a sober man to spend the night with me, I'd say that's an accomplishment. The best part is I've never even had to kiss my victims. I've usually had all the blood I want before they even have a chance to ask what my name is by the way." Ryan chuckled.

"Aren't you a sneaky little harlot." Lia giggled.

"Don't be mean. You can't say you don't take advantage of those people that are so interested in you." Ryan shrugged.

"Not really. It's never hard to get a girlfriend, though. That's for sure."

"So you've dated?"

"Yeah. So has Valerie. She's just never slept with them." Lia gave Ryan a teasing lecturing look.

"And you have?" Ryan smiled in minor guilt.

"Only once. I wanted to know what it was like."

"And?"

"I'm a guy, Lia. You tell me." Lia giggled and shook her head.

"And how do Emmett and Rosalie feel about this?"

"Dad's thrilled I'm a man. Mom doesn't know about it I don't think. You know what, no. She probably knows. But if she does, she hasn't spoken to me about it. I'm still her little boy in her eyes, so they idea of me having sex is just unacceptable to her I'm sure."

"Though I would assume she demanded Emmett talk to you about it."

"Of course. But honestly, dad just told me, this goes here or there, this is what you should ideally do for future reference, and you use one of these to avoid getting her pregnant. It was a lot more detailed than that, but I'm sure it's nothing you haven't heard a million times before." Lia smiled and glanced towards the bar, then back at Ryan.

"My father's probably listening to us, Ryan. I'd be careful what subjects we discuss." Ryan smiled.

"If you like." They were quiet a moment until Ryan finally got up the nerve to ask what he really wanted. "So, hey, I wanted to ask you something."

"And what's that?"

"I know about an apple orchard that's near Forks and they have a whole bunch of apples to pick and eat. And then maybe we could see a movie together. So call it me asking you out to a dinner and movie." Lia giggled.

"That sounds divine. When do you want to do this?"

"Well, how long are you here for?"

"Daddy wants to leave tomorrow."

"So soon? Don't you guys want to stay and visit for a while?" Lia shrugged and gave Ryan a guilty smile.

"He doesn't see the need to visit every time he's in the area. We're all immortal after all, so he doesn't think it's necessary."

"My god, you make it sound like your dad hates us."

"He doesn't hate you guys. He just doesn't think that he needs to make a point to visit every time we're in the area."

"And how often are you guys even here?"

"Not often."

"My point exactly. But why don't I skip school tomorrow and we make it lunch and a movie?" Lia giggled and nodded.

"I think I could do that. Do you think your parents would allow you to stay home from school?" Ryan shrugged.

"I'm sure dad will cover for me."

"Is he so eager to get us together?"

"He knows I like you a lot and that's good enough for him." Lia smiled and touched Ryan's arm.

"Well, I like you too, Ryan." Ryan grinned from ear to ear and glanced over at where Valerie and Tae Sook were sitting. He saw a small seating area that was free and looked back at Lia.

"Why don't we snatch a seat at one of the booths before someone else takes it." Lia smiled and followed Ryan up the stairs to the booth in question and spent the rest of the time at the bar talking about everything there was to talk about. Valerie had spent the whole night talking to Tae Sook and getting to know him. There were a few moments where he accidentally called her out on a few things, making her irritated with him, but he managed to fix those moments with a change of subject. And to Ryan's triumphant joy, Lia gave him a kiss on the lips before he left with Emmett, Jasper, Seth and Alyssa and he knew that the rest of the night was spent, him feeling really proud of himself.

**NPOV**

"So did you hear?" I looked at daddy while I was sitting in the music room with him after work. Jacob was in the TV room with Jasper and Emmett watching the game and the boys, almost certainly being told what I was about to be told.

"What haven't I heard?" Daddy grinned a little.

"Ryan had a date with Lia today." I smiled.

"That's nice. When did he leave?"

"Around eleven. Emmett let him skip school for the date." I giggled.

"How gracious of him. Why couldn't it wait until after school?"

"Because Felix wanted to leave for Rome tonight. Though Emmett and Jasper tried to convince him to stay and visit for a while. I'm sure Lia will attempt to get him to agree if the date today goes well."

"Of course it will go well. Those two have great chemistry if you ask me."

"Indeed they do."

"How will they handle a long distance relationship, though? I know Felix would never want to live her when he could live in Rome." Daddy shrugged.

"I can't say. They haven't thought it out that far yet. At least not to my knowledge. When Ryan gets back, I'll be sure to let you know." I smiled and looked at the keys of the piano.

"By the way, where's momma? I haven't seen her."

"She went shopping with Esme, Alice and Rosalie." I looked at daddy again.

"Momma?" He chuckled.

"Alice wanted to start buying baby things. Bella begged her to wait until we knew what you were having, but she says she's certain it's a girl this time. And she's asked me to let you and Jacob know that if it's another boy, you have an obligation to try again and give her a niece." I giggled and sighed.

"I said we're done." Daddy chuckled.

"I know. I reminded her. But don't be surprised if Alice starts slipping aphrodisiacs in Jacob's drinks and replacing your birth control pills with placebos." I rolled my eyes.

"You would never allow Alice to do that would you, daddy?"

"Not intentionally. But Alice and I have known each other for a long time, so she's really good at keeping things from me. For all I know, she may bribe Kevin and Kyle to do her dirty work so I wouldn't be able to hear it until it was too late." I sighed.

"Looks like I'll have to have a talk with the boys in that case." Daddy chuckled and patted my back.

"Don't worry, honey. You might not need to. You might have a daughter."

"I hope so. I'm not sure I can handle three little boys." Daddy chuckled.

"If they turn out anything like Jacob was when he was little, they'll be little terrors." I giggled.

"Don't be so mean, daddy." He chuckled.

"I'm only teasing, Nessie. No need to get mad at me."

"I'm not mad, daddy. I'm just saying." Daddy smiled, then he turned his head towards the door, then looked at me.

"Honey, do me a favor and go fetch Valerie. She has a visitor." Emmett overheard and looked at daddy while I walked away to get Valerie.

"Who's here for her?"

"I can't tell. He's thinking in Korean and I can't understand him." Their conversation continued as I ran upstairs and went to Valerie and Ryan's room where she was writing a paper while trying to get Marlboro to sit on her lap instead of her keyboard.

"Marlboro, sweetie, I need to use my keyboard. You're making it awfully hard to type when you're fur is covering my keys." Marlboro meowed as she lifted him from the keyboard and rested him on her lap and petted his back. Then she noticed me at the door. "Oh, Nessie. Did you want something?"

"Daddy said there was someone at the door for you." Then we heard the doorbell ring and Valerie smiled.

"Excellent. That kid from my Physics class is finally here. We're supposed to present a project on Monday and we haven't even started working on it." I rolled my eyes.

"Meaning, you have no idea what it's about and he's going to let you know what you're presenting." Valerie gave me a mean look.

"Nessie, I do my own work. What I don't do are errands I don't feel like doing. We really haven't started yet and we really need to work on it. For God's sake, Nessie, it's Friday already."

"And when was this assigned?"

"Monday." I rolled my eyes as I followed Valerie down the stairs.

"Jeez, Valerie, you and Ryan are horrible when it comes to procrastinating, you know that."

"Yes, Nessie, I get it. My brother and I aren't as smart as you."

"Oh come one, Valerie, don't give me that. I'm only saying." When we reached downstairs, there was a man standing before Emmett and Daddy, neither of whom knew who he was and Valerie didn't know either.

"You're not my lab partner." The man laughed a little. He was clearly Asian. He was barely as tall as daddy and his hair was dyed brown with light brown highlights and a small hint of blonde on his bangs and string straight. It was a fashionable cut and he had a pretty face wearing a black business shirt and faded out blue jeans and tennis shoes. Oddly enough, his eyes were the same color as my family members, which intrigued me and he was holding a large crate in his hands that I could swear smelled like peaches.

"I'm afraid not. I'm Tae Sook. The one who was dressed as Vincent Valentine that you were talking to last night." When Valerie realized who he was, she smiled.

"Oh! I see. You look different when you're dressed….normally." Tae Sook chuckled.

"That is the point."

"And how did you know I like peaches?" Tae Sook smiled and placed the crate in front of his feet on the floor.

"Gretchen told me. She said I should bring them to you as a gift."

"And what's the occasion?" Before Tae Sook could speak, the doorbell rang again and daddy answered it.

"Valerie, your physics partner's here."

"Oh my god, it's about time. We have to work on our project." Her science partner shrugged.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't find your house. It took me forever to find this place." Valerie sighed and looked at Tae Sook.

"I'm sorry, but I have to take care of this." Tae Sook shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. I'll just wait." Valerie smiled.

"Thanks a lot." Then Valerie dragged her science partner to the kitchen and went to her room to get her science books. That left us all alone with Tae Sook. Emmett was the one to begin questioning him.

"So what did you come here for? It wasn't just to bring my daughter peaches." Tae Sook kept smiling politely and Jacob and the boys looked intently.

"Well, sir, Valerie and I had a nice time last night, and I wanted to ask her if she wanted to do something again soon." Emmett instantly became a little defensive, but remained polite.

"I see. I take it Gretchen's the one that told you where we live."

"Actually, she only told me about the peaches and Forks. I followed the scent once I got here."

"Ah. And what were you planning on asking Valerie to do?" Tae Sook shrugged.

"I wanted to know if she wanted to go to Red Night theatre with me today or tomorrow. Obviously today's not good. But tomorrow maybe. I get to go in for free, so we can see The Scarlet Pimpernel. Gretchen said she might like it and I've heard a few songs and they're not bad."

"Is that so? Maybe Esme and Carlisle could accompany you. I'm sure Esme would love to see that play." Daddy shook his head.

"They already saw it."

"Well, Edward, I doubt Esme would be discontent to see it again." Daddy shrugged and let Emmett continue talking to Tae Sook. "I don't mind if you all go to the theatre together. Of course, you'll have to ask her first. And as you can see, she has a project to work on and she's quite busy, so now's a bad time."

"Worry not, sir. I'm more than happy to wait." As he spoke, I saw Ryan and Lia walk into the house with Felix following close behind. When Ryan saw Tae Sook, obviously having overheard the conversation, he walked to him and spoke.

"You another suitor that wants to date my sister? Good luck winning dad over." Tae Sook looked at Ryan, hiding what I could tell was irritation.

"Likewise. How's that working out for you, if I may?" Ryan lost his smile and was giving Tae Sook a dirty look now.

"Tae Sook, I told you it was okay. Just ask her and bring Carlisle and Esme." Tae Sook looked back at Emmett with a respectful smile.

"Of course, sir. They're always welcome at Gretchen's establishments as you fully know." Ryan interrupted.

"So are you part of her coven or are you one of her goons? I only ask because there's a huge difference between being in her coven and getting a share of the profits and just working for her and getting a measly paycheck." Tae Sook looked at Ryan.

"Whatever I am, I make more than you do. I assume that you don't have a job."

"I prefer to concentrate on school."

"Says the boy that skipped school today so he could go on a date. Very convincing, Ryan."

"This was an exception. I don't get to see Lia often and she said Felix was making her leave tonight." Felix rolled his eyes.

"You know I agreed to stay a few days because Lia asked to."

"I know, but I didn't know that when I set the date." Tae Sook didn't stop looking at Ryan when Valerie came back to the living room where everyone was. She saw Lia and smiled while running to her to give her a hug.

"Oh my god, Lia, it's been so long. How've you been? Was Ryan nice to you?" Lia nodded.

"He was a gentlemen, I can assure you. I had a great time. So how've you been? Are you excited to be graduating this year?"

"You know it. Ryan and I are both thinking of going to Washington State." Tae Sook chuckled and Valerie looked at him. "Why's that funny?" Tae Sook shook his head.

"Nothing. I just remembered something your brother said last night."

"Oh." Valerie looked at Lia again. "So how long are you staying?"

"Daddy agreed to let us stay for the week. And if Carlisle's alright with it, we'll be staying here." Valerie grinned.

"You know you're more than welcome here. I can make Ryan sleep on the couch and we can have an extended sleepover." Lia nodded.

"No doubt. We'll stay up late and watch chick flicks and paint each other's toe nails and exchange gossip." Valerie giggled.

"You're fluent in my language, Lia." They giggled together, then Valerie finally looked at Tae Sook, who continued to wait patiently. "So you wanted to ask me on a date?" He smiled.

"Yeah, that about sums it up. Have you ever seen The Scarlet Pimpernel? It's the musical Gretchen's showing right now. Sunday's the last day they're doing it and I wanted to know if you wanted to go tomorrow."

"I think I would like that. What time?"

"I'll pick you up at eleven. The show starts at twelve thirty, so that should give us plenty of time if we work fast. Unless you'd rather do a later show." Valerie shook her head.

"Not at all. I think Esme and Carlisle already saw it, but we could always bring Lia and Ryan." Valerie looked at Lia. "What do you say?"

"I say you should already know my answer." Valerie smiled.

"Hurray, we're having a double date!" Lia and Valerie had their moment together while Ryan and Tae Sook looked at each other, not feeling as eager about the idea I could tell. But, out of wanting to make himself look good I'm sure, Tae Sook smiled when Valerie looked at him. "Is that alright?"

"Of course it's alright. Group dates are always fun." Valerie looked really happy, then looked at Lia.

"Then it's settled. We'll all be ready to go by eleven. You too, Ryan. And you're going on another date with one of my BFFs, so I expect you to dress nicely." Ryan looked at what he was wearing.

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing now?" Valerie sighed.

"A hand-me-down Korn t-shirt you borrowed from Jacob and ripped blue jeans? You're lucky mom and Alice didn't see you like that. They'd skin you alive." Ryan rolled his eyes while Valerie looked at Lia. "You make yourself at home. Marlboro's upstairs if you want to play with him. Let me finish up my homework with my lab partner then we'll hang out." Then Valerie looked at Tae Sook, then grabbed the crate of peaches. "Thanks for the peaches, Tae Sook. And I'll see you tomorrow."

Valerie ran off to the kitchen where her lab partner was waiting and Lia took her suggestion and ran upstairs to get Marlboro and walked back down as soon as she had him. With Valerie gone, Emmett looked at Tae Sook and decided to ask a few more questions.

"So what time will you guys be home?"

"I'll have her home by dinner. Or the time people usually have dinner." Emmett looked at Felix.

"Is that all right with you?"

"It's alright. But you guys all stay together, you hear me? And we'll know if you don't." Felix said this while pointing at daddy. Then he looked at Ryan. "You remember that."

"I will, Felix." Felix was still staring at Ryan. "I mean sir."

"That's more like it." Felix then noticed the boys and smiled a little. "So these are the new additions to the family I take it?" I nodded and walked a little closer.

"Yes. The eldest is Kevin and his little brother Kyle." Kevin and Kyle stood up when Felix walked over to them and were very polite to my joy. Felix looked at me a moment.

"Kevin has green eyes I notice." I smiled.

"Yeah, he does. It's one of those pleasant flukes of nature that you never see coming. Daddy had green eyes when he was human and momma's got Irish in her so she has the genes which means I have them too. So it's one of those once in a lifetime outcomes."

"I can tell. It's certainly nothing bad. It works with the shade of red." I shrugged.

"It used to be closer to my color. But as he got older, his hair just started getting darker. I think by the time he's much older, his hair will closer resemble Jacob's. Not that there's anything wrong with that." Felix shook his head.

"Certainly not. It's not often you come across a person with black hair and green eyes. Though it's more likely his hair will turn out to be a dark brown by the time he's done growing." I nodded.

"That's what I'm thinking will happen, yeah. Right now his hair's just a dark version of mine and I'm savoring it while it lasts." Felix smiled, then he turned his full attention to Kevin and Kyle.

"Hello." Felix kneeled down.

"Hello to you both. So how old are you two?"

"I'm this many." Kevin held up his hand with two fingers up. "Kyle is this many." Then he held up only one finger.

"So small and yet you look so grown." I sighed.

"Please don't remind me. They're growing up too fast for me." Felix smiled.

"You'll find that to be the unfortunate burden of raising children. They never stay this way. They always grow up."

"I know. But I didn't want it to be this fast." Felix laughed a little.

"Imagine if your boys were half-breeds like you are. Your boys would look like pre-teens only days after they were born."

"I know. Knowing that does make me appreciate the pace a little more, but I still miss when they needed me." I looked directly at Kevin and patted his head. "This one used to hate being away from me and always wanted me to hold him. Now he's so independent, I think he'd be able to live on his own." Felix chuckled.

"I know it hurts, Renesmee, but when they act like they don't need you anymore, it means you've done a good job as a mother."

"Thank you for saying, Felix. That's very kind of you." Felix looked at the boys again.

"So what do you two like to play most?" Kyle answered in his newly started speaking.

"We play games." Felix smiled and looked at Kevin.

"Games sound fun. What games do you like best?" Kevin answered.

"We like to chase things. Bugs and snakes." Felix chuckled.

"That sounds like a lot of fun. How about you both show me what you like to chase." Kevin and Kyle's faces lit up and they both nodded, Kevin answering.

"Lots of fun. Can we mommy?" I smiled.

"Sure you can. Don't let them stay out too late okay, Felix." Felix nodded.

"I'll have them home before sundown, I promise you." Jacob stood up.

"I'll come with you. They have a habit of getting themselves lost." Felix chuckled and they all walked out the French doors to the backyard and I went back to the music room with daddy. When we went into the other room, Tae Sook looked at Emmett.

"Well, since the date is set, I'll be back tomorrow."

"Sounds nice."

"Just so you know, I don't plan on letting you do anything like kissing or hugging." Tae Sook gave Ryan a dirty look.

"Fine with me. And I'll do Felix a huge favor and make sure you keep your hands off Lia."

"Go fuck yourself, Gooky."

"You'd like that wouldn't you, you grease guzzling crackerjack?" Emmett interrupted.

"Both of you shut up. Tae Sook, it was nice meeting you. I'm sure you have to work tonight, so I'll ask you to go do that and we shall see you again tomorrow." Tae Sook took the hint and bowed his head humbly.

"Thank you for your kindness sir." Tae Sook took that opportunity to leave and Emmett looked at Ryan when Tae Sook wasn't there.

"Where did you hear the word, Gooky?"

"In history. It's a derogatory word for Asians, isn't it?"

"It's a term used to refer to enemy soldiers used during the Korean War."

"So I used it properly. Thanks dad." Emmett was quiet a moment, then he sighed.

"Shut up and do your homework. It's on your bed."

"Awesome. I'll get right on that. At least I don't have a project that I put off until the last minute." Ryan raised his voice a little so Valerie could hear him.

"Shut up, Ryan. We have company, so don't be an ass."

"Valerie, don't speak like that."

"Sorry, daddy." Ryan then looked at Lia, who smiled kindly and he smiled back.

"If you want, we can do something when I'm done with my homework." Lia nodded.

"Sure thing. You and I can have some fun before Valerie finishes with her lab partner."

"I'll get my homework done quickly in that case." Ryan and Lia smiled at each other a little more before Ryan ran up the stairs to his room to finish his homework. Jacob and I went home as soon as he and Felix came back from the woods with the boys. As we were driving home, he commented on Tae Sook.

"Felix told me Tae Sook and Ryan had an argument?" I shrugged.

"Only a little bit. Emmett stopped them before it could turn into anything heated. And in truth, they simply got off on the wrong foot is all. I'm sure they'll be friends after tomorrow." Jacob shook his head.

"I don't think so, Nessie. Ryan seemed really hell bent on not liking Tae Sook from what Felix heard of the situation. And it didn't seem like Tae Sook was doing much better."

"Don't worry. They'll learn to like each other I'm sure." After that, Jacob pulled into our garage and helped me bring the boys, who were now sound asleep, inside the house with us. We put them to bed and went to our room.

"How about we take a shower together." I smiled and nodded.

"Sounds nice." I followed Jacob to the bathroom and we undressed each other, though didn't kiss, and got into the shower together.

"So how're you feeling? Have you been feeling sick at all?" I shook my head.

"Not yet. But I'm getting fatigued, so we know I'm coming along normally."

"That's good news. I know you hate it when I bring this up, but don't hesitate to let me know when you're feeling sick and feel free to take a day off or more." I sighed.

"Alright, Jacob. If it'll make you feel better, than I will. I promise."

"That's all I ask, Nessie." Then Jacob chuckled. "Let's hope we have a daughter this time." I giggled.

"Yeah. You overheard what daddy was saying earlier?"

"It's hard to miss a conversation about aphrodisiacs and placebos."

"He only mentioned it once. But yes, I know it's a conversation that's hard to ignore."

"You know, if we have another boy, we could always try again."

"Jacob, look at me. In the eyes, Jacob."

"It's never hard to."

"Good. Then you'll hear me when I say it again. We're done with making babies. We're done." Jacob smiled and kissed me.

"For now." I gently smacked Jacob's arm.

"Why do you want to keep having more?"

"Because, I like the idea of us having a big family. I'm not saying you have to have a baby every time we get the chance or anything. Believe me, Nessie, it was never my goal to keep you barefoot and pregnant. I just think it would be nice to have four kids."

"Three, Jacob. I'm meeting you halfway, as I said before."

"I'll get you to agree to four, one way or the other."

"And what if we have a boy this time and have another boy the fourth time? What would you think of that?"

"I'd think that was the most awesome thing to ever happen. I like having boys."

"But I would like to have at least one girl for myself."

"Then we'll just have to keep trying until we get a girl."

"If this baby isn't a girl, then I guess I'm never having one." Jacob smiled and brought me into his soapy arms.

"Never say never, Nessie. It's such a negative word." I smiled and we kissed again and I sighed when our lips parted.

"We're done, Jacob. I mean it."

"I know. I just like to try and convince you otherwise." I smiled and kissed him again. This time, the kiss lasted a long time and the hot water made the moment seem extremely sensual and I enjoyed that. Jacob pulled away after we made out for a while with a big smile. "Should we finish this here, or in bed?" I grinned and wrapped my right leg around his hip, enabling me to hop up and tie my feet around his back.

"Surprise me." Jacob grinned as I brought my lips to his again and Jacob chose to stay in the shower. Once we were clean of soap, Jacob rested us against the wall and we went from there. Jacob and I didn't get to make love as much as we used to. We were either too tired to, or the boys were being stubborn and wouldn't go to bed. That happened more often than I cared for it to. But those moments when Jacob and I could just be alone and had enough energy left at the end of the day, it was nice to be together like this.

Since we were in the shower, Jacob and I just kissed each other for several minutes and let our hands wonder as a form of foreplay. Eventually, Jacob was inside me and we enjoyed the feel of each other along with the steam from the shower making our body temperatures raise higher. When I came, Jacob followed closely after and that was the end of our shower. After coming out of me, Jacob carried me out of the bathroom and to our bed not bothering to get our pajamas.

"Jacob, what if one of the boys comes in our room in the middle of the night?"

"Nessie, they're both still in cribs. How could they get out?" I gave Jacob a teasing smile.

"Have you met our kids, Jacob?" Jacob chuckled.

"Alright, I get your point. I'll go get us some clothes." Before doing that, Jacob touched my belly and smiled. "There's not a bump yet." I shook my head.

"Not yet. It'll be a little while before we start seeing one."

"I admit, I do hope it's a girl. It'd be nice to have one." I giggled.

"She'll get away with so much, I know it. She'll daddy her way into getting whatever she wants." Jacob chuckled.

"Yeah, I know. It's what happened to my dad, your dad, and it'll probably happen to me."

"I know it. But it's okay. She's your little girl, so it's good if she knows she can come to her daddy when she needs or wants something."

"Yeah, I know. Still, I don't want to turn her into a little brat."

"You won't, Jacob. Just because you'll shower her with affection doesn't mean you won't put your foot down like you do with the boys. Just remember to have the same rules for all three, okay. I don't want any of this, 'Natalie can't have sex until she's married, but you boys can do whatever', stuff. Emmett does that to Ryan and Valerie and I don't like it."

"Emmett doesn't do it intentionally. It's just a thing with guys. Our daughters are supposed to be pure and perfect. Our sons are different. That's how Billy felt with me and my sisters. He would take precautions with my sisters, yes, but he also let any guy that dated them know that he had no problem going to prison for his little girls. With me, it was just 'Don't get anyone pregnant or I'll kick your ass.'" I giggled and shook my head.

"I'm sure there was more to it than that."

"Not much, Nessie. This is the same man that when I asked him to talk to me about sex, he just told me to read hustler and a pent house forum. And I'm still waiting on the bus full of cheerleaders and the hot nurse that cures my 'ailments', but those haven't happened yet." I rolled my eyes with a smile.

"Just go get our pajamas, Jacob."

**Narrator's POV the Next Day**

Ryan, Lia, Tae Sook, and Valerie walked out of the Red Night Theatre after the show was over. Lia and Valerie had loved the show and were talking about it the whole time walking out of the theatre. Ryan wasn't too impressed with it, but then again, love stories just weren't his thing, and Tae Sook thought it was okay, but certainly wasn't so good that Lia and Valerie needed to talk about it for twenty minutes. But it wasn't that bothering Tae Sook. Since the date started, he and Ryan still weren't getting along. They'd hardly said a word to one another and whenever they did, it wasn't something that should be said and Valerie would tell them to shut up. When the play was over, it was almost four in the afternoon.

"So, it's four and our dads don't want us home until seven. What should we do in the meantime?" Valerie looked at Ryan and Tae Sook, who both shrugged. But Tae Sook ended up answering.

"We could always window shop if you like." Valerie and Lia's faces lit up while Ryan just gave Tae Sook another mean look.

"Why would you suggest shopping?"

"Because your sister loves shopping and as long as she's having a good time, that's all that's important. And clearly, Lia's thrilled about the idea, so you should be happy that she's happy."

"I am happy that Lia's happy. But I would've much preferred we did something we all could enjoy doing that doesn't involve us standing around doing nothing while they look and comment of how hot cloths are for the rest of the day."

"I have no problem going."

"That makes you either metro or gay. And frankly, I'm leaning toward gay."

"Sorry, Ryan, even if I were, you're not my type."

"You son of a…."

"Ryan, don't insult my date. Tae Sook, please be nice to my brother." Tae Sook smiled kindly.

"I will try my hardest, Valerie."

"That's all I ask." Lia then walked over to Ryan and hugged him, making Ryan feel a lot better at the moment.

"We don't have to go shopping if you don't want to, Ryan. What would you rather do?" Ryan was about to suggest they slip up so he could have some time alone with Lia, but then Felix's threatening eyes entered his mind and a chill went down his spin. "Why did you shiver just now? Are you okay?" Ryan nodded.

"Yeah, Lia, I'm fine. I just had an unpleasant thought is all." Instead of waiting for Ryan, Tae Sook walked to Valerie's side and made his suggestion.

"We could always go see a movie or something. It's dark and private, but we're staying together."

"Ryan and I saw a movie yesterday."

"Fine. There's a laser tag place nearby that we can hang out at. Once again, dark, private, we're staying together, but not bugging one another." Lia smiled and looked at Ryan.

"That sounds like fun. What do you think?"

"It sounds like a plan. We aren't breaking our parents' rules if we're in a dark area." Tae Sook finally smiled at Ryan, then looked at Valerie with a brighter smile.

"In that case, I'll show the way." Tae Sook put his hand gently on Valerie's back to gently lead the way, then took his hand down once she was moving and Ryan and Lia followed after them. While they were walking, Lia took Ryan's hand in hers and Ryan smiled at her and had a moment of internal victory.

Once they arrived at the laser tag place, they paid for an hour's worth of time, which was far from cheap, and went in together with proper equipment on and on hand. Once inside, they split up completely and the game started. First and foremost, Ryan really wanted to shoot down Tae Sook before he looked for Lia and had fun with her. But when he finally found Tae Sook, he wasn't even trying to find anyone else. He'd stayed with Valerie and they were standing together talking and Tae Sook was obviously flirting with Valerie. He made a move to aim and was about to shoot when he had the shot, he heard a shot fire and a beeping sound coming from him, letting him know he was out. He looked behind him and saw Lia standing with the laser gun in her hand and a big smirk.

"You're out." Ryan smiled and Lia ran to him until she was standing right in front of him. "I thought this was supposed to be a way around daddy's demands."

"Sorry. I just wanted to get Tae Sook." Lia sighed, then looked around Ryan so she could see Tae Sook, took aim, and shot the laser, hitting him right in the back and making a beeping sound signaling he was out. Tae Sook glanced in their direction, then looked right back at Valerie.

"It doesn't look like he would've cared either way." Ryan glanced at Tae Sook a moment to glare, then looked back at Lia with a big smile.

"It doesn't matter. I'd rather talk to you anyway." Lia giggled.

"That's so nice of you. So what do you want to talk about?" Ryan thought a moment and spoke when something came to him.

"What's it like living in Rome?"

"It's nice. A lot of people would think the history would be nice, but to be honest, I've seen it all so much in my life that it's sort of second thought to me. I've seen the statue of David and the Vatican more times than I care to ever say. And I'm not even Catholic." Ryan smiled in humor.

"An Italian that isn't Catholic. I never thought I'd see the day." Lia giggled.

"Well, when your father grew up worshiping planets and mythical creatures, any other religion just seems measly by comparison."

"That sounds like something Felix would say." Lia giggled.

"He's opinionated, but that's what I love about daddy. He always has an opinion on something and it's usually an opinion that's a bit exaggerated and it makes for good humor."

"I bet. If only his opinion of me was better."

"He just doesn't like that you're interested in me. I think if that weren't the case, he'd like you just the same as the rest of your family."

"But since I'm interested in you, I'm scum of the earth."

"That basically sums it up, yes." Ryan and Lia shared a laugh.

"So I suppose me asking you to go out with me is out of the question?" Lia shook her head.

"I didn't say that. Are you asking me to be your girlfriend, Ryan?" Ryan grinned.

"I thought I already had."

"You asked me on a date." Ryan chuckled and walked just a little closer to Lia.

"Well then, let me ask you properly. Would you go out with me, Lia?" Lia giggled and nodded.

"I will, Ryan." They smiled at each other and Lia took the last step to hug Ryan and he hugged her back. "How do you like having a girlfriend, Ryan?"

"It's nice. How about you? How does it feel to have a boyfriend?"

"It's nice. There is something bothering me, though. How're we going to make this work? We live in different parts of the world." Ryan was avoiding that conversation because he knew that was something he hadn't thought out too much. He was actually hoping that maybe Gretchen could convince Felix into joining her coven and moving here or even getting him to join the Cullens. But those options were painfully unlikely. Felix already turned Gretchen down before she even asked.

"I won't lie, Lia, I have no idea."

"Me either."

"I don't suppose you could convince Felix to move you both here." Lia shook her head.

"He would never agree to it. Even if you weren't a factor in the decision, there's the issue of Rome being where he's from and it's where he's happiest and where he's most comfortable. Whenever we come here, he gets a little irritable and doesn't like being in the constant rain and doesn't like the lack of culture that he feels this place has. Even if we were to move to a place like Philadelphia or Washington D.C. it's not the history he grew up with and what he knows and loves."

"So your dad loves Rome too much to leave it for any lengthy period of time?" Lia nodded.

"Basically, yes. That's about it. I could always try and get him to agree to visit a lot more often, but even then, he'd probably be willing to tolerate once a year max." Ryan sighed.

"This is a predicament isn't it." Lia nodded.

"I'm afraid so." They were quiet a moment while they kept hugging each other. Then Ryan had an idea.

"Would Felix be opposed to spending holidays with us?" Lia shrugged.

"It's a suggestion. I think it might help to give him an occasion for coming to visit. And maybe if we could convince Demetri and his coven to visit more often, that might get daddy to be a little less reluctant. He and Demetri are really good friends."

"That would be awesome. And Demetri likes us doesn't he?" Lia nodded.

"He respects your family immensely yes."

"Then maybe dad or Edward or Carlisle could talk to them and try to convince them to talk to Felix for us. And if you battered eye lashes and said, 'Pretty please, daddy', that might help too. I hear dads are suckers for that sort of thing." Lia smiled.

"That's something only a daughter could ever do. It's a shame boys can't do that." Ryan chuckled.

"Please, if I did the things that Valerie did, dad would just push me away and say to never mention it again. I mean, when Valerie wants something, she cuddles up to dad and holds his arm and looks at him with puppy dog eyes and asks in a little girl voice and he's putty in her hands. If I were to do that, dad would ask if I'm gay." Lia giggled.

"Sadly, that's life." Ryan chuckled.

"Sadly. Dad expects more from me, and I admit that irritates me. But of course, it's kind of cool because if I tell dad I'm not a virgin anymore, he's thrilled to death because I'm a man. But if Valerie were to have sex and tell dad about it, he'd chase after the culprit and drink him dry just out of spit." Lia smiled.

"No he wouldn't. He'd be disappointed at worst. Why is it that dads are like that do you think?" Ryan grinned.

"Because boys can't get pregnant."

"But they can father a kid. That's just as bad."

"Not exactly. A boy can walk away from it. If a woman gets pregnant, she's stuck and that's the truth. But I think it also has something to do with my sister's virtue. I think dad wants her to stay his perfect angle. Me, I've always been Gremlin, so I started out the naughty one." Lia giggled.

"Your nickname's really Gremlin?" Ryan nodded.

"Yep. And Valerie's nickname is Peaches. You see the contrast."

"Indeed I do." Ryan and Lia smiled and continued talking for the rest of the time until the bell rang that indicated that their time was up. They walked out of laser tag and went to a park that was in the area. It was Tae Sook's idea. They were once again staying together, but going in different portions of the jungle gym so they could have their own time together. Ryan and Lia snatched a portion where there was a steering wheel and Valerie and Tae Sook went to the other side at a slide.

"Are you having a good time, Valerie?" Valerie nodded.

"Yeah, I am. I wish you and Ryan would at least pretend to be getting along, but other than that, I'm having a really good time." Tae Sook gave Valerie a guilty smile.

"I can try, but I can't make any promises that he and I will be friends. I mean, it takes two to get along." Valerie rolled her eyes.

"Whatever." Wanting to fix the situation, he changed the subject to something more appropriate.

"So would you want to go on another date some time?" Valerie smiled and nodded.

"I think I would. We can hang out at my house and I'll introduce you to Marlboro." Tae Sook smiled.

"That's an interesting name to give a cat." Valerie shrugged.

"It's not much different from people who name their dog Guinness." Tae Sook shrugged.

"You have a point I suppose." Valerie lost her smile and Tae Sook was confused as to why. "What's wrong?"

"You don't like cats do you." It wasn't much of a question. She was convinced she knew the answer already. Tae Sook shrugged and answered as honestly as he could without upsetting her.

"I've never really had a pet, so I'm not used to them. That's all." Valerie still looked a little sad at first, but then she smiled.

"Then I'll teach you a love of animals. Marlboro's a sweet little boy and he's really fluffy so I think you'll like him." Tae Sook smiled.

"I'll be sure to bring some cat treats. What is it cats like to snake on? Mice?" Valerie giggled and shook her head.

"Marlboro actually really likes ham. He runs to the kitchen whenever he hears one of us open the fridge because he knows that's where we keep the ham. I ask Carlisle and Esme not to give him any, but they will sometimes and he loves them for that. And when he's been really sweet, I'll put a small piece of sliced ham in his bowl with his food and he always loves that." Tae Sook chuckled.

"Ham it is." Valerie smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder and Tae Sook took the opportunity to wrap his arm around her shoulder. She scooted a little closer to him and that encouraged him to rest his head on hers. "You know, I noticed that you and your partner seemed to be having a hard time with the physics project." Valerie sighed.

"Uncle Edward helped, but my partner and I are just having a hard time grasping it."

"I see. Physics does that to most everyone. The only reason I got an A in physics is because my dad's a physicist and would help me with my homework even when I didn't need it and that would lead to him teaching me things we hadn't even gone over in class yet. We didn't need a physics tutor because my dad was more than happy to take that on for free." Valerie smiled.

"Ah, to have parents that make it impossible not to pass." Tae Sook chuckled and nodded.

"Yeah, I know. If you and your partner want, I can help you out a little." Valerie looked at Tae Sook and gave him a teasing smile.

"If you wanted to go on another date tomorrow, you could just say so." Tae Sook shrugged.

"I didn't want to seem too forward. But seriously, if you want some help, I know how physics works like the back of my hand."

"I thought you hated physics."

"Just because I don't like it doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing."

"I suppose."

"So what time is your science partner coming over tomorrow?"

"He's coming around two. He said he had soccer practice in the morning or something. I don't remember. All I heard was that it'll take more time to do the project than I would like." Tae Sook fought the laugh that was in his throat.

"I'm sorry to say that's what happens when you procrastinate. Why didn't you guys work on it during the school week?"

"Because, we don't have any free periods at the same time and he has soccer practice after school and said that he didn't want to have to work on a physics project after a hard day of soccer practice. He's working on it tomorrow with me because he has no choice."

"That's an understatement." Valerie sighed.

"I think I might take you up on your offer to help me out."

"You can count on me, Valerie. You'll get an A for sure."

"That's what I'm hoping. And is it safe to assume that you want something in return for your assistance with my physics homework?" Tae Sook chuckled.

"I'm hurt that you would think I have ulterior motives for helping you. But since you've insulted me, I will ask for something in return."

"And what is it that you want?"

"How about a kiss? And I don't get it until you get an A on your presentation. How does that sound?"

"Well, you're in luck. She's grading us as we present so I'll know my grade that Monday."

"Perfect. I'll even pick you up from school so I can be the first to hear."

"I usually drive to school with Ryan."

"Your brother's a big boy. I'm sure he can drive home all by himself." Valerie didn't want to, but she laughed anyway and agreed with a nod.

"Alright. It's a deal. If I get an A on my physics project, I'll give you a kiss. But if I don't, then what do I get?" Tae Sook thought about it a moment.

"What would you like from me?" This time, Valerie started thinking about it. It took a moment, but she did eventually think of something that would be suitable.

"How about if I don't get an A on my project, you have to take Marlboro to his next vet appointment."

"You want me to take your cat to the doctor?"

"He hates going to the vet and he gets really anxious and starts scratching, so I hate taking him to the vet."

"Okay, fine it's a deal. But you have to actually try, okay. If trying your best still doesn't earn you an A, then I'll take your cat to the vet. But if you throw it, you get nothing." Valerie smiled and nodded.

"Before we call it a deal, what type of kiss do you want? Are we talking just a peck or do you want there to be some tongue or something?" Tae Sook laughed and shook his head.

"There's no need for tongue, though I'll admit I wouldn't discourage it. But I would like more than just a peck." Valerie smiled and they shook hands.

"How about the type of kiss you get depends on my A. A-, you get a peck, A, you get actual lip movement and it'll last a while. If I get an A+, then I'll throw in some tongue. How about that?" Tae Sook chuckled and nodded his head.

"I think I can agree to that. It's a deal, then."

"Good. Come over whenever you want and we'll start studying when I'm awake."

"Sure." Tae Sook then looked out and noticed that the moon was starting to make an appearance. He looked at his watch and noticed it was ten 'til seven. "I better get you home. It's almost seven." Valerie looked at her watch and her eyes widened.

"Oh god, it'll take at least thirty minutes to drive home." Tae Sook smiled and shook his head.

"Don't worry. I'll have you home by seven on the dot." Then Tae Sook stood up and pulled Valerie to her feet and they walked to the other side of the playground where Lia and Ryan were sitting, obviously having a good time judging by how close they were sitting together. "Ryan, it's almost seven. We need to go." Ryan sighed and he and Lia stood up.

"How much time do we have."

"Nine minutes now." Ryan's eyes shot wide open.

"What!"

"Don't worry. If we run, we'll make it."

"What about my car?"

"I'll drive it back to your house once I drop you guys off."

"Are you kidding? I'm not giving you my keys." Without warning, Tae Sook snatched Ryan's keys from his pocket and took off running, still holding Valerie's hand. Valerie followed, barely able to keep up with how fast he was going. Eventually, he just threw Valerie on his back and ran even faster with Ryan and Lia following after Tae Sook, Ryan more concerned about getting his keys back. They didn't make it to the house by seven, but they managed to get back five minutes after seven. Emmett was about to get annoyed, but wasn't mad anymore once they got home.

"I'll be back in a half hour with your car, Ryan." Then Tae Sook ran off again, and Ryan was about to run after him, but Rosalie stopped him.

"Ryan." Ryan turned from the door to look at Rosalie.

"Yeah, mom?"

"How was the date with Lia?" Ryan suddenly noticed that Lia and Valerie were no longer downstairs. That probably meant they were upstairs doing girly things. Felix was sitting right there and was watching intently, so he kept his comment brief.

"It was fun."

"That's good to hear. What did you guys do besides see a play?" Ryan shrugged.

"We went laser tagging and went to the park for an hour." Rosalie smiled and Felix looked at Edward, who nodded his head, then looked back at the TV to continue watching Psycho.

"That sounds like a lot of fun. Will you two have another date soon?" Ryan nodded.

"We're hoping so." Rosalie smiled and walked over to Ryan to give him a hug.

"I'm sure you two will get to have another date soon. Just take advantage of the time she and Felix are staying here. So how did Valerie's date go? What was her date's name?"

"Tae Sook." Rosalie gave Ryan a weird look.

"He's…Korean is it?" Ryan nodded.

"Half Korean half Japanese." Rosalie nodded awkwardly.

"Well that's a strange combination. Was he nice?" Ryan shrugged.

"I guess so. I don't like him, but Valerie had a good time I guess."

"Why don't you like him?"

"I just don't. And I give him a month before Valerie doesn't like him anymore and doesn't want to see him again. Mark my words." Rosalie sighed.

"You know, Ryan, you can't automatically hate a guy because he's dating your sister."

"Yeah I can. She's my sister and if I don't like her boyfriend, then I'll let her know." Emmett commented.

"Don't worry about it, Rosalie. They got off on the wrong foot and they haven't gotten around to getting on the right one. That's all it is." Rosalie sighed again.

"Well, if there's nothing wrong with him, then please don't be rude to him. You have a habit of doing that and you know Valerie hates it when you do."

"She hated my last girlfriend."

"But that was different."

"How? She hated her because she thought her choice in clothing for our first date was grossly inappropriate."

"That's not why. She was only calling her out on it. She didn't like her because they had a weird rivalry thing going on."

"Heather never said anything about it."

"Well, she probably knew better than to bad talk Valerie in front of you. You would defend her if she did. Just like I know Valerie would defend you if Tae Sook were to say something mean about you."

"I doubt that, mom."

"Oh stop it, Ryan. And while I'm thinking about it, if you ever skip school for a date again, you'll have me to answer to."

"It was one time."

"And that's one time too many. I yelled at Emmett for it this time, but next time, I'm going straight to you. Is that clear?" Ryan sighed.

"Yes, mom, it's clear."

"Good. I'm off to the garage, so I'll let you go now." The Rosalie ran off to the garage and Ryan stayed downstairs with Emmett, Edward, and Jasper. Carlisle and Esme were upstairs and Alice and Bella were picking out colors for the upcoming baby's room. Alice was so certain this child would be a girl that if she were wrong, Jasper feared she would have a mental breakdown. Not much later, Tae Sook rang the door bell again and threw Ryan his keys and let him know his car was back in the garage safe and sound.

"You didn't do anything to it did you?"

"No, Ryan, I didn't do anything to it."

"Are you sure? Because if I find even a leaf on my car, I'll kick your ass 'til you're bruised."

"I didn't do anything to the damn car, so just calm down. You have a good night, then. And I'll see you tomorrow." Ryan stopped him.

"What do you mean you'll see me tomorrow? Why are you coming over tomorrow?"

"Your sister wanted help with her project and I said I would help."

"Thanks, dude, but Uncle Edwards a better tutor than you. Just because your dad was a doctor doesn't mean you know everything."

"Do you ever lighten up, or are you an asshole just for me?"

"Both of you shut up." Emmett told them this and stood up and walked over to them. "Look, I don't care if you two don't get along, but at least have the decency to keep your hatred to yourselves, okay. You never know, you may actually learn to like each other. And Tae Sook, thanks for offering to help Valerie with her project. She and her partner need all the help they can get, so the more, the merrier."

"Dad, I'm sure Edward's a better tutor than Tae Sook. I mean seriously. He's taken physics how many times?"

"Ryan, just shut up and let the boy help your sister with her homework. Now what time are you planning on coming over?"

"Valerie told me to come over early and that we'd start working when she was awake."

"How about you come around ten and no earlier." Tae Sook nodded.

"Yes, sir." Ryan grinned.

"I don't suppose he mentioned that he has a condition to helping her." Emmett looked at Ryan, then looked at Edward, who sighed before answering.

"It's not a condition, it's a bet they made. If Valerie doesn't get an A, Tae Sook has to take Marlboro to the vet, and if Valerie get's an A, she'll give him a kiss. That's all."

"And the kiss gets better depending on her grade."

"Valerie offered that portion, not me." Emmett got mad this time.

"Are you implying something?" Tae Sook shook his head and Edward spoke.

"He's just stating the truth, Emmett. He's not trying to call her a whore or anything, so calm down. And Ryan, don't make it sound like he's only helping because he wants to kiss her. He's helping because he really wants to help her out. There's nothing wrong with helping out someone who's struggling." Emmett was still defensive, but he calmed down, but Ryan never stopped giving Tae Sook a dirty look.

"Thank you, Edward. Now, I think I should probably get back to Seattle. Gretchen gets mad at me if I don't start patrolling the city by nine. So take care and I'll see you all tomorrow." Tae Sook took the opportunity to leave and Ryan went to the couch and sat down with the others, Emmett sitting next to him.

"You know, when he's not being cornered, he's actually a nice guy." Emmett and Ryan looked at Edward. Ryan got defensive.

"I wasn't cornering him."

"Yes you were, Ryan." Ryan rolled his eyes and looked back at the TV. It was the part of the movie where Norman Bates was disposing of the woman's body.

"So he is a nice guy right Edward?" Edward nodded.

"Don't worry, Emmett. He was trying to be a gentleman in front of you. He really likes Valerie and he wants to stay on your good side to make dating her more likely."

"I thought you couldn't understand Korean."

"I don't. He was thinking in English. He knows about my gift and he wanted to make sure we had the whole story is all." Emmett sighed. Then an idea came to his head, but Edward immediately shot it down. "I'm not going to learn Korean just to hear everything he's thinking, Emmett."

"Come on, Edward. What's one more language?"

"I'll tell you what, Emmett. I'll learn Korean if they're together longer than six months. That's perfectly fair." Ryan looked at Edward.

"Why six months?"

"Because, that's a good amount of time. And if Valerie doesn't think about anything that would lead me to believe they would break up, then six months tells me that they'll be together for a while longer." Emmett groaned.

"Alright. That's good enough I guess."

"Don't worry, Emmett. Tae Sook's a good kid. You have nothing to worry about."

"Jacob's a good guy. That doesn't mean you never worried." Edward was silent a moment, then he shrugged.

"You're entitled to worry a little, but when you know your daughter's with a man that loves her like Jacob loves Nessie, there's really little to nothing to worry about."

"You see, I don't have that leisure. Tae Sook didn't imprint on Valerie. He just met her at a party and thought she was hot."

"It's more than that, Emmett. He enjoyed the time they spent together and he wanted to spend time with her again because she was nice. And she thinks he's nice too. That's as far as it's gotten as of now."

Emmett was still a little reluctant to believe Edward, but for now, he took his word that he was right and got back to watching the movie. As Tae Sook said he would, he showed up right at ten and Valerie was awake by then and he began helping her with her project. Even though he didn't like physics, Tae Sook proved to be a real help. When her science partner finally got there, he was happy to see they would have help.

"Oh thank god. With your help, we'll get an A for sure." Tae Sook gave the guy a lecturing look.

"You wouldn't happen to think that just because I'm Asian would you?" Valerie's lab partner was taken by surprise and immediately tried to defend himself.

"No, not at all. I was just saying, if you're willing to help, you must know what you're doing is all." Tae Sook smiled.

"Don't worry. I'm just teasing you." Ryan, who was sitting at the table with them, took a sip of water and looked at Tae Sook with a straight face.

"You can't blame him though. Science is just one of those things that Asian people are inherently good at. Like DDR." Tae Sook rolled his eyes.

"Not all Asian people are good at DDR. And for your information, Asians tend to be better at math and science because the number system is easier, and we have a very high standard of work ethic."

"Yeah I know."

"You don't know. You just think that all Asian parents demand that their kids be doctors." Ryan shrugged.

"Don't they?" Valerie glared at Ryan.

"Ryan, please shut up." Then Valerie remembered something and stood from the table. "I'll be right back. I need to go get Marlboro." Ryan gave Valerie a weird look.

"Why do you need Marlboro? How's he going to help?"

"I just like holding him when I'm working on homework."

"You're not even going to bother to ask if our guest is allergic to cats perhaps?"

"He's not allergic to cats. I already asked him before he came over the first time." With that, Valerie ran up the stairs to hers and Ryan's room to get Marlboro and came back down with Marlboro in her arms. "Okay. Now let's really get started."

The rest of the day was spent entirely on the physics project and they managed to get it done and Tae Sook assured Valerie and her lab partner that as long as they stuck with everything he told them, they'd get an A for sure. The next day when Valerie and her partner presented, Valerie remembered everything Tae Sook told her and they both delivered the presentation without a hitch. They ended up with an A. Just a few points shy of an A+. Valerie was thrilled with the grade that she desperately needed and as promised, Tae Sook was waiting for her after school out front.

"Hey. How'd it go?"

"I got an A."

"Just an A?" Valerie giggled and nodded.

"Yeah. Just a plain A." Tae Sook chuckled.

"That works. I still get a kiss right?"

"Of course. A deal is a deal." Tae Sook smiled and he walked over to Valerie and they shared a brief kiss. It was more than a peck, but Tae Sook didn't make it passionate or anything. It was too soon for such things regardless.

"I'm glad I was able to help."

"Me too. So do you still want to come home with me?"

"I would love to." With a big smile on both their faces, Valerie and Tae Sook walked back to the Cullen house just talking. Before they reached the house, Tae Sook took a moment to hold Valerie's hand affectionately, lacing his fingers through hers. Valerie just smiled at him and they stayed hand in hand until they reached the house.


	6. Great Expectations

**Great Expectations**

**NPOV**

"Wait, Valerie and this guy are actually dating now?" I nodded while I was washing the dishes from Jacob's dinner while he sat at the table keeping his eyes on the boys, who were playing together on the floor.

"Yep. He and Valerie had a great first date and he helped her study for physics and he won a bet with her regarding that or something, so now they're officially dating. Tae Sook shows up at the house all the time to tutor Valerie in physics, then after that they usually go out and do something when Emmett permits it."

"I always thought Asians only dated Asians." I sighed.

"Honestly, that's what I always thought too. When I went to school in Chicago, I would always see a large group of a particular Asian nationality that stuck to just each other. But the Chinese and Japanese students I knew were a lot more flexible about who they were friends with. They just happened to hang out with other people of their race because it was a little easier and they could better understand one another, but they were more than happy to talk to someone else who talked to them. But whenever I would meet a Korean student, god forbid they make a minor effort to say hi."

"Isn't Tae Sook Korean?"

"Half Korean. And I'll admit I'm really surprised Tae Sook would want to go out with Valerie. I mean, I always thought that Korean parents preferred that their kids stick to just other Koreans, meaning they only date other Koreans. At least that's what Minako told me."

"Who's Minako?"

"She was a girl that lived in my dorm and we had a science class together. She was Japanese."

"That's another thing I thought was surprising. He's Japanese AND Korean. I thought those two groups despised each other with a passion."

"That's what Minako told me. But according to Valerie, Tae Sook's mother married his dad because she wanted to avoid being deported back to North Korea." Jacob's eyes widened.

"North Korea? As in Kim Jung Il, controlling as hell government, can't take a piss without the government's permission, North Korea?"

"Jacob, watch your language in front of the boys."

"Sorry. But am I right?" I nodded.

"Yes, you're right. From what Valerie told me, his mother somehow got unhappy with North Korea and when she was invited to a wedding or something in South Korea, she got a pass to go and never came back. She married Tae Sook's father almost immediately after meeting him."

"I didn't know North Koreans were allowed to leave the country."

"They aren't. I looked it up. North Koreans aren't even allowed to leave the town they live in without proof of special circumstances." Jacob looked confused.

"Then why is he telling us his mother got permission to leave or whatever?"

"Well, according to Tae Sook, his mom's family was pretty well off compared to most Koreans. His grandfather was a government official of some nature so he had a lot more influence. He certainly wasn't of the same caliber as Kim Jung Il, but he at least had influence. Evidently they were friends, so his grandfather was able to arrange for special circumstances."

"And my next question, how did they get a letter from anywhere outside the country?"

"Again, his grandfather had connections. Since he and Kim Jung Il were friends and war buddies, so he was willing to bend the rules for his friend on extremely rare occasions."

"Okay, that makes a little sense I guess. But how was his mom able to not get deported?"

"Because evidently, since Tae Sook's father wasn't a citizen of South or North Korea, when they got married, neither government could touch her and she stayed in South Korea with Tae Sook's father while he got his PhD at a University there."

"Why would he go to South Korea for schooling anyway? I thought Korea in general was a really poor country."

"Evidently Seoul, South Korea has some really good schools if you have the money to afford them. Money being the operative word."

"I guess that makes sense. Just curious, has Tae Sook told his parents about Valerie? Did they say anything?" I shrugged.

"I don't know. He probably has, but Valerie hasn't said anything about it. And even if his parents disapprove, they're not really in a position to argue over what nationality his girlfriend should be. I mean, if Korean and Japanese got together, I'd say there's not much else Tae Sook could do that would be worse in the families' eyes."

"But Asians hate Americans don't they?"

"Koreans do from what I know. Both North and South Korea are still a little sore about the Korean War, North Korea more than anyone, and so there's still tension."

"Ah." There was a moment of silence while I finished up the dishes. When they were on the drying rack, I turned to look at Jacob, who was still watching the boys, who were ignoring mine and Jacob's conversation.

"Do you dislike him?" Jacob shook his head.

"Not really. I'm just a little surprised is all. But I get it now. And I admit, I find humor in him putting Ryan in his place. Those two need it from time to time. I think they might have inherited Rosalie's narcissistic tendencies."

"That's not nice, Jacob." Jacob shrugged innocently.

"It's true." I sighed.

"That doesn't mean you say it. And they more than make up for it with their caring nature, both of them." Jacob smiled.

"I know. They're good kids, I never said they weren't."

"I know." I walked closer to Jacob and hugged him around his neck while he was still sitting down. Jacob rested his left hand on my arm and laid his head against my chest, still looking at Kevin and Kyle.

"So how're you feeling?" I smiled.

"I'm fine, Jacob, as always. I only felt sick for a moment this morning and I felt better once I let it all out." Jacob sighed.

"Don't blame me for worrying. Even if it isn't serious, seeing you like that always worries me."

"Then don't get me pregnant again." Jacob chuckled at my joke.

"I'm sure there's a way we could have another baby and help you to not get sick."

"Jacob." My voice was slightly stern, and Jacob took the hint with a smile.

"I know, I know, we're done."

"Glad you remembered." Then I kissed Jacob's forehead and let go of him so I could walk over to Kevin and Kyle. I noticed it was almost eight and decided it might be time for them to go to bed. "Are you two tired?" Kevin shook his head.

"We not tired. Let us play more mommy. Please."

"Yeah, mommy, please?" I smiled at the two of them and was tempted to let them stay up, and I ended giving in to that temptation.

"Okay, you can stay up a little longer. But at nine thirty it's time for bed. Do you remember what 9:30 looks like on the clock?" Kevin smiled and stood up and held his arms in the right directions to represent the time.

"It looks like this!" Jacob fought a laugh and I kept grinning.

"That's so true, Kevin." Then I kissed Kevin's forehead, then looked at Kyle. "Do you remember, Kyle?" Kyle nodded and held his arms close to the way Kevin had done. Again, Jacob was biting his lip trying not to laugh while couldn't stop smiling. "Very good, Kyle. You're both so smart and you should be very proud of yourselves."

Both of them smiled in triumph and went to me to hug me. Kevin and Kyle were still a little more independent than I really liked, but it was nice to know they still loved me. When they were done hugging me, they turned back to playing and I went back to Jacob and he wrapped his arms around my waist, still sitting down. We watched the boys play for a little while longer until it was nine thirty and then made the boys go to bed and we went to our room once they were both in bed. Jacob and I took a shower together and Jacob paid most of his attention to my new bump.

"It's showing already?"

"Yeah, I guess it is. I'm surprised too."

"How long has it been?"

"At least two months I think."

"Normally, you aren't showing until around the forth month."

"Every pregnancy's different I guess. I'm mean, look at Kevin and Kyle." Jacob laughed.

"Dear lord that was one hell of a 180." I giggled.

"I know. It was the first time in my whole life you ever made an effort to avoid me like that." Jacob shrugged with a smile.

"I needed a break, Nessie. Maybe some men can have sex that often, but I'm sad to say, I'm not one of them."

"Maybe you could have if you didn't have to work and go out with the pack every other night."

"That might have given you one or two more times at best."

"Don't pretend you didn't enjoy it at least a little."

"At first I did. But after a while, I couldn't do it anymore and I just needed a break. And I never thought I'd say something like that to you, but it's the truth. I could've handled once a day, twice a day even, but once it started going over that, I couldn't do it anymore." I shrugged.

"I don't know. You seemed to be doing just fine from what I could see."

"You made sure of that, Nessie." Jacob and I shared a laugh, then I turned our attention back to our shower.

When Jacob and I were completely cleaned off, we walked out of the shower and dried each other off before I put on a baggy shirt and Jacob gave me a loving kiss and grabbed some sweats and jumped out the window to go on patrol. The next morning when I woke up, the clock was the first thing I looked at and I rolled my eyes and took a deep breath. It was almost noon. There was also a note on my nightstand from Jacob that was folded in half. I pushed myself into a sitting position and opened the note to read it.

_Nessie,_

_You looked tired yesterday and I thought you could use a break and some time to yourself, so I took the boys to Billy's and went to work myself. Don't be mad, I just thought you deserved a break. I'll see you when I get home and you know where to find the boys if you miss them. I love you._

_Jacob_

I groaned a little and crumbled the note in my hand before walking to the bathroom to throw the note away. While I was in there, I felt a pressure in my throat and immediately bent my head over the toilet to throw up. The feeling was gone as soon as it came, but I sat there for a few more minutes just to be safe. Once I knew I wouldn't have another episode, I brushed my teeth and got dressed before going downstairs to play the piano. I had to admit to myself that I should thank Jacob for giving me this day for myself. I didn't realize until I was playing how much I really needed it.

I spent about two hours playing the piano alone in the house when I heard the doorbell ring. I was surprised at first since anyone that would be over at this time had a key and could easily come in on their own and I wouldn't mind at all. I stopped playing the piano and the doorbell rang again while I walked to the door. I looked through the peephole and saw Aida standing there looking distressed. I opened the door and the look on her face surprised me. She usually looked so indifferent and it was weird seeing her express any form of dismay.

"What's wrong?" Aida sighed.

"May I come in? I called your desk at work and some guy said you were home today. He said that it was Jacob's idea, so I assumed you weren't in too bad of shape."

"Sure, come in. You look like hell, Aida."

"Thank you." I knew she was trying to be funny, but neither of us laughed and I closed the door and followed her to the living room. We sat together on the couch and Aida scratched the back of her head.

"Did something happen with Zeppelin?" Aida shook her head.

"No, not at all. We're still going strong. Actually, I'm here because I think I did something really bad."

"What do you mean? What did you do?" Aida sighed again and looked really guilty.

"Well, Mrs. Stanley had dumped Hailey on me to watch him. I mean, I like Hailey. He's a sweetheart and he's an awesome little brother, but she did it when I'd needed to be at work and ended up leaving him with me without a word, so I needed to call off work, which really threw me off for the day. And Hailey had refused to take his meds that morning, so he was acting up and was getting scared a lot and kept clutching to me. I hate admitting it, but I was losing my patience with him and eventually shoved the medication down his throat."

"You mean literally?" I was a little stunned and Aida held her hand up.

"Not literally. But that's not the thing that happened that was really bad." I breathed a sigh of relief before getting Aida back on topic.

"Alright, if that wasn't it, then what happened?" Aida was silent again for a moment before speaking.

"Well, he was finally starting to calm down and started practicing the violin." I stopped Aida for a moment.

"Wait, Hailey plays the violin?" Aida nodded.

"The violin, the piano, and the cello. Mrs. Stanley tries to keep him busy with music. She says it keeps him occupied and out of trouble. She started doing that when he punched a little kid in his kindergarten class because Tammy said that little boy was talking shit about him or something."

"Why isn't Hailey taking his meds?" This was the part that irritated me the most. Hailey's case of schizophrenia was extremely serious and he could become dangerous if he wasn't properly looked after and here he was, not taking his meds and the voices driving him crazy.

"Mrs. Stanley tries to, but he simply refuses to take them. He thinks we're all out to get him, except Leah of course. When she gives him his meds, then he doesn't pitch a fit because he trusts her, but everyone else, he's really suspicious. He likes me, but I still can't get him to take his meds without forcing him to. And I hate doing it because he gets really worked up."

"Doesn't he know they keep his disorder under control?"

"That's not what those damn voices say. He's terrified of those three, but he listens to them like commanding officers. He's scared of what they'll do to him if he takes the meds. Doesn't Edward tell you this?" I shook my head.

"Hailey made daddy swear to keep their talks secret and he knows that if he betrays that trust, Hailey will stop talking to him. It's a really touchy situation."

"I guess I understand that."

"So what happened?"

"Well, anyway, once he took the pills, he started calming down a little, but he was still getting really snippy with me and was complaining about Mrs. Stanley leaving him with me and why she never hangs out with him. And he got upset that Jessica never wants to be around him either. Then I accidently said something about her thinking he's a mistake." My eyes widened.

"You told Hailey he was a mistake?"

"No, I said that Jessica might think he's a mistake! I would never say something like that about Hailey. As far as I'm concerned, he's the only good thing to come out of my dad and Mrs. Stanley diddling each other in their private time. But anyway, he asked why she would think of him that way and I told him Mr. Stanley wasn't his dad and that my dad was."

"Wait, how the hell does Jessica know about that?" Aida shook her head.

"She doesn't. She just thinks he came too late and thinks his condition makes him a liability."

"And I take it Hailey never knew about your dad and his mom?"

"Of course not. Hailey would never be able to keep something like that a secret. But since I told him about it, he kept asking me a whole bunch of questions about the matter and wouldn't relent until I told him everything. And when Mrs. Stanley came back, he started asking her the same questions and that's around the time she left with him, but not before giving me a dirty look of course."

"Oh my God, Aida, do you know what this could do? You're lucky Leah hasn't started hunting you down yet. When did this happen, yesterday?" Aida shook her head.

"No, this morning it happened."

"Then why wasn't he at school?"

"School was out. I think it was the principle's birthday or something, I don't know. But it won't be long before this stirs something up with Mr. and Mrs. Stanley. And my parents aren't going to want to stick around when the whole town finds out about this. To be frank, I don't know why my dad would want to move out here anyway."

"This could make the Stanleys get a divorce. And worse yet, they might move away. Mrs. Stanley would never stand that kind of reputation, especially since she's the one who likes to gossip so much."

"She'd never let this get out, even if Hailey found out about it. But for that to happen, she'd have to tell everyone that Hailey's condition is getting worse. I guess since Hailey's a schizophrenic, then she could easily pass off everything he's saying as something made up. It's cruel, but whatever keeps her looking good is what she will do." I groaned.

"Leah is not going to be happy about this. You might've given the family an incentive to move, and move far away. Leah would kill you if that happened turns out to be your fault."

"You know what, Leah's all bark and no bite. I'm not scared of her." I sighed.

"Whatever, Aida. Just don't go walking down any dark allies at night. Because when you turn up dead, I won't be surprised." Aida smiled a little.

"What a thought. Don't worry, Nessie. What's the worst she could do? Ruin our wonderful friendship?" The sarcasm was heavy in her voice and I just sighed.

"Just be prepared for her furry. She's not going to be happy about it." Aida didn't roll her eyes like I thought she would. Instead she just looked at her hands.

"Do you mind if I smoke?"

"Outside."

"It's raining outside, Nessie." I was quiet a moment, then stood up.

"Fine. I'll get you a dish you can use."

"Will Jacob be mad?"

"Probably more surprised than anything. This is a onetime thing, by the way."

"Yeah, yeah, Nessie, I got you." When I got back, Aida was already lighting up a cigarette and I placed the little dish on the coffee table within easy reach for her. "Thanks Nessie. I'll only smoke one."

"Thanks." Aida took in a deep breath, inhaling the fumes that were already more than I would want to stand for much longer, and breathed them out in a way that could only be described as bliss.

"That feels so much better. So I take it Jacob hasn't called you about this or anything?"

"No, he hasn't. Honestly, if he heard it from anyone, it would be Seth, and Seth probably won't hear about it until later tonight, so Jacob wouldn't hear about it until tomorrow out on patrol."

"I'm not sure if it's the pack or a small town, but word travels too fast here for my taste." I giggled a little.

"It would travel faster if I talked to Jacob."

"I don't see what the point of that would be." Aida was quiet a moment and looked around. "By the way, where are the kids?"

"You just noticed now?"

"I was venting."

"They're at their grandpa's house."

"Ah. Sorry for not noticing before. I'm just worried about Hailey. I feel really bad about saying those things to him and I'm really nervous that something will happen because of it."

"And for good reasons. Hailey's almost certainly going to ask Mr. Stanley about it and that'll just get them arguing and Hailey will automatically blame himself for it and it'll just keep going downhill from there."

"Way to cheer me up, Nessie." I had a comment for her, but I thought against making a sarcastic retort. She felt bad enough, I shouldn't make it worse. "So you're pregnant again right?"

"Yeah, I am. It's been a few months now."

"Awesome. Sorry we haven't talked in a while." I shook my head.

"Don't worry, it's my fault too for not texting or emailing you."

"Well, between work, two kids, and a husband, I'm amazed you ever get time to yourself. Sorry for ruining that by the way."

"Don't worry about it. I got to play the piano for a while, so I'm happy. I haven't played as much lately. I'm thinking of teaching the boys how to play."

"That would be a great idea. Nothing keeps a kid out of trouble like an instrument. I don't think you need to go to the extent that Mrs. Stanley did, but the piano should be enough." I smiled.

"I would say so. So how is school going for her?"

"Not bad. It's taking a little longer than I would like, but I can only go to school part time and the rest of the time I'm working, so it'll take longer for me to graduate. But I'm looking at graduating next summer."

"That's good news. It's still nursing right?"

"Yep. And Zeppelin's been getting more and more popular in the modeling and photography industry. A lot of magazines want him to shoot for them. So he's thinking of moving to New York." There was a moment of silence.

"Does that mean you're going with him?" Aida shook her head.

"No. I'm not planning on it. I've been to New York and I'm not a fan. Zeppelin wants to live there for a while and see how he likes it. If not, then he'll come back here."

"What will that do to you two?" Aida shrugged.

"I don't know. A long distance relationship wouldn't be so bad. And we're already pretty open with one another as it is, so cheating's not really a huge deal." I sighed.

"If that's what makes you two happy I suppose. But forgive me for saying, the pattern seems painfully obvious." Aida and I were both quiet. She didn't seem fazed by what I said, but she did look thoughtful.

"When you put it that way, you make it sound so bad. What my parents do is their own business. They shouldn't have brought kids into that sort of a relationship, but the point is they did. My overall dislike for kids aside, I wouldn't want to bring a child into that. I know what I'm like and I'm not likely to change. It wouldn't be fair to bring a kid into that." I couldn't help but smile despite the tone of the conversation.

"You know, Aida, that's really mature of you. And here I thought you simply hated kids."

"I do hate kids. And I'd never want one. But I also know I would never be a fit mother anyway. It's better I know that and be more careful than disregard it and realize too late that my lifestyle isn't fit for children. It took two kids for my parents to figure that out. And even then, my dad knocked Mrs. Stanley up and is stuck with another child he never wanted to begin with."

"Does your dad ever see Hailey?" Aida laughed without humor.

"You'd think you were pulling his teeth if you asked him to see Hailey. He doesn't like kids either and since it's technically Mrs. Stanley's problem, he doesn't want to muddy the water any more than he already has. And since Mr. Stanley doesn't know about the affair, he prefers to let someone else solve his problems for him."

"Is your father a sociopath or something?" Aida shrugged.

"I don't know if he is one clinically, but he acts like one, that's for sure. But after today, Mr. Stanley will find out and we'll just have to see what happens from there. That's all that can be done."

"I guess." Aida finished off her cigarette and put it out in the dish that I'd laid out for her. Then she took out her pack again and I gave her a stern look.

"This is my last one for today, I swear. Or at least my last one while I'm still in your house." I sighed.

"If you promise."

Aida ended up staying for the rest of the afternoon. She left around four so she could try and beat the rush hour traffic back to Seattle, leaving me home alone again. I sat in the living room a while just thinking and looking at the dead fireplace. There was still some wood in it from the last time Jacob and I had lit it. I thought about what Aida had told me and what might happen with Hailey and his family. Hailey moving away with either parent should something bad happen simply was out of the question. Leah had been through enough. The last thing she deserved was to have another person she loved be forced away from her by things she couldn't control. But of course, knowing that didn't change what could happen. After an hour of being stuck in thought, I decided to text Jacob and told him to come straight home when he was done with work and leave the boys with Billy a little while longer.

Once I sent that text, I got a response moments later asking me if there was something wrong. I just told him it was about Hailey and left it at that. I didn't receive another text after that and decided to try and calm my thoughts a little and play the piano a little longer. About an hour and a half later, I heard a car park outside in the front driveway that didn't sound like Jacob's car. I stood from the piano and walked to the door where I saw Leah already waiting. I opened the door to let her in and she rushed right in with a look of concern.

"What's wrong with Hailey? Jacob said there was something wrong? I tried calling the Stanleys and they wouldn't answer any of the phone numbers."

"Leah, calm down. I'll tell you everything, just try to calm down a little. Where's Jacob?"

"He's on his way home. He called me earlier and said you needed to talk to him about something concerning Hailey. Just tell me flat out if anything's wrong." I sighed and nodded.

"I think there may be something wrong."

"Why? What happened?" Leah was really losing her patience, so I took her arm gently in my hands and led her to the kitchen and started making her some coffee. Rachael and the other pack wives were the only reason I had a coffee maker.

"How do you take your coffee?"

"Surprise me." Leah was silent a moment, then she laughed a little to herself.

"What's funny?"

"I just remembered something Hailey said to his mom once. I was making his mom coffee and I asked her how she takes her coffee. First she said black, but Hailey said, 'Don't try to act so tough you sissy'. Then Mr. Stanley ended up walking in and noticed I was making coffee and asked for cream in his coffee. Then Hailey said, 'Oh, coming right up, madam'. Then his dad said cream and sugar in his coffee and Hailey said, 'What are you, a girl?'. Then his mom told me to just surprise her. I just gave her black coffee, then Hailey pushed the coffee in her lap. It stopped being funny after that, but it was funny at first." Leah kept smiling and it made me feel even worse about what I had to tell her.

"How old is he now? Three?"

"He'll be four soon. Mrs. Stanley didn't appreciate Hailey's little stunt of course, but the therapist told her he could just be mimicking something he saw on TV or heard from kids at school. But he doesn't watch TV or hang out with many kids at school, so I'm not sure how true that is."

"I suppose the disorder makes it difficult to make friends."

"Extremely difficult. It's even harder when he doesn't take his meds and he's talking to himself in the middle of class and play time. The other kids think he's weird, so they keep their distance. What's weird is I don't think Hailey notices. Either that or he simply doesn't care that the other kids won't play with him."

"Those three in his head probably tell them they're all bad so he keeps his distance." Leah sighed.

"Probably. I can honestly say, I've never hated imaginary people so much in my life." Leah and I were quiet for a while before Leah got back to what she asked earlier. "So what's wrong with Hailey? And why don't I know about it?" I sighed.

"Well, Aida came over a few hours ago and told me about how she was watching Hailey this morning since he didn't have school today." Leah immediately became defensive.

"What did she do?" I held up my hand.

"Just give me a chance to tell you what happened okay? When I tell you I'm done, then you can react accordingly, alright?" Leah and I looked at each other for a moment, then she relaxed a little back into her seat and crossed her arms.

"Alright. I'm all ears, Nessie." Once I was sure Leah was calm, I picked up the story where I'd left off.

"Well, she came here saying she thought she might have done something bad." Leah was about to speak, but I held my hand up again and she stayed quiet. "I asked her what happened, and it turns out that Hailey was complaining about his mom always dropping him off with people and the family barely converses with him and wonders why Jessica's so distant with him as are Mr. and Mrs. Stanley."

"You can say that again. Just because he's schizophrenic is no reason to say, 'I don't know how to handle him', and pretend he's normal." I gave Leah a look, and she stayed quiet again.

"Anyway, Aida ended up letting it slip that Mr. Stanley wasn't his real father and that Dr. Mathews was actually his father." This time, Leah didn't keep her voice down and she stood from her seat.

"She what? It's not her place to tell Hailey things like that! Does she have any idea what could happen if Hailey starts asking people about that?"

"Yes, Leah, she's well aware of what could happen and she was telling me that she feels horrible about it."

"Like fuck she feels horrible about it! That bitch wouldn't know what feeling sorry was like if it slapped her in the fucking face! She's no better than her parents, fucking psychopaths! She couldn't care less if she hurt Hailey's feelings!" I finally intervened.

"Leah, that's not true! Aida likes Hailey and she cares about him. She's just as angry with her parents and his mom over what happened as I'm sure the rest of us are. But she can't change what her father did and what Mrs. Stanley did. It wasn't her intention to cause drama or anything like that."

"Bullshit! Mrs. Stanley would become the mock of the town. She'd never put up with that and she'd move away! Do you know where else she has family, Nessie? In fucking Georgia, that's where she has other family! How will I make that work? I won't be able to see him! Hell, he won't remember me when I try to see him again, and he'll probably turn into a huge fuck up just like the rest of them!"

Eventually, Leah couldn't yell anymore and she was silenced by torrents of tears and fury. I stayed back and just let her cry. Trying to calm her down or saying anything would just make her angrier. I was desperately hoping Jacob would be home soon. He would know how to calm Leah down. Leah cried for five minutes before I heard the front door open and I thanked God that Jacob was finally home. He heard the crying from the front door and came running to the kitchen and saw Leah sobbing and looked right at me.

"What's wrong with Leah?"

"I told her about Hailey. Aida let it slip that Mr. Mathews was his real father and so Leah's upset with what could happen as a result." Jacob was quiet a moment, then he looked at Leah and patted her back to try and ease her. She just swatted Jacob's hand away and lifted her head, brushing away the tears.

"If Hailey has to move, so help me God."

"Leah, calm down, alright. I'll call Seth for you." Leah shook her head at Jacob's suggestion.

"I want to see Hailey. I need to tell him to keep that to himself."

"It's probably too late, Leah. This happened this morning." Leah seemed slightly relieved.

"No, Mr. Stanley isn't home from work yet so I can probably talk to Hailey before Mr. Stanley gets home." Leah stood and was about to leave the kitchen, but then Jacob's cellphone went off and he answered it when he realized it was Alice. I snatched the phone from Jacob and put Alice on speaker.

"Alice?"

"_Nessie, I need to talk to Jacob."_

"Jacob's right here with me. So is Leah. You're on speaker."

"_Leah? Leah, listen to me, I had a vision regarding Hailey. Something happened to upset him and he decided to run away! From what I can tell from the vision, I heard screaming in the background and he's already out of the house. I've got Jasper and Edward looking through town for him. But Edward can't hear his thoughts, so that means he's already far out of town."_

That was all Leah needed to hear to run out of the house and get into her car and speed off to look for Hailey. I'd already hung up on Alice and since she didn't try to call me back, I assumed she knew we were already leaving to look for him. Jacob and I called Billy to spread the word and start looking for Hailey while Jacob and I got into his car and started looking around the highway on the Quileute reservation.

**Earlier**

"Is what Aida said true? You still not tell me." When Mrs. Stanley got home with Hailey, he was still asking her several questions about what Aida had told him.

"Hailey, you should know how Aida is. Sometimes she speaks before thinking."

"Why she say her daddy my daddy?"

"Hailey, just don't worry about it alright? And don't ask you father about this, either." With a pout on Hailey's face, he answered with deep sarcasm that most children his age weren't able to do.

"Which one?"

"Hailey, go to your room, right now! You do not speak to me like that, do you understand?" Still holding defiance in his eyes, Hailey turned his back to his mother and went up the stairs and to his room. He decided to wait in his room for his dad to get home. When Hailey was alone in his room, he took a seat on his bed, then he felt someone's hand on his shoulder.

"Silly Hailey. You know she's lying to you." Hailey looked at Tammy, who to him was clear as day in front of him. She had brown hair, like Hailey, that went to her shoulders with a little red bow tied in and she had a small button nose with an angel face, contrary to her often controlling personality.

"I'm not stupid, Tammy." Tammy giggled.

"I never said you were, Hailey. I was simply pointing out the obvious." Hailey didn't respond and just looked forward.

Like Parker and Jack, Tammy had grown up with Hailey. Those three illusions were with him as far back as he could remember. And they actually grew with him. He had a growth spurt, so did they. His hair got darker with age, so did theirs. The only thing that was different was that those three seemed to already be adult-like in the way they spoke and thought things out. According to Edward: Tammy, Jack, and Parker were simply his mind making them into something superior based off what Hailey heard from the adults. It was really odd to Edward that Hailey's illusions were already capable of having personalities of their own. It happened to Professor John Nash, but he was also in his early thirties when he started suffering from schizophrenia. Hailey was only an infant when he started suffering from it, which was almost unheard of.

"Well, I don't like it. Go away." With Tammy still sitting to Hailey's right with her hand on her shoulder, Parker walked right up to Hailey's face. Parker had dirty blonde hair that was currently in a messy cut similar to Hailey's current hairstyle. He never wanted hairdressers near him with scissors, so he would often go without a haircut for a while until Alice did it some days when he spoke with Edward. He only let Alice do it because she could get it done quickly before he even realizes she's doing it.

"You're planning to talk to your dad when he comes home? How do you think that will go."

"The shit's gonna hit the fan is what's gonna happen." Everyone looked to Hailey's left at the front of his bed where Jack was laying against the wall with a smug look on his face. Jack had black hair and was a little taller than Hailey's other illusions. He had a very mean face and was mean spirited to boot as well as foul mouthed. Whenever Hailey heard a new swear word from anyone, Jack would soon repeat it later.

"Be that as it may, it's better than living a lie." Tammy said when she looked at Hailey again. "Wouldn't you agree?"

"And imagine all the trouble this would cause. Your parents could get divorced because of this." Parker took a moment to laugh evilly. "Let's see how she likes it to be the negative talk of the town." Tammy giggled.

"Her life would be ruined. I'm getting goose bumps just thinking about it."

"Shut up!" Hailey yelled at all three. They all looked back at Hailey, not surprised at his outburst at all. "I'll take my meds if you don't stop." Tammy spoke.

"Those medicines are evil, Hailey. You know that. You take them, and we go away."

"Gee, you think he didn't already know that? You stupid ass." Tammy ignored Jack and kept talking to Hailey.

"Remember, Hailey. You're nothing without the three of us. Particularly me." Parker interrupted Tammy.

"Why you? You just throw wood into the fire. That's all you do."

"And what do you do that's superior if I may?"

"I ask him questions and talk about his feelings. Thank you very much."

"Well, doesn't that make you a fucking saint. You're such a fruit." Tammy interrupted them both to talk to Hailey.

"I rest my case, Hailey. Why don't we all play some music? You like doing that."

"You're all better than me."

"That's why you let me help you remember." As scary as his hallucinations were to him, Hailey did often rely on them far more than anyone who knew him wanted.

Tammy was gifted with just about every instrument she held. And whenever Hailey forgot something he'd learned, Tammy was the one that reminded him of it. Technically, Hailey was gifted in more ways than one, but because Tammy was always around telling him what he could and couldn't do, he thought Tammy was the gifted one. The few times Hailey did take his medication, he would notice himself remembering things all on his own and learning all on his own, but since Tammy was typically there, she made sure he forgot that and put him back in his place. Hailey practiced his violin with Tammy and the other two watching until Mr. Stanley finally came home a few hours later. When Hailey heard the garage door open and close, Jack spoke.

"You ready for the shit to hit the fan?" Hailey ignored Jack and gently put his violin away and went to the top of the stairs waiting for Mr. Stanley. He first spoke with his wife in the kitchen, then he walked to the stairs and saw Hailey waiting there for him.

"Hailey? How was your day? I hear today was a day off from school." Hailey didn't nod or shake his head and didn't verbally answer either. "Is something wrong, Hailey?" Hailey waited for Mr. Stanley to get to the top of the stairs before asking what he wanted to ask.

"I want to talk to you."

"Alright, Hailey. What do you want to talk about?"

"Um, it's about something Aida said to me." Mr. Stanley became a little concerned. But it wasn't nearly to the extent that Mrs. Stanley had been. Aida had said Mr. Stanley didn't know anything about this, so Hailey wasn't surprised by his reaction.

"And what did she say to you? Truthfully, Hailey, if you heard Aida say it, then it's probably not a word you should ever repeat." Hailey shook his head.

"It's not about a word. It's about something she said happened a long time ago." Mr. Stanley looked at Hailey a little confused.

"And what did she say happened a long time ago?"

"She told me that you weren't my daddy. She said that her daddy was my daddy and that mommy kept it from you because she's a gossiping bitch that can't stand to leave her pedestal." Mr. Stanley's eyes widened.

"Excuse me, Hailey? Why would Aida say something like that? Your mother and Mr. Mathews have never been intimately involved. Where did Aida get the nerve to say something like that to you?"

"I told her I was sad that Jessica never plays with me. Aida accidently let it slip that she thought I was a mistake because I was a liability. Then I made her tell me why and she said it was because mommy had an affair with Mr. Mathews and that he's my real daddy." Mr. Stanley was starting to lose his temper.

"Hailey, I don't know where Aida heard that, but I can assure you that isn't true. I'm you father, Hailey." That's what Mr. Stanley said, but he was thinking about certain things while he said it.

Without another word to Hailey, Mr. Stanley began walking down the hall and stairs to the living room where his wife was watching Oprah reruns. He thought about her sending Hailey with Aida and how odd he'd always thought that was. He also thought it was odd that Mr. Mathews would sometimes come to see Hailey. They'd never been friends before and yet there was this sudden mutual hospitality between them that had never been there before. He also hadn't realized until that moment that Hailey looked nothing like him. Hailey had a little of his wife in him, but he didn't look like anyone else in her family. If anything, she looked a lot like Aida when she was little. When he reached the living room, his wife looked at him.

"You want to join me?" Mr. Stanley was momentarily hesitant, but then he walked over to the couch and sat across the couch from his wife. When he was seated, she scooted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder. Once she was there, he looked at her, then asked an odd question.

"Do you love me?" She looked at him strangely, but smiled.

"Of course I love you." Even after she said that, he sighed a little to himself. "Why, what's wrong?"

"Hailey told me something just now that Aida had told him."

"It's not true." Mr. Stanley looked at her a little more closely, thinking her rushed response was a little odd.

"You don't even know what I'm talking about."

"Hailey asked me the same thing and I told him it's not true." This time, Mr. Stanley stood from the couch.

"Why are you raising your voice at me? I have a right to ask about it. Aida doesn't strike me as the type that would lie about something this serious. What reason would she have for that anyway? You understand why I would be concerned?"

"You have nothing to be concerned about because it's not true. I can't believe that you would accuse me of something like that."

"I wasn't accusing you. I was asking you if it was true or not. You're the one that made it seem like I was concerned. Now I've actually got reason to doubt you because you're getting defensive about it."

"You have no reason to think that."

"Sure I do. You're getting defensive and Hailey looks more like Aida than he does me!"

"You don't know that."

"I've seen Aida when she was little. The resemblance is too uncanny to leave alone."

"What are you saying, that you don't believe me?"

"I'm saying I want a paternity test."

"A paternity test? Are you out of your mind?"

"If Hailey's mine, than you have no reason to worry about the outcome of the paternity test. So let's just get it done and over with and when it reveals I'm really Hailey's father, then there's no problem anymore and we'll forget this ever happened."

"I can't believe you're believing Aida over me! I'm your wife!" Hailey, who was sitting at the top of the stairs through the whole conversation, heard them start yelling and felt his stomach turn while Tammy had a huge grin on her face.

"This was an entertaining outcome." Jack spoke next.

"We know how much you like this sort of shit you creepy fucking whore." Then Parker had his two cents.

"I wonder if they'll get a divorce once he finds out. You two were never that close to begin with. He'll probably abandon you like everyone else."

"What the fuck are you even talking about?"

"Things a foul mouthed wanker like yourself wouldn't understand Jackie."

"Call me Jackie again and I'll break your fucking arm." While his three illusions continued arguing amongst themselves, Hailey listened to his parents continue their heated argument. As Mrs. Stanley relentlessly denied Aida's accusations, she ended up making herself more and more suspicious to her husband.

Eventually, because Mr. Stanley wanted the argument to end, he simply told her that if Hailey was really his, then he would gladly apologize for accusing her of cheating and they could go to couple's therapy. But if Hailey wasn't his, then he would file for divorce, no questions asked. Mrs. Stanley went on to argue that she and her husband didn't need to go to couple's therapy. To her, that meant admitting to people that her marriage was having a rough spot that she always said never happened between her and her husband. A divorce had the same effect in her mind as the couple's therapy. Either way, it meant admitting something she'd always lied about and that didn't sit well with her.

It wasn't long before Hailey couldn't stand the constant bickering from his parents and his hallucinations anymore. His illusions were arguing over something stupid and his parents were arguing over him and the loud yelling was more than he could stand. So when he'd had enough, Hailey went to his room and started filling his backpack with things. The illusions noticed and Tammy was at Hailey's side in an instant.

"Running away, yes. How sinister."

"I'm not doing it because you think I should. I'm doing it because I can't stand the yelling from any of you and I want to get out of this stupid house." Tammy shrugged.

"It's the principle of the matter. Running away from home will show your parents." Then while Hailey was shoving clothes in his backpack, Parker walked up to his right.

"You won't be able to reach Leah's house by yourself. She lives in Seattle. That's so far away, especially on foot. And you don't know how to drive a car." Annoyed with everything and having already lost his patience, Hailey started yelling himself.

"I know, Parker! I'm not stupid! I don't need you to tell me what I can and can't do!" Jack got defensive.

"Fuck, Hailey. No need to yell." Hailey didn't respond. Instead, he packed the last of his clothes and went to the bathroom to grab a toothbrush before going downstairs to the kitchen. Hailey's illusions followed him to the kitchen and Hailey grabbed a stool from the corner to stand on and used that to reach his pills. Tammy screamed at him not to, but with a swig of water, Hailey swallowed his pills, flipped them off, and walked out the door.

**Present**

Valerie had already called Tae Sook and let him know what happened, who relayed the message to Gretchen, who then had all her scouters and staff that weren't needed at the bar look through the Area Hailey could be and where it was unlikely he'd be, but one never knew. Demetri and his coven were all the way in Moscow the last I heard, so Leah's thought of calling them for help was out of the question. Same thing with Alistair who was all the way in London. Leah yelled at Carlisle to make more local friends, and ended her frantic call with that. We had been looking for Hailey for about an hour and a half now and we still couldn't find him. Leah was getting hysterical and so were his parents. I had called Aida, who called the Stanleys, who stopped arguing long enough to realize Hailey wasn't in the house or in the backyard.

"Where the hell could he be? He's a three year old. How far can a three year old get on his feet?"

"I don't know, Jacob. We just need to keep looking."

"Nessie, the whole town's looking for him and then some. If we haven't found him by now, he probably isn't still in Forks."

"Well, of course he isn't in Forks anymore."

"Why can't anyone follow his scent? That should've led us to him hours ago."

"According to daddy, there's a spot where his scent stops."

"Did he get taken by someone?"

"No. He said it smelled like Hailey had rolled around so his smell would blend." Jacob looked surprised.

"A three year old thought of that?"

"It looks like it. But he made himself smell like everything else and they lost the scent."

"Holy shit. This isn't good. What if someone did take him? Or worse, what if he got hurt somehow? There're bears in those woods."

"I know, Jacob." Jacob and I didn't talk anymore and kept looking out the windows looking for Hailey. How far could he possibly have gotten? There was no way he was in a car. Someone would have noticed. And anyone who on the highway would probably know him, so the idea of him hitchhiking was out too.

Charlie had called the police departments in all the surrounding towns and cities near Forks sending a picture of Hailey and letting them know this child needed to be found. All they needed to hear was, "He's schizophrenic and probably hasn't taken his medication", and they were looking for Hailey like a bomb in a school. Charlie assured them that Hailey wasn't dangerous, but one officer from Hoquiam had said that for all anyone knew, Hailey had a gun in hand and that was high risk, especially when he's just a child. Mrs. Stanley had mentioned that she noticed her cell phone was missing, so cops started attempting to trace calls from that cell phone. Only one had been made, and it was a call to Leah's apartment in Seattle. That's when Leah and me and Jacob started looking for Hailey on the Highways going to Seattle while Tae Sook and two others from the bar agreed to stay near Leah's apartment to wait for Hailey just in case. And to make matters worse, it started pouring shortly after we started looking for Hailey.

"Maybe we should try and get Demetri on this. If nothing else, he could give us an idea where to look." I shook my head.

"His power doesn't work that way. If a target is far away, he can only give a general direction. His power doesn't become specific until he's within less than 700 miles. That's what Dante told me."

"I'm starting to wonder if Hailey is even on land anymore. Maybe he's swimming through the shallow edges of the beaches."

"Mommy, Rosalie, and Esme are already looking there. So far, they haven't found anything." Jacob groaned.

But finally, as we were driving, we found a small child riding on a bike that he'd forced to fit him. It was a little boy on a bigger person's bike with a backpack that looked like a child's backpack. I looked closer and told Jacob to slow down and I was able to tell it was Hailey. How he was able to ride such a big bike and in the middle of the rain wasn't even important. It was only important that we'd finally found him. Jacob drove the car until we were ahead of him, then we pulled over on the side of the road, parked, and both got out of the car and went to the biker. I was relieved to see I was right.

"Hailey! Hailey, you need to come home. Everyone's looking for you!" Hailey stopped the bike when he reached us and fell off the bike. I caught him and brought him to his feet, but he was instantly defiant.

"I'm not going home. Mommy and daddy are fighting and they're fighting over me. I don't want to deal with it. I want Leah."

"Okay, okay, we'll take you to Leah, but Hailey, we need to take you back to Forks at the very least. The entire Olympic Peninsula is looking for you."

"I don't care. I want Leah." I nodded.

"I know Hailey, I know. We'll take you to Leah." I opened my arms to him. "Just come to me and we'll take you back. We'll meet Leah back at my house. And Edward will be there to talk to you. Would that be alright?" Hailey looked reluctant, but without answering me, Hailey started crying and just fell into my arms sobbing. Jacob handled the bike while I brought Hailey to the car. No one in Forks had reported a missing bike, but we would bring it to Charlie later just in case.

Hailey hadn't stopped sobbing by the time Jacob was back in the driver's seat and he still was crying when we finally got back. Hailey was too chocked up to talk to Leah when Jacob had called her and Leah told us she was on her way to our house. I called daddy to let him know we found Hailey, so daddy called everyone else and the search was stopped. Jacob dropped me and Hailey off at the house, then took off to drop the bike off at the police station with Charlie. Leah got to the house around the same time as me and Jacob and she went right to Hailey and took him in a hug.

"Why would you do that, Hailey? Don't ever do that again, you hear me? I was so worried." Leah was speaking through tears and Hailey was finally starting to stop crying and began apologizing to Leah for running off. Hailey explained everything, including what his Illusions were telling him, then Leah groaned.

"I took my medicine before I left. Just to get back at them."

"Hailey, they aren't real. You know that right? They're not real people." Hailey shook his head.

"Not to me. I see them like I see you. I can't pretend they don't exist like Mr. Edward does. They might hurt me." Leah, who was still teary eyed, shook her head.

"They're only in your head, Hailey. They can't hurt you." Hailey shook his head.

"That's not true, Leah. They could hurt me real badly." Leah brought Hailey back to her chest and in a crushing hug.

Like everyone else, Leah had no idea how to handle Hailey's disorder or how to sooth him and help him through it. Everyone involved was at a loss and it hurt that we couldn't help. Daddy could only convince Hailey of so much. He could read Hailey's mind, but not the illusions. They weren't real, so that was natural. But that also meant that daddy never knew what they would tell Hailey next and whether or not that would inevitably be something dangerous. And since Hailey rarely willingly took his medicine, that could happen at any time because according to daddy, Tammy was the cruel vindictive one that loved seeing things hurt. It could start on animals and progressively grow to other people. Once that happened, there would be nothing anyone could do to stop the law from getting involved.

"They won't hurt you if you take your medicine regularly, Hailey. I know they tell you it's bad, but I would never give you anything that would hurt you. You know that." Hailey nodded.

"I know, Leah." A few minutes later while Hailey was sitting on Leah's lap on the couch still upset, there was a knock on my door and I went to answer it. It was Aida at the door with her mom and dad there.

"Aida?"

"This has to stop. For the benefit of everyone involved, we need to stop this." I was surprised.

"What are you talking about, Aida?" Aida's mom walked up behind her with her dad close behind.

"We heard from Aida what happened and decided that it was time to get all the facts straight." Mr. Mathews looked at his wife annoyed.

"You decided this, Danielle. I said this was a bad idea."

"You know what Ron, you can't keep running away from your responsibilities." I invited them all in and Mr. and Mrs. Mathews kept arguing while they came in.

"We don't know for sure that Hailey's actually mine, is all I'm saying. Julia was still sleeping with Tom while she and I were fooling around. The affair didn't occur because she was unhappy, it occurred because she's greedy for attention. You're affair started because Mr. Newton was unhappy."

"So you solution is to say there's room for error and it's everyone else's problem but yours? That's a load of shit if I ever did hear it, Ron. You're such a selfish prick, you know that? She could've made you help take care of Hailey, but she didn't. You should be grateful."

"That wasn't for my benefit, Danielle, that was for hers. People would find out about it and she'd be embarrassed. And she knew I didn't want Hailey anyway, so everybody won." Hailey was in the room listening, and Leah had lost her patience immediately with Mr. Mathews and stood up to let him have it.

"You coward. You fucking coward!" Mr. Mathews got annoyed when he looked at Leah.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Leah. I'm the one that's been helping Mrs. Stanley, your lover, take care of Hailey and watching him and taking care of him. Hailey doesn't deserve this from you. And You!" Leah looked at Aida, who stayed still. I think she was aware that she deserved whatever Leah was about to say. "Mr. Stanley's demanding a paternity test because of all this. Did you know that? What happens when it comes back confirming that your father is Hailey's too?"

"I didn't mean to tell him, Leah. But once I did, he wanted to know more. Frankly, this who's my daddy game isn't fair to Hailey either. Fine, this mother fucker is probably his dad, but it's better to know the truth than have several plot holes filling his life."

"Watch your tongue, Aida." Leah turned her attention back to Mr. Mathews.

"Why? Is she supposed to still respect you because you're her dad? Well, what about Hailey? If you are his father, he deserve for you to at least acknowledge his existence instead of pushing him out of your mind like mold in a house."

"You don't know what the situation is."

"Like hell I don't! It's all I ever hear about these days! You're a mother fucking liar and a sneak who's too much of a fucking coward to admit it's his fault some child's life is in ruins because of you and your little affair."

"I told Julia to get rid of Hailey! She wouldn't listen to me! It's not my fault she's pig headed!" Mrs. Mathews looked right at her husband.

"She's pigheaded? Look at you! Every time something happens, it's never your fault. It's always my fault or the children's fault because I wouldn't get rid of them or everyone else's fault, but it's never yours. You're a fucking saint as far as you're concerned!"

"I take responsibility for what is my fault, but Hailey isn't my responsibility, so I won't take fault for anything involving him."

"He's your bastard son! How much more involvement do you need to give a fuck?" When Hailey started crying, Leah went to him and took him upstairs so he wouldn't have to hear anymore of Mr. and Mrs. Mathews' argument, which was unfazed by Hailey's crying.

"I never wanted any fucking kids! I've told you that several times and yet you kept them! Coralline, Aida, fucking bastard child Hailey, I never wanted them! I made my point clear and you both chose to ignore me!"

"We never ignored you, Ron! It just happens! Coralline and Aida just happened like Hailey just happened! But I guess that's reason enough for you to never be there. You were barely ever around while the girls were growing up, so what's another unwanted child to ignore."

"I didn't ignore the girls. I spent plenty of time with them."

"Nagging them about their homework doesn't count for anything. And don't pretend that you spent any real time with them, because you know that's a load of crap." They continued to argue a little more when I heard the doorbell ring again. I ran to the door wanting to get away from those two arguing and found Mr. and Mrs. Stanley standing at the door and groaned a little to myself before opening the door.

"Hailey's here?" I nodded.

"Yes, he's upstairs with Leah. Please come in." Hearing the Mathews still arguing, the Stanleys followed the noise into the living room and they stopped yelling when they saw each other. That's when Mrs. Mathews took the opportunity to throw a wrench into the already stiff and painful atmosphere.

"Well, Ron. Isn't there something that you should talk to the Stanleys about?"

"Don't give me attitude, Danielle. If I have to, then why don't you go to Mrs. Newton and tell her you've been fucking her husband for three years? Let's see how that turns out for you." Jumping to a conclusion, though the conclusion was true, Mr. Stanley started yelling too.

"So you and my wife were having an affair after all! And you were sleeping with Collin? You people are sick!" With a snide look on his face, Mr. Mathews answered.

"If you're worried I'll steal her from you, you don't need to worry about anything. What your wife and I do is purely physical."

"You think that makes all this okay? It doesn't matter if you loved her or not! What matters is that you ruined my marriage!" Mr. Mathews didn't end up saying anything in his defense. Instead, he just stood and watched while Mr. Stanley looked at his wife. "I'm scheduling a paternity test first thing tomorrow. I'll file for divorce later." This really got her attention.

"No, please, we can work this out. Like Ron said, there's no romantic feelings. We can end it now and never speak of it again." 

"And how long before you do this sort of thing to me again? I won't let you make a fool out of me just so you can keep your 'good name' clean." Then he looked at me. "Go get Hailey and bring him here. He'll go home with Julia. I'm getting a hotel."

"A hotel? You can't be serious. At least come home and think this through."

"I've thought it through all I needed to, Julia. It's over." With Mrs. Stanley still babbling to her husband, asking him to rethink his decision, he turned to leave the house to leave for the hotel he would go to.

Once Mr. Stanley drove off and I ran with Mrs. Stanley to the front door, I finally realized that my family was outside the house. I asked Aida to go get Leah and Hailey and went to daddy. Mrs. Stanley wasn't listening to us. She was sitting on my front step crying.

"So what's going to happen?" Daddy gave me a blank look.

"You heard everything."

"I meant to Hailey."

"I know. And I can't say right now. It depends on what Mr. Stanley's thinking and feeling after the paternity test. If it's false for him, then he'll have no legal obligation to Hailey in all technicality. It'll be up to him what he does. And as far as Mr. Mathews paying child support, it'll take no less than a court order from what I can tell." I turned to look at Mr. Mathews and his wife who seemed to have begun arguing again.

"Regardless, it's not going to end well." Daddy shook his head.

"Not at all."

I turned my attention to Aida when I heard her come down with Leah and Aida, who to me looked odd. I'd never seen her cry and I wasn't seeing it now. But I could tell this scenario with her parents was deeply upsetting to her. It was in her face, but visible to only those who knew her really well. She would probably later tell me that this was something that was inevitable and that it didn't matter to her, but I would know she would be lying. Lying was something she was very good at, but even this bickering between two grown people was something Aida couldn't pretend didn't bother her. When Mrs. Stanley realized Hailey was downstairs, she ran to Leah and grabbed Hailey from her arms and ran to her car. Hailey was looking at Leah the whole time with a pained look and Leah looked upset as well. Then Leah looked at Mr. Mathews with a scowl. But since he was arguing with his wife, he didn't notice.

"Jacob will probably be back soon. I should get you guys out of here." Carlisle walked up behind me and rested his hand on my shoulder. When I looked at him, I noticed the concern in his face.

"How're you feeling, Nessie? Not too stressed?" It took me a moment to realize that he was talking about the baby. When I knew, I nodded.

"Yes, I'm fine. It's just been a little too hectic today for my taste."

"We'll leave you alone. You do me a favor and get some rest. And I know you already played hooky today, but have tomorrow off too. Think of it as doctor's orders." I sighed and nodded.

"Alright, Carlisle. I'll stay home tomorrow."

"And we'll take the boys." I sighed again.

"Fine."

Having said his last word, Carlisle smiled and turned to leave with everyone else. Daddy did me a huge favor and got the Mathews out of my house. I was left alone with Aida, who's expression hadn't improved after her parents left. I walked over to her and waited for her to say something. If she wanted to talk to me, she would do it on her own. But when the silence was too painful, I finally spoke to break the silence.

"Are you feeling better, Aida?" Aida shrugged.

"I was never feeling bad. You meant my parents arguing right? Yeah, it's fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, Nessie. I knew this sort of shit would happen, so why should I be upset?" Do I know her, or do I know her?

"That doesn't mean it was any less difficult to deal with."

"Look, Nessie, I know you're concerned. If you want to know the truth, then yes, it does bother me that my parents were always more hormones than brains. It does bother me that father never made an effort to be a good parent to me and Coralline. It does bother me that not once in my whole life has father ever said he loved me or Coralline. I does bother me that father was never supportive of anything I did that wasn't exactly what he wanted. In short, Nessie, my father and I have never really been father and daughter. At best, we were housemates that tolerated each other's presence. Is that what you wanted to hear?" Aida was starting to give me an attitude, but I didn't call her out on it. The last thing she needed right now was to have someone bark at her.

"I just want to know that you'll be alright."

"I always am, Nessie. Well, I think I've taken up enough of your day. Maybe tomorrow, you can have a halfway decent day off."

Not saying another word to me, Aida left the house and drove off, leaving me alone. It was another twenty minutes before Jacob was home with the boys. When they ran to me, their smiles were bright. I could tell Billy hadn't told them about anything that happened. I was glad about that. They shouldn't have to know about that sort of thing. And looking at my boys, I couldn't understand the way Mr. Mathews saw Hailey. I simply couldn't understand it. I hoped that Mr. Mathews would end up having as little involvement with Hailey as possible. Some would say a bad father figure is better than none at all, but I didn't agree.

"Carlisle told me his orders for tomorrow." It was the first thing Jacob had said to me when he got home that evening. I'd just put the boys to bed and I was getting dressed in my pajamas.

"I suppose he would. You don't mind do you?" Jacob shook his head.

"You know I don't." Jacob was quiet while he walked into the closet with me to change. He didn't have patrol tonight, so I was immensely relieved. He probably would've stayed home anyway. "I don't know if stress would have serious consequences with you, but I'd rather not risk it."

"I'm sure it'll take a lot more than simple stress for me to have a miscarriage, Jacob. But I will stay home tomorrow and rest if it'll make everyone happy. And Carlisle said they'd take the boys."

"Good. Because Billy's too tired to take care of them two days in a row." I smiled.

"That won't be an issue." There was silence again. Once we were dressed, we both went to bed and I immediately cuddled next to Jacob.

"What's going to happen?"

"The Stanley's are getting a divorce. That much I know. I don't know what will happen with Hailey, though." Jacob sighed.

"Leah was already upset. I can't even imagine." I shook my head.

"I can't either. But all we can do is hope for the best."

"Do you think Mr. Stanley's Hailey's father?" I shook my head.

"I think he'd sooner have angels flying out of his ass." Jacob and I fell silent again. And with this that slightly uncomfortable silence, Jacob and I went to sleep at last.


	7. Bundle

**Bundle**

**NPOV**

As everyone predicted would happen, Mr. Stanley turned out not to be Hailey's father, leaving Dr. Mathews as the only paternal option. And after the results of that test was announced was when Mr. Stanley filed for divorce and moved into a home on the other side of town. Momma told me that she'd been invited to go out to lunch with Jessica and Angela and a few other women she'd graduated with so Jessica could vent to her friends. Why she would call momma of all people was beyond me. And of course, with one affair being revealed, Mr. Newton admitted to his wife that he'd been having an affair for three years with Mrs. Mathews and now they were in the middle of a messy divorce too. Naturally, Jessica and Mike were extremely upset about the happenings. But no one took it as bad as Hailey did.

In the months following the results of the paternity test, Mrs. Stanley had become extremely distant and Mr. Stanley was never around anymore because of the divorce. And because Jessica thought of this whole thing as being Hailey's fault, she stopped talking to him and playing with him altogether and refused to have anything to do with him. And Dr. Mathews didn't do much better. Mrs. Stanley took him to court to pay child support. He agreed to pay five hundred dollars a month and no more and never was involved with Hailey anymore than that. Mr. Stanley attempted to get custody of Hailey, but since he wasn't his real father, there wasn't much the court could do. In the law's eyes, being a tramp didn't necessarily make you a bad mother.

"How's Leah taking this? Will she still be able to see Hailey?" Jacob shrugged while I was in the shower and he was in front of the bathroom mirror shaving.

"The last I heard from Seth, she doesn't know much more than we all do. She hasn't been able to see him either. Mrs. Stanley isn't letting anyone visit her or Hailey and she can't go see him at school. She could get in trouble." I was quiet a moment until I saw Jacob wash his face clean of the shaving cream.

"Do you think they'll move?" Jacob was quiet again. Neither of us wanted to even consider that possibility. It would devastate Leah. First she loses Sam to her own cousin, then she loses her imprint, the boy who would one day become the man she would love more than anything, to yet another force she couldn't fight. Instead of answering my question, Jacob walked to the shower and began looking at me. "What?"

"I love you Nessie. You know that right?"

"Of course I do. I love you too."

"You know I would never do that to you or to the boys, right?" I looked at Jacob a moment before nodded.

"Of course I do." Jacob smiled a little, but still looked a little sad. "What's the matter?" Jacob breathed out and took a hold of my hand.

"I just feel bad. Leah isn't a bad person. Sure, she was a little ruthless when she first joined the pack, but under the circumstances, none of us can really blame her for it. And now she finally is able to move on, really move on, and she can't even do that."

"I know, Jacob." With the same look on his face, Jacob looked right into my eyes.

"You would never do that to me, right? You would never do that to us?"

"You know I wouldn't, Jacob. I have everything I could ever want from you. Why would I need to look elsewhere?" Jacob smiled and gently pulled me to him and kissed me.

"Thanks, Nessie. I just wanted to hear that." Then Jacob let go of my hand and rested his on my tummy, which had grown intensely since this whole situation started a few months ago. I was already six months along and Carlisle had told us we were actually having twins. At the time, Carlisle couldn't tell us what the genders were, but we were hoping they'd moved around a little so we could tell now. "Can you believe it?"

"Not at all. But considering how big I was getting, it makes sense." Jacob chuckled.

"Are you mad that I'm getting four like I wanted?" I giggled.

"No, I'm not. I'm not sure how Carlisle's going to give me a c-section, but I'm sure we'll figure something else."

"Why can't you deliver vaginally?"

"I could, but sometimes with twins, it's better to have a c-section. It decreases the risk that one of the babies might get chocked by the umbilical cord. That's why it's safer to have a c-section."

"How will he keep you open?" I shuddered a little when Jacob worded it like that. "Sorry, that didn't come out right."

"It's alright. He'll just have to work fast I suppose. And all he has to do is pull them out once he can and then sow me up. He can do that at a fast enough pace I'm sure." Jacob shrugged.

"You know him better than I do I guess."

"He's treated you for broken bones hasn't he? You remember how fast he works." Jacob's mouth turned into a hard line.

"Honestly, that was just a blur. All I remember is Carlisle breaking my bones over and over and that conversation I had with Bella afterwards." Knowing that wasn't a subject I wanted to get into, I decided to change it.

"Point taken. But don't worry, I'll be fine." Jacob's smile returned.

"I know you will be. But do you think he'll be able to put you to sleep? We both know morphine doesn't do much for you and there's no way I'm letting him cut you open without any form of anesthetics." I was quiet a moment thinking about it, and I shuddered.

"We didn't really talk about that. Carlisle will probably come up with something, though. He would never do a major surgery like that without painkillers. That'd be torture for everyone involved. But be calm, Jacob. We'll worry more about it when it gets closer to the delivery."

"When are you due again?"

"Carlisle said around September to early October. We've got three or so months."

"It feels so long." I giggled and turned my attention back to my shower. Jacob kept standing there, but I didn't mind so much. Once I was clean and had turned off the shower, Jacob grabbed the towel and wrapped it around me before taking me into his arms. Or at least he tried. He ended up just wrapping his arm around my shoulder and walking with me to the closet to get my pajamas.

Once I was in bed, Jacob and I shared a loving kiss before he got on his sweats and hopped out the window to go on patrol. I slept great that night and woke up when I heard Kevin start crying, Kyle following shortly after. I looked at the clock and was relieved when it showed that the boys at least waited until seven in the morning to wake me up. When I got up and went to their room, Jacob was already changing Kyle and was done by the time I was through the door. He saw me and smiled when he turned around.

"Morning. How'd you sleep?"

"Well, thank you. And thanks for changing Kyle."

"Don't worry. I heard them crying when I walked in, so I just came up to help. What do you want them to do for breakfast?" I looked at Kyle, then looked at Kevin, hoping they might give me a preferred idea. Kevin was already talking and was doing it all the time. Kyle was talking a little, but he was a lot quieter than his brother. He was more often the one that kept to himself while Kevin was a talker. With a smile on his face, Kevin told me exactly what he wanted.

"Pancakes! With m&m's and gummy bears and strawberries with whip cream!" Jacob and I tried very hard not to laugh. Obviously, that was out of the question, but I could meet him halfway.

"How about chocolate chip pancakes? And I'll even let you both have chocolate milk with it." Kevin and Kyle smiled and cheered. Jacob smiled. "Would you like the same thing?" Jacob shook his head.

"I was in the mood for scrambled eggs and potatoes actually. And ham if we have it." Kevin grinned and looked right at me.

"Can we have that?"

"I thought you wanted chocolate chip pancakes with chocolate milk."

"Both!" I shook my head.

"Which would you rather have, sweetie?"

"Both!"

"But honey, you can always have one tomorrow. How about this, today, I'll make you all potatoes, ham and eggs. Tomorrow, I'll make you all chocolate chip pancakes with chocolate milk. Is it a deal?" Kevin thought a moment, then nodded his head.

"That bodes well."

I smiled and walked over to Kevin and took him out of his crib so he could go down the stairs by himself. He was still trying to get the hang of stairs, so whenever he needed to go down stairs, he would turn around and go down on all fours. He felt safer doing it that way. Once we were all downstairs, Kevin did his best to get on the chair on his own, but I stood close by just in case he needed any help while Jacob put Kyle in a little high chair. Kyle was already getting big for it. It wouldn't be long before he could just sit on a book like Kevin does. Like always, that little realization made me proud and sad at the same time. Kevin would be three soon and that meant Kyle would be two. They were growing up too fast on me. Once the boys were in their chairs, I went to the kitchen and started cooking. Jacob stayed in the dining room with the boys and kept them entertained while I cooked.

"How much longer mommy be pregnant, daddy?" Jacob smiled at Kyle and answered after glancing at me.

"Three more months. Then you will have two new brothers or sisters."

"I want a brother, daddy." I giggled at Kevin's statement and Jacob shrugged.

"You might get a brother. But you might get a sister. Or even two sisters." Kevin shook his head.

"Two brothers."

"You don't think it would be fun to have a little sister?"

"Maxi have two little brothers. I want more little brothers than him." Jacob and I smiled.

"Maybe, Kevin. But if you have a little sister or two, promise to be a good big brother." Kevin looked proud and stood on his chair.

"I the best big brother in the world. Right, Kyle?" Kyle looked at Kevin a moment without saying anything, then Kevin looked back at Jacob with the same proud smile on his face. "He agrees."

Then Kevin hopped off his chair and ran to the kitchen where I was chopping onions and garlic and cleaning three potatoes. Once he was close enough to me, he reached right on his tip-toes and touched my pregnant tummy hoping to feel the babies kick again. He'd felt it once and was trying ever since then to feel it again. Whenever I tucked them in, he'd even started saying, 'Mommy, read all four of us a story'. I loved hearing him say that. While I was cooking, Kevin started tapping on my tummy talking to it.

"Little brother. Kick." I smiled and kept my eyes on the pan while Kevin kept gently tapping. Sadly, Kevin didn't feel anything, but he didn't get upset. "They're still sleeping. I'll leave them alone." I smiled and reached down as best I could and kissed Kevin's forehead.

"Breakfast will be ready in a couple of minutes honey. How do you want your eggs?"

"Scrabble!" I heard Jacob start laughing while I was drawing blood in my mouth trying not to.

"You want your eggs scrambled?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright, honey. Breakfast will be ready in a moment. Go sit down with daddy and Kyle." Kevin smiled and ran to the dining room and got himself back up into his chair and waited patiently for his breakfast.

Once I had breakfast made, I brought it to the dining room table and sat next to Jacob with Kyle to my left and Kevin sitting across from me. I had already cut up Kyle's and Kevin's ham before I brought them breakfast, so they both dug right in and got through half their breakfast before they were done. What they didn't eat I put away for later and Jacob was done before the boys anyway and had started cleaning the dishes once the boys were done eating. Once the dishes were clean, Jacob and I loaded Kevin and Kyle into the car and drove right to my family's house for my appointment with Carlisle. Jacob was really excited about this since we were having twins. Alice was especially excited. To her, this meant a fifty percent greater chance that I'd have the girl she wanted.

Daddy was outside with momma waiting for me and Jacob to arrive at the house. Once the car was off, Jacob came out of the car and daddy was already opening the door for me and helping me out. I felt so much heavier this time around that sometimes it was hard to stand from a sitting position, especially when I was in a car. Momma and Jacob took the boys out of the backseat of the car and we all walked inside and momma stayed downstairs with the boys and the rest of the family while Jacob and daddy helped me up the stairs to Carlisle's office. Once there, Carlisle already had everything needed set up for the ultrasound. We were all hoping he'd have better luck this time. I was eager to hear the sex of the babies and I know Alice and Jacob did too.

"How're you feeling, Nessie?" I smiled.

"I'm feeling okay. Heavy, but okay." Carlisle smiled and helped me up to the hospital bed he'd set up and daddy left to give us some privacy. I noticed Alice standing outside while daddy walked out, so I just waved before the door was closed.

"Don't worry, Nessie. Once they're born, that feeling will pass."

"I hope so. Even with Kevin and Kyle, I didn't feel like this."

"Granted, it was one at a time." Then Carlisle lifted my shirt enough so my tummy was exposed and put some gel there and began searching. Jacob held my hand and looked at the monitor with Carlisle even though he could never tell what images were what and asked Carlisle what we were seeing the moment there were images on the screen.

"Can you tell anything yet?"

"Give me a moment to find what we're looking for and I'll let you know." Carlisle moved the monitor around a little until he found what we were looking for and looked at me. "Baby number one is a boy." I looked at Jacob and saw the grin on his face. And could almost feel Alice getting annoyed from the other side of the doors to Carlisle's office. Then Carlisle found the second baby and his smile widened. "And baby number two is a girl."

When Carlisle said it was a girl, I could hear Alice cheering from the other side of the door. I fought a laugh while she screamed at momma, Esme, and Rosalie that they needed to leave to go shopping as soon as I was done with my ultrasound so we could get little girly things for the baby because the stuff she'd gotten before was outdated and needed to be replaced. Once Jacob and I couldn't hear Alice squealing in joy anymore, we looked at Carlisle, who was laughing a little to himself. Then he looked at Jacob.

"How does it feel to have a daughter, Jacob?" Not being able to match Alice's enthusiasm, Jacob simply lifted his hand and said 'Yay', quietly and it made me and Carlisle laugh.

"Sorry, but Alice sort of beat me to the punch." I smiled at Jacob and patted his hand.

"It's alright. I think Alice wanted a girl more than either of us did honestly. But really, how does it feel to have a girl?" Jacob kept smiling.

"It'll be nice to have a little girl around the house. I'd say three boys guarantee's my name will live on. Or whatever it is men used to want boys for." Carlisle chuckled.

"That about sums it up. A boy carries on the family name, so the more boys you had, the longer the name was likely to last. I'd say three boys will certainly do that." Jacob rolled his eyes a little.

"We all know the infamous Black family name must live on." I giggled and gently hit Jacob's hand, then looked back at Carlisle.

"Are they healthy?"

"Healthy as possible. And they already look like Jacob." I giggled and looked at Jacob, who sighed.

"How much do they look like me?" Carlisle smiled.

"The little girl has your ears I can tell. And she's already got a little hair growing on her head. The little boy's still bald, but I doubt that will last." I smiled.

"I doubt it." Then, once Carlisle had seen everything he needed to, he took the monitor off my abdomen and wiped it off before getting the gel off me.

"There you have it. Only three more months. Are you excited?" I smiled.

"I'll be excited once it's over." Carlisle chuckled.

"You're getting a c-section this time Nessie. Don't worry, once your water breaks, I'll give you a high dose of morphine and you won't feel a thing. And I'll get them out and sow you back up before the morphine wears off, alright. I'll keep giving you painkillers, but it'll have to be more than my average patient."

"That's fine with me. As long as I can't feel anything, I will be happy." Carlisle chuckled.

"I hear that a lot with pregnant women." Then Carlisle looked at Jacob. "I hate to bring up something upsetting, but I wanted to ask you if you'd heard anything from Leah. Mrs. Stanley hasn't been bringing Hailey over, so we don't know anything new." Jacob shook his head.

"All I've heard from Leah is it doesn't look good. Now that all the court issues have been settled, all that's left is for Mrs. Stanley to decide where she's going to move to. There's no way she's planning on staying here in Forks. She's a laughing stock." Carlisle grimaced.

"Believe me, I know. I'm relieved I don't work at the hospital near here anymore. This gossip would be all I ever heard about." I shrugged.

"It's all I ever hear about whenever two or more women come to the shop at once. I've started closing my office door so I wouldn't have to listen to them anymore. What are we going to do if Mrs. Stanley decides to move to Georgia with her relatives?" Jacob shrugged.

"If Leah needed to move there, I wouldn't stop her."

"But she needs to stay as her wolf until Hailey's old enough."

"They have forests in Georgia. She can just hang out there from time to time to make sure the effects aren't wearing off and be with Hailey as much as she possibly can."

"But what about Mrs. Stanley? She'll think it's really suspicious if Leah moves with them, I'm sure. What if she makes it so that Leah can't see Hailey?" Jacob gently squeezed my hand with a sad look on his face.

"Let's not talk about this anymore." Hearing that from Jacob worried me more than anything else he could've said. It gave me the feeling that Jacob knew something I didn't and he wasn't telling me. But I didn't want to ruin our day, so I smiled and nodded my head.

After the ultra-sound, Jacob and I stayed with my family for the rest of the day watching the boys play. Kevin and Kyle heard from daddy what I was having and Kevin was thrilled that he was getting a little brother. I wasn't sure if he'd forgotten about this morning or if he was just happy he was getting at least one new baby brother. Either way, I was happy that he was happy. Kyle just smiled about it and cuddled to me for a while before Kevin took him away to play. As we were sitting around, I felt Jacob's phone vibrate on our hips before he took it out of his pocket and looked at the number. It was Billy, she he answered immediately. Jacob looked a little nervous when he answered.

"Hey, dad. Anything new with Hailey?" I could hear Billy on the other line, who said that Mrs. Stanley was only planning to move out of Forks to Port Angeles, so there wasn't anything to worry about there, but then added that this wasn't the reason he'd called. "It's not? What did you want to talk about then?"

Billy continued to talk vaguely, saying that he needed Jacob at the house to discuss something that Jacob would find unsettling. I also heard Billy tell Jacob that he needed to get his head out of his ass and talk to her about….me? What did I do? Jacob was just as confused as I was.

"Talk to whom about Nessie?"

"_Just get over here, Jacob. I don't have time to explain this and frankly, I don't want your father-in-law telling Nessie why you're over here. I assumed you would prefer it to be that way."_ I gave Jacob a weird look and he just sighed.

"Whatever dad. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on that one. I'll be right over." Jacob hung up his phone, then looked at me. "Sorry, I better get to dad's house."

"Should I come with?" Jacob shook his head.

"Billy sounded like he wanted this to be private, so I should probably leave you here." Then Jacob's phone vibrated again and Jacob looked at the text he'd gotten. "And Rachael just told me to bring Kevin and Kyle with."

"Why?"

"She only said it was because she was bringing her kids." Jacob sighed. "Whatever, she's the one who knows what's going on I guess. I'll take the boys with if that's alright." I shrugged.

"If you need to, that's fine. I'll just stay here." Jacob smiled slightly apologetically.

"Sorry for being secretive. I promise, I don't know what Billy's babbling about either." I smiled a little.

"I know." Jacob reached over and gave me a kiss before standing from the couch and getting Kevin and Kyle and taking them with him out to the car and leaving. Once Jacob was gone, I looked at daddy and he shrugged.

"He really doesn't know what's going on, Nessie. And Billy's too far away at the moment, so I'm afraid I can't tell you what he's thinking either." I sighed.

"Thanks for trying. What do you think it's about?" Daddy shrugged.

"It could be anything. Billy sounded annoyed from the phone. Maybe Jacob and Rachael did something."

"Like what?"

"Truthfully, Jacob can't think of anything he'd done, so I'm probably wrong about the first assumption." A thought came to my head and daddy chuckled. "I don't recommend dropping in on them, Nessie. I'm sure Jacob will tell you what happened when you both go home tonight."

"Fine." Alice, who'd been upstairs getting some other girl clothes together, came back downstairs with a big smile on her face.

"Don't fret, Nessie. We need to shop for little girl clothes. And she needs some toys and a crib and lots of other things. This is so exciting. Jacob finally gave you a girl!" I smiled a little.

"One is better than none at all." Alice grinned at looked at Momma.

"Let's go, Bella. Your granddaughter needs things."

"She's not coming for another three months, Alice. She doesn't need things right this instant."

"Yes she does, Bella. Rosalie and Esme are ready to shop, so let's go. And Nessie's coming too, so if nothing else, you can carry her up steps or something." I sighed.

"Thanks for that Alice." Alice looked at me and hugged me.

"Oh honey, I'm only saying we'll make this as easy for you as possible."

"I'm fat, Alice, I get it."

"Never say such a horrid word about yourself, Nessie. I strictly forbid such talk. You're carrying twins. You should be proud. And both your other pregnancies, you go right back to the size you were before getting pregnant, so why would this time be any different? And you've been using that Shea Butter lotion I've made you use. I can smell it on you, so you've no need to worry about stretch marks."

"Momma doesn't need to carry me, Alice."

"Alright, she doesn't have to carry you. Now let's get moving. The malls are only open for another nine hours and we've got lots of things to buy." Momma and I sighed and we followed the group to the largest car in the garage. It bugged me slightly that it seemed like Alice was more excited about my daughter than I was, but I let it go.

**JPOV**

Kyle was asleep almost instantly after I strapped him into his car seat. Kevin on the other hand was still wide awake and asking why mommy wasn't coming with us. Each time, I told him that Grandpa wanted to talk to me alone and Aunt Rachael said I needed to bring them, but I always got a 'why' back. By the time I finally got to Billy's house, my head was in so much pain and I was about ready to yell at Kevin to shut up. I missed Nessie whenever I needed to watch the boys myself. She always knew just how to keep them quiet and when she wasn't around, Kevin did nothing but talk on and on and on about why mommy wasn't with us. I was worried Kevin might be getting dependant on Nessie. But when we arrived at Billy's house, I saw Rachael's car up front and got the boys together to go inside. I knocked on the door once before Rachael answered the door.

"Okay, I'm here. What's the problem? And why did I need to bring Kevin and Kyle?" Rachael took a hold of my arm to lead me inside and closed the door as soon as we were all inside. Billy was sitting in the living room in his wheelchair looking at some checks when I got in. Billy looked up at me with a grimace on his face.

"The reason I asked you here is because your grandma is on her way over." My eyes widened.

"Right now? Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

"Because she called me a half hour ago telling me she just arrived at the airport and that she's on her way here. She said she wanted to surprise us." I groaned.

"You didn't already tell her we were seeing her did you?"

"Why do you think we're here in the first place, Jacob? Dad told her we were thrilled she was visiting and he called us over with the kids. And mind you, Jacob, grandma still doesn't know about your kids. She sure as hell knows about mine."

"Yeah, and all she does is bitch about you marrying Paul of all people."

"And you know what I tell her, Jacob? I tell her, 'it was either Paul or some white guy that was in my physics class'. That usually shuts her up instantly."

"I don't have that argument, Rachael. I'm the one who has to explain to grandma why Kevin has green eyes." Rachael shrugged.

"That's your problem, Jacob, not mine." Losing his patients, Billy yelled.

"Shut up, both of you! I have enough to deal with without you two bickering like fucking two year olds." This got all the boys' attention and they were looking right at Billy. But Billy was already in a really bad mood and wasn't about to take anything from the little kids.

"Grandpa said.." Maxi was about to say something with a big smirk, but Billy quieted him.

"Damn it boy, not now! All of you go outside and play!" Kevin spoke next.

"But Grandpa, it's raining."

"Outside!" Without another word from the kids ran out the door to play outside in the rain while Rachael took Travis to another room so he could nap. When she was back, Billy took a deep breath, then looked straight at me. "You need to tell her about Nessie. She's going to bitch no matter what you tell her. She'll either complain because you married outside the Quileute bloodline or she'll bitch about you not being married with bastard children. Which would you rather deal with."

"I'll deal with her thinking I'm single with bastard children." Billy glared at me.

"Just because I'm in a wheelchair doesn't mean I can't still whoop you ass, Jacob. Either you tell her or I will and believe me, you don't want me to tell her. You'll get in even more trouble than you would if you tell her yourself." Rachael looked at me.

"Seriously, Jacob. What's the worst she could do? Yell at you? Or are you scared that iron hand we remember might still hurt." I glared at Rachael.

"I don't want to tell her about Nessie because I don't want her insulting Nessie. She can say whatever the hell she wants to me, but I won't tolerate her being rude to Nessie."

"Tell her that then."

"She wouldn't listen to me, Rachael. You know grandma just as well as I do. And once I tell her about Nessie, she'll want to meet her and that's when everything will go bad."

"Jesus Christ on Toast, Jacob." Rachael and I looked at Billy, who was rubbing his face in aggravation. Once he was done and looking at me, he gave me a look I hadn't seen from him since I was little. It was the look he used to give me when I was being stubborn. When I was little, it meant **either do what I say or it gets the belt again**. I shuddered to think what it would mean at my current age. "Damn it Jacob, you're a grown fucking man. Act like it. Your grandma will be here in about two hours. And in that time, I want you to grow some balls and take care of your fucking business. Your grandma rarely looks up from the slot machines to come visit us, so I think you can handle a few days of complaining before she goes back to Nevada. Do you understand me?" I took a deep breath and nodded.

"Sure, sure."

"And don't give your grandma that sure, sure bullshit. You know it pisses her off."

"Everything pisses her off, daddy." Billy looked at Rachael with the same look. And took a step back and held down her head. "Sorry."

"Damn right you're sorry." Billy took another deep breath and wheeled himself to the kitchen. He went to the sink and reached under behind the doors until he pulled out a pack of New Ports.

"Daddy, please don't." Billy groaned.

"Smoking's the only thing that's going to keep me sane while your grandma's here." Rachael sighed.

At least promise me you won't drink too." Billy shook his head.

"Sorry, honey. I can't make that promise. Don't act like I'm an alcoholic."

"I'm not saying that, daddy. It's just that those few times you ever got really drunk, you have a short temper. I'm just saying."

"I know, Rachael, I know. I won't drink anything while the grandkids are here."

"Thanks daddy." He sighed.

"Now do daddy a favor and get him another pack of New Ports." Rachael held back whatever reaction she was about to have and left to go down the street to get New Ports. I was surprised Billy had that pack all these years. Hell, they were probably expired by now…..assuming cigarettes could expire. I honestly didn't have a clue. When Billy had smoked, he was usually done with a whole pack in less than a day. Two packs if it had been a bad day. I remember the day of mom's funeral, he'd smoked through four packs of cigarettes and two bottles of whiskey.

"Can I ask you something, dad?"

"Sure. What do you want to ask me?" I breathed out and took a seat at the kitchen table next to Billy.

"You drink Beer all the time but it never bothers you, but whiskey's what puts you over." Billy shook his head.

"Misconception, Jacob. I only ever drink three beers at a time. When I drink whiskey, it's because I'm upset or mad, so I drink more of it. It's a habit I got from your grandpa I'm afraid. He always drank whiskey whenever mom was nagging him and it's a habit I never quite broke myself of. I'm just glad you never learned that from me." I shook my head.

"I think Nessie would've broken me of it even if I had." Billy shook his head.

"Frankly Jacob, if you had that habit to begin with, you'd be dead now. That mess with Bella had you so down that you wouldn't have stopped until your brain was drowned in liquor." I laughed a little.

"Is that why you gave all that stuff to Sue when all that happened?" Billy nodded.

"Yeah that's why. I didn't want to risk it, so I got rid of temptation." I smiled.

"But you have it in the house again?" Billy shook his head.

"I haven't had whiskey in the house since then. I had two bottles left over from when your mother died and drank one of them when I couldn't walk anymore. Then the rest I gave to Sue during your falling out."

"Don't make either of us buy you any."

"I'm capable of getting my own liquor, Jacob. And I meant what I said earlier. You talk to your grandma and you do it the moment she gets here. If nothing else, just get it over with. Hell, I might even turn the other cheek and let you have a cigarette if it'll calm you down." I smiled and shook my head.

"No way. Nessie would skin me alive if I smoked." Billy chuckled.

"I guess she would." Around that time, Rachael came back with two packs of New Ports and put them on the kitchen table.

"I don't want you stashing any away when grandma's gone, daddy."

"Don't worry about it, honey. Where are the kids by the way?"

"They're hiding from the rain in the garage. And Kevin got his hands on something sharp and I had to pry it from his hands and make them go back outside."

"You can let them back in if they want in." Rachael sighed with relief.

"Thank you." Rachael turned to go to the door and let all the kids back in. I looked at Kevin and Kyle who were giving me angry looks and looking like drowned rats.

"Sorry about that you two." Kevin crossed his arms.

"It was cold, dad."

"I know. You have two hours before your grandma gets here, so why don't you all get washed up." Maxi spoke up.

"Who gets to use the shower first?" Billy chuckled and answered for me.

"There's no fair way to determine it, so just fight to the death." After Billy said that, Kevin rushed to the bathroom and locked everyone out so he could take a bath first. Billy looked at me impressed. "He doesn't need help?" I shook my head.

"He never wants help. Once he sees Nessie do it, he wants to do it himself without any help from any of us. He won't let Nessie cut his meat for him, he won't let Nessie tie his shoes for him, he won't even let Nessie pull the covers over him. He just wants to do everything himself." Billy chuckled.

"That's certainly convenient."

"Extremely. Nessie complains about it though. She always says she misses when Kevin needed her. She feels like he doesn't need her anymore."

"All mothers feel that way. We just don't like it when our babies grow up so fast even if we're proud at the same time. That's all."

The boys were all still yelling at Kevin, so Rachael intervened to control the chaos. She determined that it would be faster if two boys at a time took a bath together and she was monitoring them most of the time. She had all the boys cleaned up and in a change of clothes in under an hour. When they were all cleaned, they went to the living room to play, Rachael still watching them. I stayed with Billy and watched him go through a whole pack of New Ports. I also looked at the clock several times hoping that it would make sure the clock went slowly. About a half hour before grandma was due to arrive, I felt my phone vibrate and answered when I saw Nessie's name on the caller ID.

"Hey, Nessie."

"_Hi. I was just calling to see if you were home yet. Alice still has us out shopping."_ I smiled.

"That sounds about right."

"_And I'm sorry to bring this up, but Alice says you need another hair cut."_ I shook my head, even though I knew she couldn't see me.

"Not for a while, Nessie." Nessie seemed a little confused when she answered me.

"_Why's that?"_ I was quiet a moment trying to think of any excuse before I finally said something.

"Um….I just feel like growing it out is all." Nessie was quiet a second.

"_Oh. Okay that's fine. So what did Billy want to talk to you and Rachael about?"_ Again, I was racking my brain for an excuse. Billy gave me a dirty look, but I ignored it.

"He just needed us to help him move something. He asked for the grandkids because he missed them. That's all." Again, Nessie was silent a second.

"_Um….okay. If you say so. I'll be home late tonight, so take care of Kevin and Kyle for me will you?"_ I smiled. It was the first time I was ever happy Nessie wasn't coming home for a while.

"Sure. I can do that. I'll see you later tonight, babe. I love you."

"_I love you too."_ I hung up then and looked at my father's eyes of death.

"I don't want to tell her until I know grandma's exact reaction."

"No, you're trying to dodge a bullet."

"No, I'll talk to her tonight. It's not something we should talk about over the phone anyway. It's a delicate matter." Billy and I stared each other down for a minute before Billy rolled his eyes at me and took a deep inhale of smoke and blew it out.

"Whatever, Jacob. Don't come crying to me when this bites you in the ass."

"Nessie will understand, dad."

"Yeah, yeah. Now go out and get daddy some whiskey." I gave Billy a weird look.

"Why? You said you'd get it yourself."

"I felt a sudden chill down my spine. That means your grandma's near. Get me that whiskey so I'm prepared." I sighed.

"Fine." I stood from my chair and ran out of the house down the street to the convenience store and bought two bottles of Jack Daniels and rushed home with them. When I got back, I saw a car in the driveway that looked like a rented car and my stomach went up to my throat. I took a deep breath before going up to the house and letting myself in. Grandma was standing near the door and looked at me with a smile. Then she saw the two paper bags I was holding and gave me a stern look.

"That's not whiskey I hope." Grandma looked the same as ever. She was a taller woman, but she wasn't near as tall as me. I would say she was about 5' 8". She had pitch black hair, obviously from dying away her grey hair, and she was slightly wrinkled, but looked young for her age because of all the anti-aging products she used and the plastic surgeon she'd evidently dated for a while. To the average person, she would look no older than fifty two. But we all knew she was in her seventies by now. She just had a gift for taking care of herself. Saving me from the fire, Billy wheeled himself over.

"Those are mine, mom. I made Jacob go out and get them for me." Grandma looked at Billy as sighed before taking the bags from me.

"Well, regardless, it's a horrible habit and you need to stop. It's bad enough my son's wheelchair bound, I won't have another son six feet under too. You remember what happened to Bobby when he drank, Billy?"

"Yes, mother I do."

"And what was that?"

"He lost control of his bike and got into an accident. Damn it mom, it happened in the eighties, let it go."

"Obviously, Billy, you don't know what it's like on a mother to lose her children." Billy sighed.

"Certainly didn't bother you when your husband died." I mumbled this, and grandma looked right at me.

"Did you say something, Jacob?" I shook my head.

"No, ma'am." Grandma rolled her eyes and walked to me when she had the bottles on the counter.

"Call me grandma, honey. You're the only ones who know my real age anyway. When did you get so big, Jacob? Last time I saw you, you were a bean sprout that would fly away with a gust of wind. Now you're so big. How'd that happen?"

"Hormones." Grandma giggled.

"More like you became a member of the pack. I remember when both your great grandfathers did that. I'm proud of you, baby. I really am."

"Thanks grandma." Grandma then looked at Rachael and walked to her to give her a hug.

"And you've grown too honey. And married with kids, my god. Speaking of which, where are my grandbabies?" Grandma looked at the boys in the middle, then noticed Kevin and Kyle. "I thought you only had three. Who their little friends?" Billy looked right at me and I sighed.

"They're your grandkids too, grandma." Grandma looked right at me. I was still hiding my left hand a little, and she came to her own conclusion and the smile was gone.

"Oh, Jesus, Jacob! Condoms, condoms, condoms! What part of that was unclear? You see, Billy, this is what happens when the most sex ed the boy gets is you giving him an issue of Hustler or whatever the hell it was! You couldn't learn from your father's mistake, Jacob." I was about to speak, but Billy spoke first.

"I told you what happened, mom. Sarah and I were careful, the condom broke, that's how she got pregnant."

"And we all know I was a ray of sunshine when that happened. Don't say you were careful. Sarah got pregnant! That's not careful! And what's worse is you have two bastard kids! My god, Jacob, have I taught you nothing?" Kyle, who was reading all our minds trying to understand what we were talking about, spoke up and I could swear my heart stopped.

"We not bastards. We have mommy."

"Well, obviously, but your father obviously didn't marry the girl. Thought that might have been for the best." Kyle shook his head and I spoke before he could.

"That's Kyle by the way, grandma. The other one is Kevin." Grandma was a little stunned by my raised voice, but she looked back at Kevin and Kyle, but it wasn't long before she noticed Kevin was brown haired and green eyed and Kyle was dark brown haired and slightly paler than any of the others. When she noticed this, she looked right at me.

"Why do they look like this?" Billy kept looking at me, waiting for me to tell grandma the truth. But she didn't give me a chance. "Damn it, Jacob, not only do you have kids out of wedlock, but you have them with a white women. Damn it, Jacob, why don't you just stab me? You don't have the money for the child support that whore probably wants."

"She isn't a fucking whore grandma!" I was a little surprised with myself and grandma was too. She gave me a stern look.

"And you're raising your voice at me because….?" I looked at her a moment and finally decided to just come out with it.

"Their mother's name is Nessie."

"Your kids are half Loch Ness monster? How drunk were you when you slept with this person?"

"I wasn't drunk, grandma." Grandma was getting more and more aggravated.

"You know, Jacob, I would've turned the other way if you were drunk, but this is horrible. How much does she make you pay? And for that matter, why did this mistake happen twice? You better not have been seriously dating this woman, Jacob, so help me God."

"It's more than that, Grandma. Nessie…she's…..we've been married for…"

"MARRIED!" Rachael grabbed grandma, who swatted her hand away. "You married her! Why would you marry her? Just because you knocked her up isn't reason enough to marry her! When did this happen? A few weeks ago?"

"Grandma Nessie and I got married five years ago. It'll be six years in July."

"Six…SIX YEARS? You've been married for six years to this woman and you never once thought to tell me?"

"Mother calm down!"

"I didn't say you could talk, Billy!"

"I don't need your permission, mother! I'm a grown man I'll speak when I want!" Rachael took that opportunity to move the boys all to Billy's room so they would hear as little of this argument as possible.

"Grown man or not, William Ephraim Black, you will not raise your voice at your mother!" Then grandma looked right at me. "Now explain this to me. Why was I never told about this? How old are those two boys?"

"Kevin's three and Kyle's two."

"And worse, you go three years without telling me you have kids!"

"I didn't tell you because this is how you would've reacted. And say what you want to me about this, hell do what you want, but you won't act this way with Nessie. She doesn't deserve your contempt, you hear me?"

"How dare you speak that way to me? I will speak whatever way I damn well please! I'd I think I'll have a few words with this woman, and I demand to have those words with her this instant! Where is she?"

"She's with her family. They're shopping."

"Oh, a white woman shopping with money she doesn't have! What else is new?"

"I'm not broke, grandma, I own a business! You would know that if you inquired about more than those damn checks you send dad monthly."

"I know you own a fucking business! Your father at least told me that part!" Then grandma looked at Billy. "And you! Why did you hide this from me? Why didn't I get told about this, receive an invitation, anything?"

"Jacob asked me not to. He was scared you'd react this way and he was right."

"Oh, Fuck, Jacob you're a pack leader and you can't even talk to your own grandmother? Trust me, your great grandpa is rolling in his grave right now!"

"Sure, grandma, this is what's doing it. It's not because grandpa being a trifling drunk or that he married a retched harpy like you, he's rolling in his grave because I'm defending my own wife from you. That's definitely what's happening, grandma!" Despite knowing how Quileute wolves' bodies get, grandma took a hard slap at me and it slightly hurt.

"He's rolling in his grave because the successor of a long lineage muddied the waters with a heathen that took our land from us!"

"Everyone shut up!" Grandma and I looked at Billy, who had another cigarette lit and had already screwed open the Jack Daniels I'd bought him. "I'm tired of all this yelling. Mother, Jacob married a white woman, try to deal with it like a classy lady. And Jacob, you should've told her about this sooner. Now call Nessie and tell her to come here so we can get this over with."

"Hell no! I'm not calling Nessie here just so she can get yelled at!"

"Oh, yes you will. If I have to call her myself, god damn it I will."

"No!" Without a word to me, grandma walked to the phone picked it up and looked right at Billy.

"What's her number?" I looked at Billy, begging him not to tell her, because she would remember knowing grandma, but Bill

"Oh, yes you will. If I have to call her myself, god damn it I will."

"No!" Without a word to me, grandma walked to the phone picked it up and looked right at Billy.

"What's her number?" I looked at Billy, begging him not to tell her, because she would remember knowing grandma, but Bill sighed and answered her. Grandma typed as Billy said the numbers. "Thank you, Billy." Grandma stood silent a moment until Nessie answered and my heart stopped.

"_Hello? Billy?"_ Grandma shook her head.

"No, this is his mother. I'm Ann. Maybe you've heard of me?"

"_You're Jacob's grandma? Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Nessie, Jacob's wife? I'm sorry it's been so long since we've been introduced. When did you arrive?"_

"Not long ago, actually. As I'm sure you've guessed, finding out about my grandkids and my grandson's wife came as a bit of a surprise to me, especially since it's evidently been six years."

"_Wait, Jacob never told you? He said he did? I'm really sorry about this."_

"Oh not at all….what's your real name if I may?"

"_Oh, Renesmee."_ Grandma gave me a weird look.

"Renesmee? Well…..that's unique I suppose. I should tell you the reason I called. I realize you're out now, but would you mind coming over to Billy's house so we could meet?"

"_Yeah, that's fine. We just bought two new cribs, so I think we should be good for a while."_

"Wait, cribs?" Why do you need more cribs?" I noticed grandma's voice getting slightly harsh.

"_I'm pregnant. Jacob didn't tell you? I'm six month along with twins. We're having a boy and a girl."_ Grandma's face was turning red and her voice didn't portray the look on her face.

"No, Jacob hadn't informed me. Obviously there's a lot o don't know. The sooner you could come, the better."

"_We're in Port Angeles right now, so we should be there in about an hour at most."_

"Thank you, Renesmee. I look forward to finally meeting you." Grandma then hung up the phone and looked at me with the glare. "She's pregnant again? And with twins?"

"I don't know why you would be surprised about that."

"I'm not surprised, I'm angry. There's a big difference, Jacob. It's bad enough you have two."

"Don't start grandma. Nessie knew how I felt about telling you and she was the one who insisted she wanted to meet you. I was the one that never let it happen. If you're going to vent on someone, vent on me."

"I plan to vent on you, but this 'Nessie' will have to hear a piece of my mind when I meet her too."

Grandma then walked away from me to the kitchen to get herself a beer. I followed after her to try and convince her not to be rude. The next half hour was spent with me trying to tell my grandma to watch what she said to Nessie and she ended up telling me to watch what I said to her. It was a half hour of us just dancing circles around each other and her threatening to slap me if I bad mouthed her again. I heard a car pull up a half hour later on the dot and I groaned to myself from the headache I could already feel getting worse.

"Is she here yet?"

"She's outside. I'm serious, grandma, don't you dare be mean to her."

"And I'm serious, Jacob. There better not be anything else you haven't told me about this girl." I shook my head.

"There's nothing I haven't told you, alright?" Aside from her parents being vampires, she's a Cullen, and technically, she's only eleven years old with the body of a grown woman in her mid twenties. I assumed that was what Billy was thinking.

"Good. So there shouldn't be any other problems to deal with."

"None at all." Grandma looked at me like she didn't believe me when Nessie let herself into the house and she looked at her. Nessie looked right at my grandma and smiled kindly.

"So you're Jacob's grandmother. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Grandma looked Nessie over critically and Nessie lost her smile and stood there shyly.

"So how did you and my grandson meet?" I bit my bottom lip. This would be horrible.

"Um…well, he knew me since I was little."

"He imprinted on you when you were a baby? Wait how old are you?"

"You know about the Quileute wolves?"

"Of course I know about them. My father was one of them. He was in Ephraim Black's pack."

"Oh. Well then yeah, Jacob imprinted on me when I was baby."

"And Jacob didn't wake to his power until he was sixteen. And frankly, you look too old for that story to add up."

"Well, I turn twelve September of this year." My grandma became dumbfounded for a moment.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm only eleven." Then grandma looked right at me.

"So you married an UNDERAGED white woman? First blaspheme, now statutory rape? I thought you said there weren't any more surprises you had for me." Nessie looked at me and Bella and the other women walked in after Nessie.

"Why didn't you tell her about me?"

"Nessie, I told you why." Interrupting me and Nessie, grandma looked right at Esme and gave her a mean look.

"You look familiar. Why do you look so familiar?" Esme looked at grandma and shook her head.

"I don't know. I've never met you before." Grandma shook her head.

"I've seen you before." Grandma looked at Esme a little longer, then realized where she remembered her from. "You're one of the bloodsuckers Ephraim and my father negotiated with."

"Wait, is your name Annie?"

"Only my daddy ever called me Annie. I was up and followed daddy and the pack to where you were all negotiating."

"That was you? My god, you were so small back then. You've grown. Not as much as I would expect I admit."

"You haven't. Why are you in this house? And Jacob why haven't you gotten rid of them by now." I sighed.

"Because they're my in-laws." This time, grandma went stiff as a board and looked at me with a look as pale as a ghost. Nessie spoke this time.

"She doesn't know I'm a Cullen?"

"CULLEN? Fuck Jacob, if your grandparents weren't rolling in their graves, they sure as hell are now! You married a white, underage, vampire? How is she even having kids?"

"She's only half vampire. Bella was human when she got pregnant with Nessie and she wasn't changed until after she gave birth."

"I don't care! You married a Cullen! A Cullen!"

"Stop screaming, grandma. I thought you got this out of your system."

"I thought there weren't any more surprises that you were keeping from me!" Esme walked closer to me and grandma and spoke in a kind voice that she always had.

"Please, Ann, there's no reason we can't be civil with each other. Yes, Jacob hid a lot of things from you and that was wrong, but please for the sake of the children, let's keep our voices down."

"Which one are you? Aren't you the blonde one's mate?"

"I'm Carlisle's mate, yes. My name is Esme. I'm Nessie's adopted grandmother." Esme began pointing at the relatives. "That's her adoptive Aunt Alice and Rosalie and that's…"

"I know, Bella Swan. I thought you had the hotts for her or something, Jacob. She's that Charlie boy's daughter isn't she?"

"Grandma, don't bring that up, please."

"Why? Does your wife have problem with the fact that you used to date this….woman?"

"Bella and I never dated, grandma."

"Yes, you only threw yourself at her like a love-sick puppy is all. I hope you're ready for him to be fickle, Nessie. If he's anything like his grandfather, he'll leave you for the first young thing in a skirt once you start acting like a wife. I'm guessing you've been doing that already."

"Mother that's not fair. Father cheated on you because you two were never in love with each other. You got married because you were pregnant with Bobby and you stayed together because of him and me. And don't pretend for a moment that you never had a boyfriend or two behind his back."

"I never cheated on your father, William. Believe me I was tempted, but I never did. I didn't start seeing other people until that asshole burst into flames and I moved to Nevada."

"That's bullshit, mom and you know it." While grandma and Billy kept arguing, Nessie grabbed my arm and pulled me with her to my old room and closed the door as soon as I was in and gave me a look that let me know I was in trouble.

"You said you would tell her about me." I breathed out heavily and rubbed the back of my neck.

"Nessie, I didn't want her to know about you because this is what would've happened."

"I'm sure she would've been less mad if you'd just been straight forward with her."

"No, she wouldn't have been less angry. She would've just had an entire plane ride to think of exactly what to say to me and every word for hooker she could think of to call you. Now that she knows about you, all she's going to do is belittle you and remind you every time she can that she doesn't think we should be married. I didn't want to make you deal with that. And I didn't tell her you were a Cullen because I was hoping there would be less fuel to the fire. You're the one that brought that up. And bringing Esme didn't help either to be frank."

"How was I supposed to know your grandma would remember Esme? I mean, your grandma couldn't have been very old when this happened."

"She was 14 months old."

"Exactly, so how could she possibly have remembered that?"

"It's Ann Uley Black, Nessie. She remembers everything."

"Uley?"

"Yes, Nessie, her maiden name was Uley. But Sam and I are very distantly related. My grandma had, I think, twelve siblings and they all either married in the Quileute tribe or moved away or died by now. Sam's dad is her nephew."

"That's not very distant, Jacob. Besides, you should've told her about me, you should've told her about Kevin and Kyle, and you should've told her I was half vampire. All you did by keeping all this from her is prolong the storm to come when she found out."

"How dare you accuse my daughter of that?" Nessie and I heard Bella from the living room and left my room to see what happened. Once there, Bella and grandma were standing right next to each other staring each other down.

"Kevin has green eyes, damn it. Jacob's native fucking American. How does green eyes come up? Of course I have reason to believe Jacob's not the father."

"Nessie's father had green eyes when he was human. It was a fluke of nature is all. Kevin just looks a lot like Nessie. That doesn't mean Nessie had an affair."

"You're accusing her of cheating on me?" Grandma looked right at me.

"As I said, you and green eyes doesn't make sense to me." Rosalie was the next one to raise her voice.

"Nessie has been nothing but a wonderful wife to that mutt you call your grandson! She's better than he'll ever deserve and frankly, if anyone should be upset, it's us! Nessie could've had anyone and she picks a Podunk Fido! You should be getting on your knees and kissing our feet for allowing this to happen!" I held my tongue, figuring I could get Rosalie back for those comments later and let them argue.

"Go fuck yourself, Blondie, with something hard and sandpapery." Now knowing what they were arguing about, Nessie grabbed my hand again and pulled me back to my room and closed the door.

"Jacob, this happened because you put off telling her for so long."

"No, this happened because she came to visit unexpectedly. She doesn't usually do that."

"Well, Jacob, if you'd told her about this six years ago, then her popping up unexpectedly wouldn't be an issue now would it?"

"It would still be an issue. It just would've been an issue for six years in the making." Nessie sighed heavily.

"Whatever, Jacob." Nessie was about to walk out, but I grabbed a hold of her hand.

"Nessie don't do that. I get that you're mad at me, but don't start giving me the silent treatment or something. I'll get enough hell from grandma, I'd rather you didn't give it to me too."

"Look, Jacob, you lied to your grandma about being married to me and having kids. How do you think I feel about that?"

"You know why I did it, Nessie."

"And it was selfish, Jacob."

"Fine, Nessie. If keeping you out of my vicious grandma's line of fire is selfish, then I'm guilty as charged."

"Don't get sarcastic, Jacob. You didn't tell her because you didn't want to deal with her, plain and simple."

"And you still don't get why?"

"What's the worst she could do, Jacob? Hit you? It wouldn't even hurt anymore." I let go of Nessie's hand losing my patience.

"Fine, Nessie. If you say she's not a threat of any kind, then I'll listen. You just met her, so you would know more than me obviously."

"You know Jacob, sarcasm has a friend. It's called shut the hell up."

"That's not how that joke goes, Nessie."

"It doesn't matter, my point still stands." Nessie was about to walk out again, but again I didn't let her leave. I pulled her to me and held her as much as the twins would allow me.

"You're right, okay. I'm sorry. I screwed up and I admit that it's about to bite me in the ass. But please don't be upset with me. I don't want you to be upset with me please?" Nessie looked at me a moment before sighing and finally smiling.

"Thank you for at least apologizing." I smiled back.

"Does that mean you're not mad at me anymore?"

"It means I'm not as mad at you anymore." I smiled and kissed Nessie's forehead.

"I'll take that."

"But now your grandma is yelling at my family, so let's break it up before it gets any worse. And where are the kids?"

"They're in Billy's room with Rachael. Things were getting ugly earlier, so she took them away."

"Good. At least the boys didn't hear any of it." I gave Nessie a guilty look and she became confused.

"What?"

"Well, they heard a little. Kyle got upset when grandma thought I was unmarried with two kids and called them my bastard kids." Nessie's eyes widened and she looked like she was fuming.

"She said what to them?"

"She didn't say it to them. She said it to me in front of them."

"Like that makes it better."

"I didn't mean it to sound like that. I'm just saying that she said it to me." Nessie gave me an angry look.

"Either way, the kids heard her say that and I don't take kindly to that."

"Are you starting to understand why I never wanted you to meet my grandma?"

"I still think it wouldn't have been as bad if you'd just been honest with her." I sighed.

"You don't know her like I do, Nessie."

"I know, but I'm still right."

"Nessie…"

"Don't, Jacob. What's done is done, so there's no point in arguing about it. Right now, we just need to give her an explanation and take whatever comes after that." I sighed.

"Sure, sure. But just so you know, even if I'd told her about you years ago, she'll still have this fit for a while. I'm not going to lie, Nessie, she might keep us here for hours just giving us several pieces of her mind." Nessie shrugged.

"If we have to deal with that, we have to." Then Nessie opened the door to my room and we walked out and went back to the living room. Billy and grandma were sitting at the kitchen table, both of them swigging down a shot of whiskey when we walked in.

"Frankly, William, I'm surprised and disappointed in you for letting this happen." Billy groaned and answered in slightly slurred speech.

"I know, mother. You told me a few times already."

"Don't back talk me. What kind of grandson doesn't tell his own grandmother he's married with kids to a woman I hate and what kind of son doesn't tell his mother she has grandkids?"

"You don't know Nessie, mom, so how can you say you hate her?"

"Because I do. Don't call her Nessie, it's a ridiculous name. Whose idea was it to call her that anyway?"

"Jacob's, mom." Grandma breathed out heavily and took another shot of whiskey.

"Of course it was him. Only he would ever come up with something so stupid." Then grandma groaned and rested her head on the kitchen table. Bella and the others were standing a little further away and saying nothing. I think the smell of whiskey was a little more than they could stand.

"Stop it, mom. He's standing right there." Grandma looked up and saw me and Nessie standing near the kitchen. I'm not sure how Billy knew we were there, but once grandma knew, she looked right at us both.

"I see. So why'd you marry my grandson, honey? He sure as hell wasn't worth anything when you married him. Or maybe you knew about the winnings that I always sent to the family. You knew it made a stable environment for this house after Billy couldn't walk."

"Those winnings weren't always good. In fact they usually weren't. My sisters had to bust their asses working while they were in college because you never gave us the college savings you'd promised them because you gambled it away." Grandma waved her hand at me.

"Shut up, boy, I'm talking. And I never said I would pay for your sisters' college funds. I only said I would help." I rolled my eyes.

"You didn't even do that. You would sometimes only send us enough for dad to buy groceries that week."

"I said quiet. I'm talking to what's-her-face." I held my tongue and she looked back at Nessie. "Now please continue to answer." Nessie seemed extremely annoyed and defensive, but she did her best to remain polite.

"I married your grandson because I love him. There's no ulterior motive." Grandma huffed a laugh.

"Sure there wasn't sweetheart. So is my son the only one?" My eyes widened and I noticed everyone else's did too. Again, Nessie remained calm.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Is my son the only one you're romantically involved with? I ask because there's no way Kevin could have brown hair and green eyes with Jacob as a daddy. It's not possible. I know how biology works, honey." Nessie was stunned silent a moment and Billy spoke.

"Mom, you watch cop and detective shows. That doesn't mean you know your way around biology."

"Hush William. Let my dear granddaughter answer the question." The sarcasm was heavy in grandma's voice. I suspect it was made worse because she was starting to get drunk. I looked at Bella, Esme, Rosalie and Alice and saw the furry in their eyes that grandma would ask such a thing. If anything good came out of this, it would be that Nessie would never want anything to do with my grandma again.

"Kevin has green eyes because my father had green eyes. Besides, things like this are extremely rare, but they're possible. And if you look at Kevin, you'll notice how much he looks like Jacob. Or are you just trying to find false proof of something?"

"Listen toots, you don't strike me as a girl who would settle."

"You're right, I wouldn't. And I didn't."

"Maybe, maybe not. Though if I were you, I would've married the money and kept the boy toy on the side."

"DAMN IT GRANDMA, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Grandma looked at me a little stunned. "I've had it! Say whatever the hell you want about me, but don't you DARE insult my wife so callously! She did nothing to deserve to sit here and listen to your bitching and complaining! And I'm not about to let you make ridiculous accusations just because you want to get between us!" Grandma gave me a snide look.

"False you say? Then what's this I hear about a, Marcelo, is it?" I was taken by surprise a moment.

"How do you know about him?" Grandma shrugged.

"Her mother, Brenda, brought it up."

"Bella," Bella said through grind teeth.

"Sure it is. Now, Renesmee. Are you going to tell me there's no such person or will you tell me exactly who this Marcelo fellow is and what your involvement is with him." Nessie finally lost the polite look to her face and was full out scowling at grandma.

"I don't see how that's any of your business, Mrs. Black."

"I say it is my business. You're married to my grandson, after all."

"I said enough grandma!" Instead of ending it, Nessie touched my hand asking me to keep quiet and continued speaking to grandma.

"Marcelo had a romantic interest in me and he was rather open to me about it. I will admit that Marcelo and I are good friends, but there's nothing romantic between us in any way. He knew from the beginning that I loved Jacob and he ceased his advances after Jacob and I were married." Grandma seemed skeptical.

"Interesting." Nessie sighed then.

"Look, Mrs. Black. I realize that you're only looking out for Jacob's best interest as your grandson and Quileute tribal leader." I would say that exactly, but whatever. "But the fact of the matter is that I love Jacob and that's the reason I married him. I never had an ulterior motive, nor will I ever have one in the future. He's given me two beautiful boys and two more children on the way and he makes me happy as I make him happy. And frankly, I don't need you to tell me whether or not I'm a good wife and mother. I know I am."

"Pretty words, honey."

"Call them what you want, Ann. It's the truth. Now if there's nothing else that you want to discuss with me or Jacob, then I think it would be best if we left."

"When are you due?" The one eighty turn in her questioning surprised me and Nessie. But Nessie answered timely anyway.

"I'm due in three months. We named them Nathan and Natalie." Grandma looked disappointed.

"Those names are so common." Nessie rolled eyes.

"And Robert and William are such unique names."

"Their father named them."

"Is there anything else you want to talk about?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact there is. I want to know if you plan on letting me be there this time when the kids are born." Nessie shrugged.

"That's up to my doctor. It's an at home birth and it's in my grandfather Carlisle's house. So you'll have to ask him. I'm sure Esme would be happy to get back to you on that." Then Nessie turned to go to Billy's room and came back when she had Kevin and Kyle in her arms and walked right out the door without a word. I followed her to my car and helped her fasten the boys in their seats and I drove us home.

Nessie was quiet the whole way home and I didn't want to cut the silence. I wasn't sure what kind of mood Nessie was in. And if it was a bad mood, I didn't want us to risk arguing in front of the kids. Neither of us liked doing that. When we got home, Nessie went right to the family room and played the piano. Sensing that she just wanted to be alone, I took the boys with me out to the garage to show them a few things about cars. I'd already started teaching them about car maintenance, but Kevin took a lot more interest to it than Kyle did. He would pay attention for the basic 'need to know' stuff, but would stop listening the moment I went into any elaborate detail. Kevin on the other hand listened attentively whenever I taught them about cars.

I managed to keep the boys listening for an hour before they wanted to do something else. I took them outside to play because I figured Nessie still wanted to be alone. I made sure they didn't put anything in their mouths that they shouldn't and didn't touch anything they shouldn't and tried sneaking them in to take a bath without Nessie seeing them covered in mud or get any mud on the floor. I got them upstairs without Nessie seeing them and made them take a bath. When they were in the tub, I stayed and kept an eye on them to make sure they were completely clean, and took their dirty clothes straight to the laundry room so they could get cleaned. When they were cleaned, I asked them to stay in their room and play a while and left the door cracked open and made my way downstairs. Nessie was still playing the piano when I got there and she was playing a difficult composition almost methodically. When I came to the family room, she stopped playing. But she didn't say anything.

"The boys are ready for bed whenever you want them in bed." Nessie just nodded her head, still not saying anything. When another few moments of awkward silence passed, I spoke again. "That was a nice song you were playing. What was it?"

"Beethoven." Though she said something this time, her answer was monotone and vague. I had a feeling I knew what was wrong and I felt horrible about it. I looked at the clock on the mantle that showed it was eight thirty, so I went back upstairs and told the boys it was time for bed and tucked them in. While I was doing that, I heard Nessie go down the hall to our bedroom. Kevin noticed and looked at me questioningly.

"Why mommy sad?" I wasn't sure how to best answer him, but I did eventually.

"Well, Kevin, your mother and grandmother didn't get to know each other on the best terms and I think she might have upset mother. But don't worry, your mommy is fine." Kevin suddenly looked angry.

"Grandma was mean to mommy?" Then Kevin looked at Kyle, who would've heard everyone's thoughts the whole time. "Was she mean to mommy?" Kyle nodded.

"Grandma was thinking mommy a whore and she no deserve daddy." Then Kevin looked at me.

"I don't know what a whore is, daddy. What is it?" I sighed.

"A whore is a person that will give out sexual favors for money." Kevin crossed his arms.

"I don't like grandma."

"Don't say that, Kevin. She's still your grandma. So you be respectful of her whenever you see her, you hear?" Kevin shook his head.

"She mean to mommy. Unforgivable. Right Kyle?" Kyle simply nodded his head.

"Look you two, I never really got along with your grandmother either, but I was always respectfully of her." Today was an exception of course, but the circumstances were more extreme. "So I expect you two to act the same. Is that clear?" Kevin kept his arms crossed and had a pout on his face.

"I don't want to."

"Well, you will. Sometimes you've got to do things that you don't want to do. That's life, Kevin."

"I still don't want to."

"And you still will." Kevin didn't answer this time, so I stood up and walked to the door. "Goodnight you two." Then I turned off the lights and left the door slightly opened before walking to mine and Nessie's room.

When I walked in, I heard the shower going and decided to just change and go to bed. But when I got to the closet, I thought I heard an odd breathing pattern. I knew it instantly as the pattern Nessie had the few times she ever cried and I was about to force my way into the bathroom, but stayed calm and gently opened the door. I found Nessie in the shower hunched over standing on her toes crying. In concern, I went to her side and put my hand on her arm.

"Nessie, what's wrong?" Trying to get control of the tears, she shook her head and wiped them away.

"Nothing. I got soap in my eye. I'm fine." Nessie got to her feet and I came to my feet too. I helped her a little to keep balance and she let go of my hand once she was at equilibrium.

"Nessie, I know what my grandma said to you was wrong. You don't need to be ashamed of crying about it." Nessie looked like she was about to say something, but then she started crying even harder and I brought her to me, not caring that my shirt was getting wet. "I'm sorry about all those things she said. But please, baby, try not to let them get to you." Nessie shook her head.

"How dare she accuse me of cheating on you? And saying Kevin isn't yours. She never even really looked at Kevin did she? She just saw green eyes and automatically assumed it meant I cheated on you."

"I'm sorry, Nessie."

"I've been a good wife haven't I? I've been a good mother to my children. Why would she accuse me of all those things when she doesn't even know me?" I held Nessie a little tighter and began rubbing her belly with my free hand calmly.

"It's my fault, Nessie. I should've told her earlier and then I could've taken most of the heat. I just didn't want this exact thing to happen." Nessie let out another sobbing breath.

"You don't think any of that's true do you?"

"Of course not. I know you wouldn't do that to me. Please, don't think that I believe anything she said. I have no reason to." Nessie nodded.

"That's right, you have no reason to. And nothing ever happened between me and Marcelo."

"I know."

"And I've never had an affair or cheated on you and you are Kevin's father, no question about it."

"I know."

That's when Nessie stopped talking and just cried. I wanted to carry her, but I was worried she'd get upset. But I didn't want to make her walk either. So I took my chances and turned off the shower before lifting Nessie into my arms. She wasn't so much heavier that I couldn't easily bring her to bed. If anything, it was a little harder to do it in a way that she was comfortable. But once I got her to our bed, I rested her there and laid down next to her, holding her while she kept crying. And the more she cried, the more upset with grandma that I got. Nessie didn't cry for very long. Once she had control again, she looked up at me with a slightly forced smile.

"Let's not tell your grandma about this, okay." I smiled back and shook my head.

"Not at all. Are you feeling better?" Nessie nodded.

"Yeah, I'm feeling better. And thanks for taking care of the boys for me."

"Sure. They're my kids too after all." I looked down at Nessie's tummy and rested my hand on it to see if I could find any kicking. Nessie would say that she felt most of the kicking on her left side than the right. After the ultrasound, we found out it was because the boy was facing that way and he was the kicker of the two. "Have they been active at all today?" Nessie nodded.

"They were both kicking a little while I was talking to your grandma. I think the yelling upset them." I gave Nessie a guilty smile.

"I'm really sorry, Nessie." Nessie shook her head.

"Don't worry about it. She lives in Nevada, right? I'll only have to butt head with her while she's still here and it'll be over when she leaves. When she asked if she could see the babies when they're born, she didn't mean she was planning to stay here for three months did she?" I stopped a moment and stiffened.

"I don't know. I didn't even think about that." Nessie groaned.

"I don't know if I can last that long with her here if she's planning to argue with me like that the whole time." I laughed without humor.

"Don't worry, Nessie. She'll probably chew me out a hell of a lot more than you. I won't let her see you very often, in any case, so you'll be fine. So don't be mad if I ask you to spend the next three months cooped up in your office when you're not home." Nessie smiled and kissed the tip of my nose.

"Let's get some sleep. We might not have work tomorrow, but the boys won't sleep in. You know how they are." I chuckled and hugged Nessie as close to me as I could get her. Then Nessie turned to face the other way so she could scotch closer to me and I was able to wrap my arms all the way around.

"I know. Night, Nessie. I love you."

"I love you too." Nessie turned her head so we could kiss each other good night before we both rested our heads on our pillows and went to sleep. The next morning, Nessie woke up before me and took care of the boys while I slept in a little. Once she was done with Kevin and Kyle, she came back to our room and woke me up. "Jacob. It's time to wake up." I groaned a little to myself.

"I'll be up in a minute." I heard Nessie giggle a little, then she kissed my forehead and left my side to get dressed. I managed to turn onto my back and open my eyes, but Nessie was done getting dressed by the time I did that and was back to nudging me awake.

"Jacob."

"I know, I know. I'm getting up." Nessie stayed by my side until I finally lifted myself up from bed and walked over to the closet to put something on. Nessie and I left for work after dropping off Kevin and Kyle with Edward and Bella. Nessie didn't want the boys near grandma and frankly I didn't either.

We managed to get to work right at opening to let everyone in so the work day could start. At the beginning it was a slow day, so most cars that were already in the shop overnight were done by the time a few other customers came in with their own car troubles. Later on in the day when I was in the garage, I saw a cop car pull up to the shop and saw Charlie come out. We waved at each other before he started walking over to me to get out of the rain. Once he was in the garage, I walked closer to him with a friendly smile.

"Hey, Charlie. I haven't seen you in a while. How've you been?"

"I've been good. I actually came because I wanted to talk to Nessie. I heard from a few people on the reservation that your grandma was here to visit and I thought I should come over and comfort Nessie. You know, let her know she's not the only one that she's bad mouthed." I sighed.

"You heard about that huh?" Charlie nodded.

"Yes. I don't know everything, I just know that Nessie met Ann and now everyone knows how much Ann hates her grandson's wife. What did happen if you don't mind my asking?"

"Well, the thing is, I went to Billy's house with Kevin and Kyle because Billy said he needed to talk to me and Rachael. Nessie stayed with her family and went shopping for the babies." Charlie interrupted me.

"I heard about them too by the way. Congratulations, Jacob, you're having a baby girl and another son. Just you wait, you'll finally understand why Billy spoiled the girls and was harder on you and why I spoiled Bella sometimes. It's just what fathers do." I smiled.

"That's what I'm told."

"So anyway, back to your grandmother." I nodded.

"Right, well, Nessie was out shopping and when I got to Billy's house, he told me that grandma was making a surprise visit. Billy and I lost our temper with each other and when grandma got there, I lost my temper with her and she found out about Nessie and was furious about not knowing about it for five years and that she was white and so on. So she called Nessie and asked her to come to Billy's house to see her and when Nessie got there is when it got worse." Charlie nodded.

"So Bella told me." I looked at Charlie with guilt.

"How mad is Edward and Bella about this?" Charlie shrugged.

"They're upset. Edward's furious about it. He's demanding to know where this woman gets the nerve to speak to Nessie that way. And apparently he remembers your grandma from when she was a kid or something. You know more than I do, so I assume you know what he's talking about."

"Yeah, I know what he's talking about. But don't worry. I'll make sure Nessie and grandma don't see much of each other during her stay here. As far as you know, she hasn't found out about Alyssa being married to Seth has she?" Charlie shrugged.

"I wouldn't know yet. Though I imagine she wouldn't care nearly as much. Seth isn't her kid after all."

"That's true I suppose."

"If anything, she'll just be upset that you're following bad examples or something. At least, that sounds like something she would say."

"It does. Oh, and while I'm thinking about it. Did you know that Quil started teaching Claire how to drive?" Charlie started laughing and a few of the pack members laughed a little to themselves while they kept working. Charlie shook his head.

"That poor man. What has he done to deserve that?"

"He imprinted on her sir."

"I suppose there's good and bad to everything. Jeez, I can't believe Claire's fifteen. Does she have romantic feelings for Quil yet?" I shook my head.

"No, not yet. She's more interested in the boys at her school, though I'm sure it won't be long before Claire loves Quil romantically. Of course, even if she does soon, it won't be able to be anything serious until much later."

"Of course. I was just curious. So do you mind if I go talk to Nessie? She's not busy is she?"

"I don't think she is. You can go right ahead. Tell the guy at the front desk I said it was okay."

"Steve Bormann works here right?"

"Yeah, he does."

"Don't worry, his parents and I are friends, so he knows me."

"It's Forks. Everyone knows you Charlie." Charlie and I shared a laugh before he walked through the garage to the main entrance of the shop and went to Nessie's office. I heard them say hello to each other and start up a conversation. Nessie's door closed a little, but I could still her them.

I went back to changing the oil in one of the cars with Brian, who was still snickering a little about Claire. Claire and Emily's cousin, so he knew all about Claire's new fascination with driving. According to him, she was saying things like, 'when I drive, I'll be able to do what I want', and silly things like that. We all figured we could let her find out for herself that once a teenager learns to drive, they officially become the family mule set to pick things up at the grocery store or convenience store whenever parents forget to pick something up on their way home. It's fun at first because they're new at driving and it's exciting, but it gets really old really fast. While I was working, I heard another car pull up and glanced to see who it was. But I didn't immediately recognize it until I looked at it a little longer and realized it was the car grandma rented. I looked right at that car and stiffened a little when she came out of that car. I ran over to her car and met her when she came out.

"Well, there you are."

"Grandma, what brings you here?"

"What, I can come and see my grandson's business? I've heard so much about this place, but I've never actually seen it. It seems like such a shame, doesn't it? So I thought I'd drop by and take a look." I smiled nervously and nodded my head. I could just keep her in the garage.

"Sure, grandma." Grandma smiled and followed me to the garage. She saw Brian working and assumed he was part of the pack.

"I assume all pack members work for you for the most part?" I shook my head.

"No, just Brian." Brian looked up and waved at my grandma. He didn't know my grandma, so he was a little confused by the look a concern in my eyes I was sure, but he kept his mouth shut.

"Why don't the others work for you? It only makes sense to hire family rather than people from Forks you don't know."

"Grandma, I know all of them. And Brian's not the only tribal member that works for me. A kid named Mitch is working for me. He one of Seth's cousins. His parents needed him to get a job and they asked if I could use any extra help, so I hired him. And I promised Sam and Emily that I'd let Mikey start working here when he was old enough." Grandma smiled.

"That's a little better. You need more family in this place. It becomes less personal otherwise." I held in a sigh while grandma had a look around. One guy who worked for me, James, had overheard the conversation.

"What's her problem with us working here?" I shook my head.

"It doesn't matter. She doesn't run the place, so don't worry." James nodded awkwardly and looked once more at her, then back at me.

"Who is that?"

"That's my grandma. She lives in Nevada, but she decided to make a surprise visit. She's only been here two days and she's already trying to micromanage everything." James looked at her again.

"Grandma huh? She certainly knows how to take care of herself, I'll give her that."

"You wouldn't think it the way the woman drinks and smokes to access. I expected her to be dead by now." James laughed a little.

"That's a horrible thing to say about your grandmother, Jacob. Shame on you."

"You wouldn't say that if you knew her like I do." I noticed grandma wondering towards the main entrance and told James to get back to work before running to her. "Hey, grandma, why don't I show you the rest of the garage?"

"I've seen the garage, dear. It looks the same as any other garage at a car repair shop. And I must say, you have too many people working here, Jacob. It's a miracle you make a profit."

"I do make a profit, grandma."

"By that house you live in, I would hope so. I can't imagine the bills you must pay with a house like that. I can't believe Renesmee's relatives would build that monstrosity on Quileute soil. Honestly, it looks nothing like any of the other houses in the area. It's insulting." I took a deep breath and let grandma have her rant, hoping that the others weren't listening to her.

"It was a gift from her family, grandma. Why would I turn down a gift like that? And like you said, it's much nicer and it has plenty of room for more kids."

"You're far from having the most kids in the tribe, Jacob, and you don't see those families with big houses now do you? You remember Sam Uley? His dad was one of the youngest of ten kids. Ten kids, Jacob. And I was the middle of a large family too. You only had two sisters and four kids. How many siblings does Renesmee have?" I was quiet a moment.

"She's an only child, grandma." Grandma rolled her eyes.

"Of course she is. No wonder you two live in such a big house. I'll bet her parents spoiled her rotten. Again, if that's the case, why would she marry you? You're hardly the person to marry if she hopes to live in the lap of luxury. If I would understand her wanting you for anything, it would be sex." I was biting my lip to the point of drawing blood while she talked. I looked around to see who was listening and everyone was. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I opened the door between the garage and the lobby.

"Grandma, can we take this in the back room please? Where no one can hear you?"

"Young man, if your employees can't work through a ranting woman, then I highly suggest that you hire people who can. I can guarantee you that I'm not the only one who would rant to one of the employees or you." Ignoring her, I opened the door so she could walk in and mouthed an apology to all the people working, some of which looked really annoyed and offended. But grandma saw Charlie and started talking to him before I could lead her to the back room. "Charlie." Charlie turned to look and he became pale.

"Mrs. Black….what a pleasure to see you again…..how've you been?"

"As of lately, Jacob's been plucking my nerves like you wouldn't believe. But other than that, life's been great. I'm making great winnings at the casinos in Las Vegas and I've even got a man in my life. He's a little young, but it's not so bad." Charlie nodded awkwardly.

"Yeah. That's great."

"So who were you talking to?" I realized that grandma could see Nessie past Charlie, so I tried getting her to the back room after all.

"Just the manager, grandma. Charlie was here because of car trouble is all."

"Well, who is this manager? Now this, Jacob, is a position that a member of your pack should have if they don't already." I looked right at Steven and asked him to go back.

"Steven, you can take a lunch break now."

"But sir, it's only ten."

"Doesn't matter. Now's the time for you to go to lunch."

"But Mr. Black…"

"Now Steven." Steven got to his feet when I raised my voice a little and grabbed his coat and his keys and went to his car to go do something other than eat lunch I was sure.

"Jacob, what did you do that for?"

"It was his lunch break. He got here early, so I thought I'd make him have lunch early." Grandma gave me a weird look, then looked back at Nessie's office.

"So who's your manager?" I was about to tell grandma it was no one she knew, but Nessie stood from her desk and walked to the door trying to keep her balance. I would be so thrilled when those babies were born, just for the knowledge that she wouldn't be hobbling and at constant risk of losing balance anymore.

"I'm the manager." I could feel grandma get tense and I felt myself getting sick. Then she turned to look at me.

"Jacob, I think now might be a good time to go in the back room and talk." Before I could agree, Nessie spoke.

"Why do that when we could talk in my office? There's so much more room in my office and it'll look more professional if we talk in here. What if a customer walks in and sees us in the back room arguing? That would be horrible, wouldn't you agree?" I was looking at Nessie like she was nuts. Now she was just starting a fight with grandma.

"I think that would be a fantastic idea, Renesmee. I would hate to make the wrong impression." Nessie and grandma smiled at each other in a challenging way I could swear and then they both went into Nessie's office. I followed and closed the door behind me, leaving Charlie outside to listen to what he could hear. Once the door was closed, that's when things got ugly. "You work here as a manager?"

"Yes, I do. Is there a problem with that?"

"That depends. How much do you have invested in this place? Do you own half, do you only work here? What's the agenda?"

"I work here as a manager and everything made from this place goes into mine and Jacob's joint account. The money I get from managing goes into savings and credit accounts. And most of the money Jacob makes in stocks, which my Aunt helped him with by the way and still helps him with now, goes into savings for the kids college funds later on."

"That wasn't what I asked."

"What did you ask then?"

"I asked you how much of this place would you get if something happened between you two?" Dodging the real question I was sure grandma was asking, Nessie answered defiantly.

"If Jacob were to somehow pass away, I would take over the shop and we'd get life insurance to keep this place going and keep me and the children in a good place financially."

"You dodged my question. How much of this place are you entitled to if you and Jacob get a divorce? I assume the prenup addressed that." I glared at grandma and Nessie shook her head.

"There was no prenuptial agreement between me and Jacob."

"Wasn't there. Well, that's a surprise. I figured someone who was as well off as you would want such a thing."

"I didn't see the point since your grandson and I aren't getting a divorce."

"Maybe not now, but what about later on in your marriage? Things happen, you know. What if differences or affairs tear up the marriage? How much of this would you get?" I kept glaring at grandma and Nessie looked just as angry, but she was doing a far better job of hiding it than I was.

"I can't say I know. It's never been discussed because it wouldn't be an issue anyway." Grandma laughed a little under her breath.

"You know, Renesmee, I thought the same thing when I married Jacob's grandfather so long ago. I thought that we could make our marriage work and that I would be happy and we'd raise our beautiful children together. But you know what happened? I found out he was cheating on me. And let me tell you, it never stopped. And he developed a drinking problem."

"Well, it's a good thing he died so you didn't have to go through a divorce. That much easier right?"

"Very much easier, my dear. But that was just my luck. But my Jacob is better than that. He's a good kid. A bit of an idiot at times clearly, but he's a good kid. And I don't want you taking advantage of all that he's accomplished."

"Grandma, shut up."

"Just so you know, Ann, Jacob was able to do all this because my Aunt convinced him to invest his money in stock. My aunt has the power to see the future, you see, so she knows the trends of the stock market before they happen. It's been of great use to Jacob, which was how he was able to do all he's done. So if anything, I think you should be thanking my aunt for all the help she's given my husband."

"Interesting thing to point out, Renesmee. Was it your idea that Jacob let your aunt help him with his finances or was that your idea?"

"It was my aunt's idea if you must know. I never asked her to help Jacob with such a thing. And any form of assistance to Jacob that I ever suggested was for his best interest."

"His best interest or yours? I assume you knew all that time Jacob imprinted on you."

"I knew that."

"And you knew what that meant for you?"

"Not until later in my life. I knew Jacob had imprinted on me, but I didn't find out what that meant until I was around three. Any romantic feelings I had didn't come until then."

"Really? So it never crossed your mind when you were 'helping' him that those benefits would trickle down to you when you married him?" Nessie shook her head.

"Not once. Ann, you forget that my relatives are extremely well off. From what I know, we're worth almost as much as Oprah, Martha Stewart, and Donald Trump combined. If money was really the only thing I wanted, I'd just stay with my parents and never married at all."

"Well, aren't you special."

"I said shut up, grandma. You're accusing Nessie of things she's never done and never will do just because she's white."

"Jacob, don't interrupted me. And secondly, I'm pestering because I happen to care about the tribe and the pack that my father helped protect. And Jacob, I'm ashamed of you for allowing anything other than the Quileute and our allies into the tribe through marriage or otherwise. And I found out about Seth and that Alyssa woman. You're allowing the blood to get diluted, Jacob."

"Grandma, you know how imprinting works. You should know I don't care about keeping the bloodline clean. Seriously, grandma, what do you want me to do? Marry Leah and have kids with her or something? Is that a pure enough bloodline for you? I assume you learned about Hailey."

"As a matter of fact I did. And why is she imprinting on, for one a none-Quileute, but a schizophrenic? Those people are dangerous, Jacob!"

"Hailey isn't dangerous. He just needs treatment and to take his meds and he's fine."

"What are his symptoms, Jacob? From what Billy told me, he gets Auditory, visual, physical, all sorts of hallucinations."

"He gets auditory and visual hallucinations."

"And those voices in his head certainly aren't nice. What happens when one of these days he doesn't take his medication and those voices tell him to pick up a gun and shoot the whole town?"

"Grandma, Hailey wouldn't do that. And even if he did, you know what, Leah imprinted on him and she'll be by his side no matter what. And I'm with Nessie no matter what. I would think you understand how all this works. Didn't any of the tribe imprint when you were a kid?"

"It's rare, Jacob. Or it should be. This time, it seems you boys are imprinting on every Tom, Dick, and Harry that passes by in a skirt. It's ridiculous. The only one who hasn't imprinted is Embry."

"Embry isn't the only one who hasn't imprinted. Brian hasn't imprinted. A lot of the younger members of the pack haven't imprinted."

"They're young, of course they haven't. But just wait. Before you know it, there'll be an Asian or a Mexican in the tribe or something. Why the hell not. We've already married white people that took our land from us. Why not add the complete opposite of the world to the spectrum?"

"Shut up! I've had enough, grandma! I'm not a child anymore, so I won't let you lecture me like I am! I married Nessie because I love her and she loves me too and nothing you say or do is going to change that!" Out of anger, grandma slapped me across the face again, which I barely felt.

"Don't you yell at me, Jacob. Adult or not, I'm your grandmother. So you WILL address and treat me as such." Nessie responded.

"Well then, Ann, I suggest that you treat me respectfully if you want the same in return. I never married Jacob for any reason other than I loved him. The sooner you get that through your think skull, the sooner we'll get along with each other. That's definitely better than us yelling at each other over stupid stuff."

"And I say, the sooner Jacob comes to his senses and gets rid of you, the sooner we'll all be happy." Nessie finally gave grandma a look of death and answered in a tone cold as ice.

"You won't be happy for a while then, Ann. Jacob's stuck with me and so are you." I couldn't help but smile at Nessie for the bold words to my grandma. Grandma didn't react the way I thought she might. Instead of yelling at Nessie, she looked right at me.

"If you want to be stuck with her, Jacob, it's your loss. When she leaves you for someone better, don't come crying to me." Then grandma walked out of Nessie's office and went to her car and drove away. I finally breathed a little more steadily, but Nessie was still fuming.

"I'm sorry. I tried keeping her out of her." Nessie shook her head.

"Don't worry, Jacob. That needed to happen I think. I just hope she didn't take that as a challenge." I smiled a little and thought the air was too thick, so I'd try to lighten the mood with a joke.

"So, Nessie, now that you've finally met my grandmother, what do you think about her?" Nessie caught on and smiled.

"She's a vicious, horrible woman and I hate her. I hope she dies soon and burns in the fiery pits of hell where she was spawn." I fought a laugh.

"Now you know her like I do, Nessie. What have we learned, Nessie?" Nessie gave me a weird look.

"There's something to learn from this?" I nodded.

"Next time I warn you that someone's bad, we listen to me, right?" Nessie smiled and nodded.

"Next time you warn me about someone, I'll take it more seriously."

"That's all I ask."

"She's not staying much longer is she?"

"I hope not." Nessie and I shared a laugh and hugged each other for a while before I left so we could both get back to work.

Thankfully, grandma only came to the house once just to see what the inside was like. Nessie pretended she needed to take a shower so she could get away from her and I told the boys to play outside. Grandma didn't see them until I showed her the backyard. Kevin and Kyle looked at grandma and were suspicious and weary of her from the beginning, though it was kind of my fault for telling them about the argument she had with Nessie. They were begrudgingly nice to her and Kevin refused to let her hold him, I think knowing that I would tell her he's independent and likes doing things himself. Kyle was slightly more passive than Kevin, but he was still a little more hostile with grandma than I'd ever seen him be with anyone else.

Nessie didn't end up seeing grandma again until the council meeting I'd set up because I wanted to update about the Red Night bar to discuss the current circumstances. Carlisle and his coven were there because they were just as involved in the situation as we all were. More so really. Once Billy arrived with grandma, it became really awkward and I could see Edward staring daggers at her whenever she wasn't looking. He was still mad about everything she'd said to Nessie I knew and I wasn't about to tell him he couldn't be because I was mad about it too.

"So, Billy said there was a council meeting. What's on the agenda?" I looked at Billy, who held up his hands in defense. I could tell her was trying to sober up.

"She invited herself, Jacob. I'm not in the mood to argue, Jacob. I have a hangover." Rachael, who was there with Paul, looked at Billy.

"I told you not to drink so much, daddy." Billy looked at Rachael.

"Honey, do I really need to explain?" Rachael stayed quiet after that, as did everyone else. Only the younger pack members there didn't know about my grandma, but they knew enough to know to shut the hell up if they didn't want to argue with her. I sighed and tried to make something else. I didn't want to talk about Red Night with grandma there and I knew Nessie and her family didn't want to deal with anymore of grandma's bitching.

"So….we…who doesn't know the story about Taka Aki?"

"Jacob, we're not discussing something like that in front of outsiders." Edward looked right at grandma, but spoke with composures.

"My daughter's married to the tribal leader, Ann. We're not outsiders." Grandma looked at Edward a moment, then awareness came to her face.

"I remember you too. You're one of the vampires my father and the pack made an agreement with."

"Yes, I am. You'll remember me, Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett. The two you don't know are Jasper and Alice."

"I thought you guys moved away actually."

"We moved back from Alaska about sixteen years ago." I noticed Alice smile a little and Edward smiled too. "It really is isn't it."

"What?" Edward answered me.

"Sixteen years. It's the longest we've ever lived in one place." Alice spoke.

"Maybe we should move to another small town hear here? Just to keep up tradition. We can start going to school again." Edward chuckled with the others and grandma got annoyed.

"You go to school?"

"We go to school so we can stay at a location longer. But we move away when people start thinking Carlisle has a great plastic surgeon." Carlisle chuckled.

"That only happened once, Edward." Grandma waved her hand dismissively.

"Whatever, it's not important. Now Jacob, what did you call everyone together for? It certainly wasn't just to tell the story of Taka Aki. First off, the children aren't even here. The children need to be here for something like that." I sighed.

"Fine, grandma. Everyone, I think it's about time we officially discussed the blood bar in Seattle and how they've held up their end of the bargain or lacked to." Grandma grabbed my arm.

"A blood bar? What the hell is that?"

"It's a bar that collects blood by doing fake blood drives and getting blood from hospitals and selling them to vampires to reduce the mortality rate of humans."

"Excuse me? How long has this place been around?"

"It would be about a year now, grandma."

"You allowed it to go that long? I can't believe you allowed it at all."

"I didn't want to at first. But Gretchen, the owner, has assured us that her establishment won't lead to the loss of any people and that it's perfectly safe. We've looked after things here and Leah pretty much takes care of looking over Seattle and she's done her part. So I have no reason to distrust her anymore."

"Like hell you don't."

"Grandma, we made the right choice, okay. I know what I'm doing, so don't question me."

"Obviously you don't know what you're doing if you let something like this go by without a hitch. What about you, Cullens? I thought you didn't drink human blood, so why are you okay with this?" Carlisle answered.

"Because as Jacob said, no humans are harmed with this bar's presence and the mortality rate by vampires has reduced in Seattle and in Chicago and New York where her other establishments are. In truth, it's helped us out a lot. And the bar owner if a good friend of mine and I know she would never lie to me, especially about something this serious."

"You trust too easily Cullen. This is crazy, Jacob. Just get rid of this bar." I shook my head.

"Sorry grandma. We came to an agreement with them and until they go against their part of the agreement, then I won't do anything against them."

"Well, what about the Cullens? They clearly went against the treaty when the red head bit what's her face to save her life when she got pregnant with your wife. Did you not know about this or are you going to tell me that you let it happen?"

"I made an exception, grandma. I'm the rightful tribe leader, so I have the authority to do that. And in the end, I made the right decision. It would've happened with or without my approval and if I'd said no, they would've gone away and I would've never met Nessie. Everything worked out for the best."

"And how will this bar work out for the best?" I pointed at Valerie who was there with Tae Sook who was there to represent the bar. I was surprised grandma hadn't said anything about him yet, but then I assumed she thought he was part of the Cullen clan.

"Well, Valerie met Tae Sook. The man sitting next to her. He's here to speak for Gretchen and Red Night. And we've killed a lot of unfamiliar vampires that wandered through here in the beginning to get to Red Night. Now most vampires know to stay away from the general area of Forks and the reservations because they've all heard about these large beasts that roam the areas."

"So instead of vampires coming through here to be killed, they're avoiding the area and we're letting them live." I sighed.

"Grandma, our tribe and the Makka tribe and Forks are safe. That's what's important right?" Grandma shrugged.

"So what else is there to talk about if they've held up their side of the agreement?" Tae Sook took the opportunity to speak.

"Well, ma'am, Gretchen is thinking of opening another Red Night in Las Vegas. I believe you're currently residing there."

"Yes, and I would rather she didn't put a Red Night there." Tae Sook shrugged.

"Well, with all due respect, it's my employer's business and she will continue her franchise wherever she can and chooses. And Las Vegas is a hot spot for both alcoholic drinkers and vampires alike. The mortality rate will go down."

"And how are vampires planning to pay for the blood, Mr. Tae Sook if you please?" Tae Sook chuckled at her sarcasm.

"Well, most vampires have money of some kind either from when they were human or because they made investments. And what Gretchen does is in the cities where she has blood bars, she employs several vampires to act as look outs for the city to make sure humans are safe. That's what I am. I've worked at all three of her establishments and I can honestly say that her methods work and work very well."

"Well, maybe I should move back here if there's going to be a Red Night in Las Vegas." Billy was the first to object.

"Tae Sook, your boss can't make a Red Night in Las Vegas. Choose another place. Like Phoenix or something. Hell, you'd be better off in West Hollywood or something. Make it a gay bar, I don't care, just not in Las Vegas." Tae Sook laughed a little.

"I'll talk to Gretchen and see what I can do." Grandma looked at Billy a little hurt.

"Would it be so horrible for your mother to come home, William?"

"Mom, you make me drink. I'm thinking of my health."

"You make yourself drink, William. If you choose to drink because you think it makes me bearable then you're turning into your father."

"Stop saying that, mom." Wanting to end the argument while it was small, I interrupted them to talk to Tae Sook.

"So she's planning to make a new bar?" Tae Sook nodded. "Are you planning to go with her to that one?" Tae Sook shook his head.

"No. I'm staying here. Gretchen will be going of course, but she has to. She owns the place after all."

"Is she planning to make that place a theatre too?"

"Probably. And now that your dad mentions West Hollywood, that would bring in a huge profit."

"Well, there you go. Is there really anything else we have to worry about?"

"Well, there is the issue of your presence. Some vampires aren't coming to the Red Night in Seattle because of the rumors of your pack. We're making plenty of money at the other two and I don't anticipate this bar going under anyway, but we might need to downsize just a little on the bar. The theatre's booming and human patrons are abundant, we're just not getting as many vampire patrons as anticipated." I shrugged.

"You're still making money anyway aren't you?"

"Of course. Some people come just to see our entertainment. Some people mistake our singers for the real people. Except Bethani. Some people think she's Lady Gaga with a boob job, but she brushes it off with a laugh." I tried really hard not to picture it.

"I can see why." Brian blurted out his questions.

"Are those things real? I've always wanted to ask." Tae Sook laughed and nodded.

"Actually, she did get them done when she was human. According to her, they were C cups when she'd met her mate Tim, he wanted them bigger, and she told him if you want them bigger you pay for them, so he paid for them and got them up to a DD cup."

"Seriously?" Tae Sook laughed.

"No, I'm joking. Her boobs are naturally like that. She used to be overweight, she dropped a bunch of it when she was human, but her boobs never got smaller, so they just stayed that way. Tim was definitely happy about that."

"I bet." Grandma rolled her eyes.

"This is a tribal meeting boys, not a group of teenagers looking at porn. Let's get back to business. Jacob, this bar has to relocate. Your ancestors would role in their graves if they knew what was going on."

"Under my circumstances, grandma, I'm sure they would agree with the decisions I've made."

"I doubt that very seriously, young man. And why isn't Harry here?" There was an awkward silence and Leah and Seth's faces became dark. Leah was already in a bad mood with everything that was going on with Hailey and Mrs. Clearwater's face went dark too. "What?"

"Mom, Harry died. He died thirteen years ago. I told you."

"No you didn't. I would've remembered if you'd told me about that."

"I told you mom." Grandma sighed and looked at everyone. Then she looked at Embry for some reason.

"You seem underwhelmed by that, Embry." Embry gave her a weird look.

"I was sad when Harry died. He was always nice to me." Billy spoke.

"Mom, stop, this isn't the time to talk about this."

"Talk about what? He knows Harry's his dad." We all looked at grandma shocked, especially Embry and the Clearwaters.

"What did you say?" Grandma looked at Embry.

"Harry Clearwater's your dad. I thought this was common knowledge." Mrs. Clearwater stood up.

"My husband and I were married when Embry was born. You must be mistaken." Grandma shook her head.

"No, there's no mistake. You and Harry had an argument over the kids and you kicked him out and he went to Embry's mother because he couldn't go anywhere else. He assured he hadn't meant for anything to happen, but he was so upset that he was drinking beers like water and before an hour passed, he was drunk and so was Ms. Call and they slept together and Embry's a product of that one night stand. He never told you about that?"

There was a collective silence in the group and Billy held his head down in shame muttering something incoherent to himself while Mrs. Clearwater just stared at grandma for a while. Grandma kept looking at all of us confused as to why we were all so surprised. I looked at Embry and he was staring at the fire in embarrassment. I could tell he felt horrible. Edward just rubbed his face with his hand.

"Is this really the first time any of you have heard this? Billy, you knew. Why didn't you say something?"

"I didn't say anything because Harry asked me, no begged me, never to tell Sue. He felt horrible about what happened and he never forgave himself for that and he didn't want to hurt Sue. You know, mom, if you're going to ease drop on my conversations, at least have the decency to keep what you hear to yourself."

"Well excuse me Billy for assuming that you were a good person and would tell Sue about this. Friends or not, what Harry did was wrong and I taught you better than to keep secrets like that from innocent people."

"Bullshit you taught me that mom." That's when Mrs. Clearwater left the bonfire and started walking away from the beach to her car. Seth and Leah followed and I stayed with Embry, who was still staring at the fire wide eyed.

"Embry, this isn't your fault." Embry shook his head.

"How could mom do that?"

"They were drunk right? They didn't know what they were doing. And it never happened again, so they felt bad about it."

"But now look what happened. Even if Harry's dead, this'll ruin the Clearwaters."

We were quiet again and I looked at grandma enraged. I didn't let her see me, but I gave her a look so I could feel a little better. Then I saw Embry leave to bonfire to go to Mrs. Clearwater's car and I followed after them. Mrs. Clearwater was sobbing with Leah hugging her trying to make her feel better and Seth standing close by giving similar words of comfort. Leah saw Embry coming towards them and kept hugging her mom and just looked at me not sure what to do. Seth told Mrs. Clearwater that Embry was there and she looked up to see him and I could feel the tension.

"Mrs. Clearwater, I swear I didn't know." Mrs. Clearwater cleared her nose a little and nodded.

"I know you didn't. If I need to talk to anyone, it's your mother."

"I'm sorry. I don't know the situation, but please accept my apologies from me and mom. I know my mom and she would never do something like that to you. Not intentionally anyway. She never spoke about it, but I know she felt just as horrible about it as Harry did."

"Embry, none of this is your fault and I'm not mad at you. I need to talk to your mother about this. Honestly, she hated Sam Uley senior, so I knew he wasn't the father. I just assumed that Billy was your father. After all, Billy and Sarah were having troubles too, all because of Ann I might add. But I never thought…." Mrs. Clearwater started tearing up again and Leah hugged her tighter to comfort her more. "I never thought Harry would…."

"Daddy didn't mean it. He didn't mom." Leah was starting to tear up and little and Seth hugged his mom too.

"Dad loved you mom. Even if it happened, there's no way dad wasn't in pain about it." I stood there a moment until Embry looked at me.

"Jacob, do you mind if we skip the meeting? You can fill us all in later right?" I nodded.

"Sure, Embry. You guys handle this. There's nothing more to really discuss anyway." Embry smiled weakly.

"Thanks boss." After saying goodbye, Embry offered to take the Clearwaters to his mom's house so they could discuss this properly, which Sue accepted without a thought. I wasn't how this would turn out, but either way, I hoped for the best. I walked back to the bonfire when they drove away and looked right at grandma.

"Hey guys, I think we've talked about everything we've needed to. You can all go home. Tae Sook, if anything else comes up, just contact me and we'll talk about it personally okay." Tae Sook stood and bowed a little.

"Of course, Jacob. I'll let Gretchen know what we have discussed regarding the bar. I won't bring up anything else."

"I appreciate that." Tae Sook bowed a little again and walked away. Valerie followed Tae Sook for a while and the rest of the pack and Nessie's family left. I asked Nessie to go home to the boys and get a ride from Edward or whoever. Once I was alone with grandma and dad, I spoke. "You did that on purpose didn't you?" Grandma looked insulted.

"Excuse me? I didn't do that on purpose. I honestly thought that was common knowledge."

"Mom I specifically remember telling her Harry passed away and you should've known that Harry would want something like that to be kept quiet. I gave him my word Sue would never know about it and look, you've made me go back on my word. Do you have any idea how that makes me look?"

"William, if Harry didn't want anyone to know about that, he wouldn't have told anyone to begin with."

"He shouldn't have said anything with you nearby you mean? Damn it mom, common knowledge or not, that's not your business to talk about so openly and in front of people that aren't part of the tribe. You said all that in front of Tae Sook for fuck sake. He's not part of the family. He's just dating Emmett and Rosalie's daughter. How are you going to feel when you find Ms. Call dead in a gutter because Sue lost her temper or something?"

"She wouldn't do something like that. If anything, Embry's mother and Sue won't be friends anymore. And she's not a Quileute, so what do we care if she has to leave the reservation?"

"She left the Makka reservation in the first place because she was pregnant out of wedlock. She can't go back. Now you're going to make a mockery of her in front of the Quileute tribe and make her have to leave us too? Her son's a pack member and a close friend of Jacob's. You have no right to do any of that."

"William, you should've been a man and told Sue what happened. This could've been ancient history by now."

"It wasn't my place to do that!" I sighed.

"Grandma, don't bring that up again, you hear me? In fact, I think it would be better than you not come to these tribal meetings if all you're going to do is bring up things no one wants to think about. I mean how do you think Leah feels now? She was upset with Sam and when she joined the pack, she kept bringing that up, but she didn't know her own dad was Embry's father. She thought Sam's father was. Now you've made an ass out of her and Seth too. You should be ashamed of yourself grandma."

"Are you talking back to me, Jacob?"

"Yes grandma, I am. And you know what, I don't care what you have to say about it. Hitting me won't help, I'm a wolf now and stronger than you. And I'm a grown fucking man, not a child. I won't let you treat me like I'm a child. Dad might put up with you belittling him by having to have your two cents in whenever you can, but I sure as hell won't."

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do Jacob. You may be a grown man, but I'm also a grown woman, so don't you dare speak to me like I'm a child."

"Then don't talk to me like that. Look grandma, if you treat me with respect then I'll do the same for you. Can we agree on that much at least?" Grandma rolled her eyes.

"I'll treat you with respect as long as your listen to me and treat me like the figure of authority that I am to you. If you can't do that, then there will be no respect for either of us." I shrugged.

"Fine, grandma. That's fine with me." I looked at dad. "She's still staying with you right dad?" Billy nodded reluctantly.

"Yes, Jacob, she's coming back with me."

"Okay. I'll talk to you later dad." I walked away from the bonfire and went right to my car. I wasn't sure if I had any more gallant speeches left in me and I didn't want to push my luck. I drove home and went right to mine and Nessie's room and saw her in bed already asleep. I went to bed after getting changed into my pajamas and cuddled up to her. She stirred only slightly, but didn't wake up.

After a month and a half, grandma was driving us all crazy. Nessie refused to go anywhere she might be and didn't want the children near her either, so Kevin and Kyle didn't see Billy for a while either. If anyone saw Billy, it was me and only because I was the only one willing to visit Billy even if he was half drunk and smoking up a storm half the time trying to drown out grandma's endless complaining and ranting. In that time, I even started wondering if maybe grandpa purposefully lit himself on fire to get away from grandma. Normally I would think of suicide as cowardly and sad, but when I thought about it with grandpa, it almost seemed clever.

Nessie didn't see grandma again after the bonfire until the day she delivered the twins. I called Billy to let him know Nessie was in labor and grandma and Billy where there within the hour on grandma's order. It was a painful six hours of Nessie yelling at me, then leaving to only be yelled at by grandma, then to go back and walk in when my son was about to come out and nearly vomiting from the site of a baby being pulled out of Nessie's cut open uterus. I'd never seen it that way before and now I really wished I hadn't. When the twins were finally born, Nessie and I asked for a moment alone to look at them. They both looked exactly like me. This time, neither of them had green eyes or reddish brown hair that would soon turn brown or slightly lighter skin than me. They both looked exactly like me.

"They're beautiful aren't they Jacob?" I smiled at my daughter who I was holding. Her eyes were closed right now and she was taking a nap. Nathan was also asleep, but he seemed to already have my habit of twitching when he slept.

"They are."

"They look so much like you. I don't think there's a thing of me in them." I shook my head.

"That's not true. Natalie has the same look to her that you do. You know that look you have that just makes people want to do things for you." Nessie giggled.

"Does she? Well, she'll definitely break a few hearts won't she?" I smiled and kissed Natalie's little forehead.

"She'll do that just by looking at the boys." Nessie and I smiled at each other and kissed each other really quickly before letting anyone in to see the twins. Kevin and Kyle were more interested in Nathan and all the fun things they would soon get to do with their little brother. Alice was fixated mostly on Natalie and was so happy that I'd finally, 'made myself useful', and gave Nessie a little girl. I had to admit, I was happy about it too.

"And remember, Jacob. These two are the last ones. No more kids." I chuckled.

"I know, Nessie. Just four is enough."


	8. The Sweetest Thing

**The Sweetest Thing**

**NPOV**

Thanks to Ann's little outburst from the bonfire, Sue and Embry's mom had a huge argument. I didn't hear about it until a few days later when Jacob had a patrol night with Leah. Understandably, Sue was furious with Ms. Call, but she went there hoping to calmly talk to her. But Ms. Call had nothing to say other than she was sorry it happened. There wasn't much of a resolution besides that and to this day, they haven't spoken to each other again. The other wives and I wanted to help, but there really wasn't anything we could do that would be helpful, so we stayed out of it. But on the bright side, Jacob's grandmother was finally gone. She'd seen the twins, thanked Jacob for finally making babies that actually looked like him, then she left two days later to go back to Vegas.

"I'm so happy your grandmother's finally gone." Jacob smiled and kissed my forehead. We were both in bed and had just put the children to sleep.

"Me too, Nessie. I'm sorry about her getting the way she did with you." I shook my head.

"Don't worry about it. She's gone now, so we won't have to worry about it anymore. It's not like she's planning to visit again anytime soon is she?"

"I don't rightly know, but I hope not. Billy's finally starting to sober up again and we'd all like him to stay that way. The man's been drunk for two months and that house reeks of New Ports. It didn't smell like that when I was a kid." I smiled.

"It'll be nice for you to start smelling like yourself again. Maybe we should wait for Billy's house to air out a little before any of us goes back."

"We'll have to do that regardless. He finished the last of his whiskey and no one's willing to go get him more, so he's going to be in a bad mood for a while."

"That's what happens when you smoke and drink for two months straight. Is he at least happy that his mother's gone?" Jacob chuckled and nodded.

"If he could walk, he'd be dancing around the house. But he's definitely singing. Did I ever tell you that Billy made up a song for grandma that he sang whenever she left the house and when she moved to Nevada?" I shook my head.

"No, you never told me that one. What's the song?" Jacob chuckled a little again before singing in a low voice to the tone from the Wizard of Oz.

"It goes, 'Ding, dong, the bitch is gone, which old bitch, the wicked bitch, ding dong the bitch is finally gone. Wake up you sleepy heads, open your eyes, let out a yawn. Wake up the bitch is gone. She's gone to Vegas to stay away, away, away, hurray, let's open up and sing and ring the bells out, ding dong the merry-oh, sing it high, sing it low. Let them know the wicked bitch is gone.'" I started laughing and tried to keep my laugh quiet, not wanting to wake the house. Jacob laughed with me and it took us both a while to stop.

"That's genius."

"According to Billy, mom was the one that first thought of actually giving a song to it, but dad thought up the tone and the words. We at least need to go to his house tomorrow and teach the kids that song." I shook my head still laughing to myself.

"No, Jacob, they don't need to learn that song, but I'd be more than happy to sing it with you both another time." Jacob shrugged.

"We'll visit him during our lunch break tomorrow. Have Edward and the others watch the kids." I sighed a little when a realization came to me. "What's wrong?"

"Do you remember what happens in two weeks?" Jacob thought a moment, then realized what I was thinking about.

"Kevin starts preschool soon." I nodded a little and Jacob hugged me tighter. "Don't be sad, Nessie. He's growing up, that's nothing to be upset about."

"I'm not upset about it. I just wish he could've been my little boy a little longer."

"He'll always be your baby boy, Nessie. Even when he's a grown man." I shuddered a little.

"I don't want to think about that. I don't want to picture him having facial hair and being interested in women and being as tall as you." Jacob smiled.

"He'll probably become a wolf too. Family or not, the Cullens are vampires. That'll get the genes flowing. And the fact that he's got vampire in him probably won't help that either." I sighed again.

"Please stop talking, Jacob. You're making me sad." Jacob chuckled a little and hugged me tighter.

"Alright, Nessie, I'll stop. But hey, Maxi starts preschool too. They'll be in the same class too. At least he won't be alone."

"That's not what I'm worried about."

"I know. But think of it this way, Nessie. At least you won't be the only one who's sad. Rachael's sad too." I shook my head.

"She's not sad about it at all. She likes to joke that she's one step closer to having to house to herself again."

"I tried."

"I know. And I appreciate the effort." Jacob smiled and bent his head closer to mine and kissed me lovingly. I wrapped my arms around his neck and I felt Jacob's right hand begin to snake up my baggy shirt. We kissed for several minutes until we needed breathe and Jacob began kissing my neck. He kissed his way to my ear and bit my ear lobe gently before whispering in my ear.

"We could always have another baby." Fighting a laugh, I pushed Jacob off me and turned my back to him. He was openly laughing and brought me closer to him again in a hug. He brought his lips back to my ear and whispered again. "Come one. Five isn't so bad."

"We're done, Jacob. No more kids. My hips have gotten big enough and I've already grown a cup size because of them." Jacob's right hand went up my shirt again and gently grabbed a hold of my right breast and he kissed the back of my neck.

"I don't mind your breasts and hips getting bigger. In fact, I like them bigger."

"I know you do, Jacob. But they've gotten big enough. If we keep having kids, my hips will get so wide that my birth canal will become a water slid." Jacob laughed and hugged me tighter.

"Think of how perfectly round our kids' head will be." My laugh began coming out, but I held it in more.

"I mean it, Jacob. No more. I have a baby girl, Alice is happy, and we don't need any more kids. And need I remind you that the ones we have are a handful as it is."

"I know, Nessie, I know. No more kids." I turned my head and kissed Jacob.

"Thank you, Jacob. Now let's go to sleep." Jacob smiled and kissed me again before reaching over me to turn off my lamp so we could go to sleep.

The next morning, I was woken up by the babies crying. Jacob was still sound asleep when I got out of bed and went to their rooms. Nathan was the one crying. Natalie was only whimpering, but she started crying when I picked Nathan up first. I went to Natalie and picked her up too. Esme had recommended that with twins, it was better to breast feed them at the same time so the other didn't get jealous or irritable. And it was just plain faster, so I took her advice and started doing it this way. But it hurt twice as much. Once they were fed and changed, I put them back in their cribs so I could go back to my room and get dressed. Jacob was still asleep, so when I was dressed, I went to his side and started patting his back.

"Jacob, wake up. We need to drop the kids off and go to work." Jacob groaned a little, not wanting to wake up, but he forced himself out of bed and cracked his knuckles and neck to wake himself up.

"Sure, sure. I'll be down in a minute." Leaving Jacob to get dressed, I went to Kevin and Kyle's room to wake them up. Both were sound asleep and tried to avoid getting out of bed by hiding under their covers.

"Kevin, Kyle, it's time to wake up. You need to eat breakfast so we can drop you off at grandma and grandpa's house." Kevin was the one who answered me, still under the covers.

"I want to stay in bed, mommy. Right Kyle?" I looked towards Kyle's crib where he was hiding under his blanket, but I saw him begin to nod and I sighed.

"What do you two want for breakfast?" There was a silence for a moment before Kevin answered.

"Bacon and eggs."

"Well, if you want bacon and eggs, you're just going to have to get out of bed." There was silence again for a moment, then Kevin finally came out from under the covers and got out of bed to get dressed. He was even dressing himself and doing it properly already. Kyle stopped hiding under the covers and stood up in his crib waiting for me to come get him. He was getting too big for the crib I realized. I would need to talk to Jacob about getting him his first bed.

When the boys were dressed, I brought them downstairs and sat them down to wait for their breakfast. While I was cooking, I called up to Jacob asking him to bring the twins down with him when he was finished upstairs. He was in the shower I knew, but I yelled loud enough so that he could hear me. Ten minutes later, Jacob came downstairs with Nathan and Natalia like I asked him to and sat them in their portable cribs before taking his seat at the dinner table waiting for his share of bacon and eggs. I was still working on the bacon when Jacob got downstairs and wanted to save cooking the eggs for last, so Jacob talked to the boys while he waited.

"So, Kevin, you start preschool soon. Are you excited?" Kevin nodded.

"I'll make new friends and Maxi will be there right?" Jacob nodded.

"Yeah, Maxi will be there. And Kyle will be there next year too." When Jacob said that, Kyle shook his head and got out of his seat and walked over to me and hugged my leg tightly.

"What's wrong, Kyle?" Kyle shook his head.

"I don't want to go to school." I took the pan off the heat before kneeling down to be at eye contact with Kyle.

"Why not, honey?"

"I'm scared to meet new people. They won't like me."

"That's not true sweetie. They'll adore you just like I do. And you'll have Kevin and Maxi there with you. You'll even have Nick and Travis with you there." I looked at Jacob. "It is Travis that's starting school with Kyle right?" Jacob shrugged.

"I don't remember. You'll have to ask Rachael." I smiled and looked back at Kyle.

"My point is that you'll have plenty of people there that you already know. You play with them all the time. And I'm sure Kevin would be more than happy to help you make new friends." Kyle still looked really reluctant and he kept hugging me.

"I want breakfast." I sighed a little to myself and turned my attention back to the bacon I'd been cooking. I always found it odd how opposite Kevin and Kyle were from each other. Kevin was the spontaneous and happy one that was always the first to introduce himself and do everything he could by himself.

Kyle was independent, but according to daddy, he knew that babying him made me happy, so he let me do it and wouldn't always do things without asking me for help first. And contrary to Kevin, Kyle is extremely shy and doesn't open up to people very well. I could never get why he was like that, but I never pushed him to socialize when he didn't want to. He opened up to family, but anyone else, he always had a hard time. Kyle kept holding me while I finished making breakfast for them and took his seat again after I put all the food on the table for them.

Once they were finished with their breakfast, Jacob and I dropped the kids off with my parents and were at work shortly after the shop was scheduled to open. During our lunch break, Jacob and I went to Billy's house to check on things and went to my parent's house when we knew he was doing fine. When the twins were fed, Jacob and I went back to work to finish off the rest of the day. Two weeks later, it was the Saturday before Kevin and Maxi's first day of school. Billy thought it would be a good idea to give them a little party to celebrate. According to Jacob, it was a tradition his mom had started. When he and his sisters were going to their first day of school, she threw a party for them and she hoped to throw a party for them when they completed elementary school, junior high, high school, and any college. Unfortunately, she passed away before any of them completed elementary school. Billy tried doing it, but it wasn't always easy to. But thanks to my relatives, particularly Alice, a party was never out of reach.

It was simple, a lot simpler than her parties usually get, but it was nice. We had it at my family's house with most of the people from the reservation and the pack. The Denali coven even came. They wanted an excuse to meet the twins and it had been a while since they'd all seen Kevin and Kyle. It was the first time that Sue and Ms. Call were seeing each other since the incident a while ago, but since Seth, Embry, and Leah were all there and since neither of them really wanted to start anything, no one was worried. We all just hoped they would eventually get passed this. Leah tried to get Ms. Stanley to let her have Hailey, but according to Leah, Hailey had piano and violin lessons on Saturday, so he couldn't come. While the kids were all playing, Leah was sitting with me, Rachael, Kim, Alyssa, and Emily venting a little.

"I don't know why she makes him play so many instruments. There's a difference between keeping him occupied and keeping him in shackles to his activities."

"Is Hailey in a sport of any kind?" Kim asked. Leah shook her head.

"Not yet. But she's trying to get him into baseball. He hates it though. He loves the music, so I'm relieved about that, but he doesn't want to play baseball. She'll probably try to get him into another sport if she can't get him into baseball." I sighed.

"Where is she getting the money for all these recreational activities for Hailey? She just got through with a messy divorce. There's no way she has the money for all this." Leah shrugged.

"I don't know. It's not my place to ask her something like that. But I do know she has a job now. She started sending Hailey to school. He's old enough at least." Just the words sent a shiver down my spine.

"How's that going?" Leah gave me a harsh look.

"How do you think?"

"How bad is it?" Leah rubbed her face before answering.

"Bad. Hailey won't talk to any of the children there. And they won't talk to him because they think he's weird. He won't take his meds most of the time, so they all think he's talking to himself and they keep their distance. And it's kindergarten, so he's only there half a day. When he's done with school, he's sent to daycare until Ms. Stanley gets done with work."

"Is daycare any better?" Leah shook her head.

"It's worse. I visited him once and when I got there, he was in time out and they were waiting for his mom to show up."

"Why?" Leah was quiet a moment.

"One of the other kids was picking on Hailey. Hailey said he was talking to Tammy when the kid started teasing him for talking to himself and being a loner and so on. I would like to say that Hailey at least asked him to stop before taking action." I felt a lump in my throat and I suddenly noticed daddy was standing behind me.

"What did he do?"

"Well, according to Hailey, when the kids started teasing him…..Jack told him to fuck him up." My eyes widened.

"They actually talk that way?"

"Yes, they do. I don't know how he knows those words, but he does and Jack's the one that uses them the most. But anyway, Jack told him to fuck the kid up, so Hailey punched the kid teasing him and began straddling the kid and choking him." Everyone was stunned now. This was the first I was hearing about this.

"He started chocking him?" Emily was barely audible, but Leah and I heard her.

"Yes. The kid was blue by the time the teachers finally got Hailey off him. Hailey said that Jack kept encouraging him to tighten his grip. According to Hailey, he even said, 'don't stop until the life drains from his eyes'."

We were all speechless. Daddy was for a shorter period of time, but I don't think daddy wanted to say what needed to be said. Before this, Hailey's hallucinations were dangerous to him, but this showed they were dangerous to those around him too. It was everything we were all hoping to avoid, but we hadn't been able to.

"Needless to say, the mother was furious. She's demanding Hailey be brought up on charges for nearly killing her son. But Ms. Stanley managed to reason with them to just kick him out of the daycare. She found another one for him, but these people are iffy to me. The teachers aren't as watchful of the kids as they should be. That might be why they agreed to take Hailey after something like that happening." I looked up at daddy questioningly. Leah caught me and spoke, not knowing exactly what my question was. "He'll be fine. He has to be." Daddy shook his head.

"It's only going to get worse, Leah. You know that. He isn't taking his medication and his therapy isn't helping because he won't open up to them. Therapy doesn't work when the patient isn't willing. He was better with me, but the truth is I'm not in a position to treat Hailey. It 's not legal."

"Why are you telling me this? I'm not the one ignoring the signs. I'm not the one who thinks therapy and three instruments and a sport are enough to keep a schizophrenic from having hallucinations. Hell, I'm not the one that doesn't know Hailey hides his meds under his tongue and spits them out as soon as his mother drives away."

"Have you told her?" Leah shook her head, but didn't look up at Emily.

"I have, but she doesn't believe me. She doesn't know what she's doing or how to handle Hailey, so she just pretends there's nothing wrong with him. Even when Hailey threw a toy at Jessica, or when Hailey killed a bird with a rock. She ignores everything he does because she doesn't want to admit things are just getting worse." Leah stopped talking when tears welled up. Alyssa scooted to Leah's side and started rubbing her back. Daddy offered some advice.

"Try to get Ms. Stanley to agree to let Hailey start coming here again. I'll see if I can get him to take his meds. And I'll look for a better therapist. I'm sure Carlisle knows a good one."

"Hailey won't talk to any therapist he sees. He thinks they're conspiring against him or something. When he has to see them, he just sits there and dodges their questions. One therapist won't see him anymore because Hailey said inappropriate things." Daddy knew what Leah was talking about, but the rest of us didn't. Emily looked nervous to ask.

"What did he say?" Leah sighed heavily, still fighting tears.

"He….He asked the therapist personal questions. When he didn't get answers, he looked at all the pictures on his desk and made assumptions from there. He accused his therapist of having an Oedipus complex because he had so many pictures of him and his mother and asked if he remembered what it was like to breast feed and if it titillated him now."

"Where did he learn the word titillate?" Leah shrugged.

"I don't know. He doesn't watch TV I know, most of the people he has contact with are too young to know those words anyway. My guess is he got it from adults somehow. That's the only explanation I can think of."

"From what adults?"

"I don't know." Daddy spoke again.

"Leah, maybe we should alter the setting. Instead of having sessions in an office, have them where Hailey's the most relaxed. Like your house."

"Ms. Stanley would never go for it. But I can try. Is it safe to guess this therapist is a vampire?" Daddy shook his head.

"No. It's just other professionals that Carlisle has to have contact with. If he explains the situation, I'm sure he could arrange something. It might help if you moved to Hoquiam too."

"I've considered it. I can always find another job there."

"The closer you are to Hailey, the better off he'll be. But he needs to learn to take care of himself without you. No matter how much you would like to, you can't be with him every moment of every day. It's just not plausible."

"I know." We were all quiet again. I glanced at Jacob who was outside with Emmett and Jasper playing with the boys. He looked at me and saw the concern in my face, then looked at Emmett and Jasper asking what was wrong. Jasper spoke for a while until Jacob was standing still deep in worrisome thought. Kevin and Kyle didn't look as concerned, only because I don't think they understood just how serious the matter was. So instead of worrying, Kevin and Kyle kept playing with their cousins.

Around then, Esme told everyone that the pies were ready for anyone who wanted some. All who were sitting with Leah had no appetite, so we stayed where we were. Kevin and the other boys ran inside wanting their slice of pie. Jacob followed slowly and sat against a counter. I walked to the kitchen and took a spot next to him. I looked at Nathan, who was in Rosalie's arms, and Natalie, who was in momma's arms and they looked like they were mostly asleep. Natalie was staring at the pie intently when she saw it, though. I think the bright green of the key lime pie caught her attention.

Kevin and Maxi finished their pieces of pie in minutes and were going for their second piece, but they wanted the same one. Natalie was across the table from them still staring at the piece of pie with happiness in her eyes. Kevin put his fork on the platter holding the pie, and Maxi put his fork on the other side. They looked at each other challengingly.

"Maxi, it's mine." Maxi shook his head.

"Nah uh. It's mine. I saw it first."

"No you didn't. I saw it first. It's mine." Their forks both made a high pitched screech on the platter that startled both of them. But once they were okay, they resorted to grabbing either side of the platter. "Let go, Max."

"No, you let go." Maxi and Kevin kept pulling on the platter trying to get it from the other and Natalie started reaching for the piece while they were arguing. When she couldn't reach it, she started getting teary eyed and began whimpering. Momma started bouncing Natalie gently to make her feel better, but it wasn't helping much and she kept whimpering.

"I said it's mine, Max. Give it!" I looked at Jacob, who had lost his patience long before the argument started. He walked over to momma, grabbed Natalie, then snatched a small plate and took the piece of pie off the platter and onto his plate and walked over to the living room. Maxi and Kevin looked at Jacob stunned.

"Your dad just stole my pie." When Jacob was in the living room, he got off a really small piece with his fork and held it close to Natalie's mouth.

"Did you want some, Natalie?" Natalie grinned and ate the small piece and squinted a little from the sourness of the pie. I smiled at them and watched Jacob eat the rest of it when Natalie was finished. She only ate three small bites before she was full. I wasn't sure she should be eating something like that, but for now I let it go.

"Dad stole my pie." I looked at Kevin and Maxi sternly.

"You've both had enough pie. Go back outside and play with Uncle Emmett and Jasper." Kevin and Maxi looked a little mad, but they did as I said and got down from the table to go outside and play. But Kevin stole a bite of Kyle's pie before running off. "Kevin!"

I didn't bother following him and I looked at Kyle to see if he wasn't too upset. Kyle just glared in Kevin's general direction before finishing his pie off. Mikey looked at Kevin and Maxi and rolled his eyes a little. I couldn't help but laugh. He had only recently turned twelve, but he was already turning into a teenager. He was beginning to think he knew everything and it was annoying Sam to no end. This of course meant that whenever the kids did something silly or bad, he just thought it was stupid. I would happily wait for the boys to be teenagers. I couldn't imagine what Kevin would be like.

"Why are those two so immature?" Embry looked at Mikey challengingly and said something completely off topic.

"Bangkok." Mikey started laughing when he heard the city name. I didn't get it at first, but then I realized it and sighed. Embry laughed too.

"You're just as immature as they are, Mikey."

"No. That's just a dumb name for a city. I mean come on, it's Bangkok."

"And that's what makes you immature. And I'm sorry, but that never goes away. No matter how old you get." Sam laughed and patted Mikey on the head while he kept laughing. The other boys stared, not knowing what was so funny. Kyle looked at me.

"Why is it funny?" I shook my head.

"It's nothing honey." Embry smiled.

"Don't worry, Kyle. When you're older and start going through puberty, you'll know why it's funny." Kyle looked at Embry even more confused.

"What's puberty?" Mikey answered enthusiastically.

"It's when you become a man." Mikey was already five feet tall after just a year, so the fact he was going through it was obvious. He wasn't growing facial hair yet, but I anticipated it within the year. Sam looked at Mikey.

"You're not a man yet, Mikey. You won't be a man until you're eighteen. Just because you can reproduce doesn't mean you're a man yet." Mikey gave Sam a weird look.

"What do kids have to do with this?"

"You know the story, Mikey. I don't need to explain it."

"Oh. Why would I want kids?" Sam looked at Mikey a moment, then answered teasingly.

"You know, Mikey, I don't know." We all laughed a little at Sam's joke. I walked around to Rosalie and took Nathan in my arms after the boys were done eating. When Katie was done, she went to Claire and they kept playing dolls. Kate was still young, but Sam was anticipating her growing up like Mikey and it was making him and Emily a little sad.

"So where's Quil?" Sam pointed at the doors.

"He's outside with the kids."

"Ah. And as far as you know, how's Claire's driving coming along?"

"She has her license now. But Quil was complaining through most of teaching her. According to him, the girl couldn't turn right to save her life. But he's proud of her."

"Is she excited about becoming a sophomore?" Sam shrugged.

"I would guess. But from what I remember, after freshman year, you realize how boring high school is unless you're popular or have an extra-curricular activity. I was neither, honestly, so I wasn't too concerned with it. I was more concerned with working, but that's me."

"Is she involved in anything?"

"I think she is, but I don't know what. Quil's the one to talk to about Claire-Bear, not me." I smiled.

"Does she still let him call her that?"

"Only Quil. Anyone else calls her that, she gets mad." I giggled.

"Oh, teenagers." Sam nodded.

"May they grow up much faster and get a clue." I giggled again.

"Yeah. Let's hope." I looked back at Jacob, who was still holding Natalie. Natalie's eyes were barely open, so I guessed she was on the verge of falling asleep. I smiled and walked over to them and took a seat next to Jacob. He looked at Nathan, who was also sleeping and smiled too.

"He certainly sleeps like me." I giggled.

"They all do, Jacob. So how did Natalie like the pie?" Jacob looked at Natalie and caressed her little cheek.

"She liked it. Did you see her eyes squint?" I laughed a little and nodded.

"Yeah, I saw that. I wish I'd had a camera." Jacob looked at Alice, who was sitting in the kitchen with a camera in hand that I hadn't realized she had and shook his head.

"Alice did that for us, Nessie." I smiled and waved at Alice, who held up the camera and took a picture just to tease me. "By the time Kevin's five, we'll have more pictures than we'll know what to do with." I shrugged.

"She's used to having to take pictures several times in a week to keep up with fast growing of half-breeds. It'll take her a while to adjust."

"She's had three years."

"It's the excitement of new babies, Jacob. That's all." Jacob rolled his eyes with a smile.

"Sure, sure." Jacob looked back at me, still smiling, but it wasn't as prominent. "So Leah told you about Hailey?" I lost my smile and nodded.

"Did she tell you?" Jacob shook his head.

"Seth told me something serious happened with him, but he didn't know the details. This is the first I've heard of it being that serious. I don't even want to think what would happen if something like that had happened at school."

"He would've been expelled most likely. Then Ms. Stanley would have to find him a different school, simple as that."

"But no good school would take him." I nodded.

"That's why he needs to start taking his meds and taking therapy to heart. Until he does that, there's no telling what could happen." Jacob sighed.

"I mean, he could've killed that kid."

"I know."

"Do you think your dad's idea will work?" I shrugged.

"It's worth a try. But that's really all we can do is try. We have to take some form of action before this gets any worse than it already has."

"Yeah. I know." After we had discussed that, Jacob and I tried our best to not think about it anymore. This was supposed to be Kevin and Maxi's party to celebrate their first day of school and we didn't want to ruin it with unfortunate events. When the party was over, Kevin and Kyle were both exhausted and were asleep before we reached home. So were the twins. Jacob and I were able to put them all to bed and go right to our room at least a half hour before we usually did.

"It's never been so easy to put the kids to bed." I smiled.

"I know, right? We actually have an hour of free time." Jacob smiled and walked over to me.

"How late in the month is it?" I gave Jacob a weird look.

"What do you mean?" Jacob looked a little embarrassed for asking and was about to answer, but I realized what he was talking about and stopped him. "Never mind, I know what you mean. And to answer your question, my last period ended two weeks ago." Jacob laughed a little under his breath.

"That's all I asked. I don't want this to sound wrong, but we haven't had sex in a while."

"I know. We're always too tired these days." Jacob was quiet a moment while we looked at each other. Then he finally spoke in an awkward voice that made me giggle just a little.

"We're not too tired now are we?" I shook my head and wrapped my arms around Jacob's neck and lifted myself up as high as I could. Jacob wrapped his arms around my waist and helped me up the rest of the way.

"I don't think so." Jacob chuckled a moment, then kissed me when he had control of his laugh. After our lips joined, the kiss was immediately passionate and Jacob took me to our bed and rested me down gently never taking his lips from mine. Once we were on the bed, Jacob's hand started creeping up my shirt and I lifted my arms above my head so he could pull it off me. He took his lips away so he could take my shirt off. "You closed the door right?" Jacob nodded.

"Yeah, I did." Then Jacob brought his lips to my neck and kissed gently. I glanced over his shoulder to double check and rested my head back when I was assured that the door was actually closed. Now that I was more relaxed, I curved my back upwards so I could reach under and unhook my bra.

Jacob took off my bra from there and his mouth was on my right breast right after. I breathed in harshly at the feel and arched my back again to bring my breast closer to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist while Jacob's hands massaged both of my breasts. I kept my whimpers quiet, but Jacob seemed to enjoy it none-the-less. When he turned his attention to my left breast and began sucking gently, I tried to reach down to the bottom of his shirt and began pulling on that, trying to get it up. I managed to get it half way up his back, but he wouldn't move enough for me to pull it off entirely. Jacob eventually pulled his shirt off himself, then went right back to my breasts.

My hands stayed on his lower back until I brought them around and began trying to undo his pants. At the same time, Jacob pulled both my legs up so he could reach up to my feet and unzip the side of my high-heeled shoes and pull them off. After my shoes were off, Jacob's hands stayed at my thighs and he began kissing down my midriff. When Jacob's jeans were out of my reach, I began lacing my fingers through his hair instead. When Jacob reached the top of my jeans, he licked along the line, tickling me. I began giggling, and started gently pushing on Jacob when he kept doing it. Eventually he stopped because he was laughing too and he looked up at me with a grin.

"Since when are you ticklish there?" I took a deep breath to stop laughing and sat up a little.

"I don't know. Recently I suppose." Jacob chuckled and started licking me there again, sending me into a fit of laughter that I was attempting to keep quiet.

"I think I like it." Jacob continued and I started pushing on his head more to get him to stop and spoke through laughter that I couldn't control anymore.

"Jacob, stop, it tickles. Jacob, stop." Jacob kept laughing with me and grabbed a tight hold of my waist and kept tickling me with his tongue for a little longer. He did eventually stop when I began pulling on his hair. But when he stopped, he unbuttoned and unzipped my pants and pulled them off along with my panties.

Jacob kissed the inside of my thighs, which tickled even more and I bean laughing again. I didn't push Jacob away this time because I didn't want to distract or stop him. When his mouth was where I knew he'd been going, my hands released his head and I brought them up above my head as I groaned. Jacob did that for a few minutes until I was on the brink of coming, then stopped suddenly and began licking my thighs again, trying to make me laugh again. He didn't do it for as long before he came back up and we started kissing again. Jacob undid his pants and we crawled further onto the bed to get more comfortable. Once we were both in bed, Jacob pulled me over him so I was straddling his hips and rested me on his hips. I stroked him a little before I guided him inside me and started moving on my own.

Jacob moved his hips with me and I rested my hands on his chest to keep my balance. Jacob's hands were at my hips holding on tightly. When my pace was too slow, Jacob took over and went faster. I fell over then and Jacob turned us over so he was on top and kept up his pace from there. I wrapped my legs around Jacob's hips and held onto him tightly as he moved. Jacob's lips were on my neck and my face was buried in his hair as he kept moving. I tried to stay quiet. Before long, Jacob and I were at our highest and we came undone together. Once I was spent, I breathed out in a sigh and kept holding Jacob tightly. I began nibbling on Jacob's ear when I heard the door open and I looked up letting out a screech. Jacob jumped from surprise and realized after me that Kevin was at the door. Jacob hurriedly got us both under the covers, but Kevin screamed and started crying at the door by the time Jacob and I were under the covers. I looked all over looking for my panties and shirt, staying under the covers. When I was covered up, I got out from under the bed and ran to Kevin.

"Kevin, honey, it's okay. Mommy didn't mean to scream at you." I glanced at Jacob to see if he was getting dressed. I think he was trying to be concerned, but moreover, I think he was agitated. But he did his best not to show it. When I reached Kevin, he jerked away from me and ran back to his room slamming the door behind him. I stood at the door and listened to Kevin keep crying and I glanced at Jacob who was still in bed. "What do we do?" Jacob groaned.

"I don't know."

"Should we go talk to him?" Jacob shook his head.

"Not now, Nessie. If we talk to him, let's wait a while for him to calm down. The last thing he wants right now is to have me talking to him with the image of my bare ass still in his mind." I sighed.

"Well, Jacob, it's not like we can do nothing."

"Just trust me, Nessie. He doesn't want to talk to us right now. Just leave him alone." Though I was reluctant, I did as Jacob suggested and didn't go to talk to Kevin. Instead, I closed the door and went to bed. Jacob and I ended sleeping far apart from each other. Not because we were mad at each other, but because what had happened was so awkward that we were both a little embarrassed.

**Narrator'sPOV**

That morning had been incredibly awkward. Nessie came to wake up the boys and Kevin was already wide awake and staring at the wall. The drive taking Kevin and Kyle to school was even worse. No one made any conversation. Jacob just wanted the boys out of the car so he wouldn't have to feel the heavy tension anymore. When they were in front of the Quileute Tribal School, Kevin all but leaped out of the car and ran to class. Kyle stayed in the back, feeling just as uncomfortable as Kevin. He hadn't actually seen what happened, but he had to read Kevin's mind to understand what he was so worked up about the night before.

"Have a nice day at school, Honey." Nessie said as sweetly as she could even though Kevin was already long gone.

"Nessie, don't worry about it so much. I promise we'll handle this, but we need to wait until the right time to handle it."

"Jacob, there is no right time to explain to three year olds what parents like to do." Jacob fought a laugh knowing it would make Nessie mad.

"I know. But there are better times than others. So we're waiting for a better time to handle it. Is that better?"

Nessie didn't answer. She just groaned a little before she and Jacob got back in their car and drove to the Cullen home to drop off the twins and Kyle. Jacob and Nessie didn't say anything about it to the family. Edward of course heard about it, but that couldn't be helped. He avoided sighing in agitation so as not to alert to the others that anything was wrong. Kevin went into his class dead silent, even when Maxi walked over to him to start playing. When he didn't respond to anything, Maxi hit Kevin over the head with one of the Barbie dolls in the toy area, finally getting Kevin's attention with a blinding rage.

"What did you do that for?" Maxi backed away a little, but not for long.

"I was trying to talk to you and you weren't listening to me. What's wrong with you? You haven't said anything since you got here." Kevin shuddered a little.

"I saw something horrible, Maxi. Something that no one should ever have to see." Maxi looked confused.

"What are you talking about?" Then Maxi's eyes widened. "Was there a monster under your bed? I knew they existed. Dad always tells me I'm being silly, but I know there are monsters under the bed!" Kevin shook his head.

"No, there weren't monsters. And I told you there's no such thing as monsters under the bed. Mickey makes that stuff up."

"Then what did you see that was so horrible?" Kevin sighed and shuttered at the same time.

"I saw dad hurting mommy. He wasn't wearing clothes and neither was she and when I walked in, mommy was biting his ear trying to get him off." Maxi's eyes widened.

"Your dad hurting your mom? That doesn't sound right. Where they in a fight?"

"I don't know. I woke up because I heard mommy laughing. Then I heard other noises, but they weren't laughing anymore. I ignored it, but I couldn't fall asleep because I was thirsty. When the noises stopped, I went to their room to ask mommy for a drink of water and that's when I found them."

"But why would Uncle Jacob hurt Aunt Nessie?"

"I don't know. But I need to do something. I won't let dad do that to her again."

"How do you plan to do that?" Kevin was silent a moment.

"I don't know." About that time, Mrs. Sunbird called the children to come to the middle of the room so they could start their lesson. They started with learning the Quileute alphabet and grammar. Jacob and Billy would speak Quileute to the kids, but English was often just easier. But all the kids had a background in Quileute, so teaching it wasn't as hard. But Kevin was still thinking about what happened the night before.

When it was the kid's snack time, Mrs. Sunbird took them to the cafeteria since it was the same time as the earliest lunch hour and handed out snacks. When the kids had all their snacks, she went to the side to keep an eye on the kids and to talk to one of the other teachers. Kevin barely touched his food and didn't flinch when Maxi started snatching his animal crackers. Mickey had that lunch period and walked over to Kevin and Maxi's table when he noticed them and sat between the two of them. Mrs. Sunbird saw this, but didn't argue since they were family anyway. When Mickey was sitting between Maxi and Kevin, he started eating.

"So we have the same lunch period. How nice." Maxi gave a mean look at Mickey. Mickey's voice was slightly sarcastic. Since he'd hit puberty, he started thinking he knew everything and it was annoying to all the other kids.

"Don't be mean, Mickey. Kevin saw something bad last night." Mickey looked at Kevin weirdly.

"You saw something bad? What did you see?"

"It's none of your business. You wouldn't understand anyway." Mickey rolled his eyes.

"Try me, twerp. I'm sure I'll be able to understand anything you would consider a problem."

"You're such a know-it-all." Mickey shrugged.

"Well, I am much older and wiser than you. So tell me, Kevin. What's bothering you?" Kevin sighed.

"I saw my dad attacking my mommy." Mickey looked at Kevin weird.

"Your dad? Didn't your dad imprint on your mom?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, my dad imprinted on my mom too. And because of that, dad wouldn't lay a hand on my bother."

"Says the boy whose mom's face is scared." Mickey glared at Maxi.

"Shut up runt. That was an accident. My point is that my dad would never intentionally hurt my mom. And I have a hard time believing that Jacob would ever pull a hair from her head let alone attack her. What did you see that made you think Jacob was hurting her?"

"My dad wasn't wearing any clothes and he was on top of mom. She was biting his ear trying to get him off." Mickey didn't even try to hold back his laughter. It all made sense now and it was too funny. Kevin of course didn't see the humor in the situation. "Why are you laughing?"

"Because you're such an idiot. Your dad wasn't attacking your mom, they were having sex. You walked in on them." Kevin was confused.

"What's sex?" Mickey was stiff a moment, but then saw the opportunity to tease Kevin. Kevin had a tendency to be arrogant and a know-it-all himself, so Mickey loved putting him in his place sometimes. It wasn't often it happened though. Kevin was usually too smart for that, but now was just too perfect an opportunity.

"Well, you see Kevin, when a man and a women….are physically attracted each other like your parents are, they do things that we consider gross, called sex. You know that little thing you have that you pee with? Your dad has one too. And he puts it in your mom and does something called humping her. And if it's hurting her a little, it's a compliment to the guy." Kevin felt himself gag a little.

"That's disgusting! How dare dad do that to mommy?" Mickey chuckled.

"Hey, cheer up kid, it gets a lot worse. You know that little tub where you take your baths? They've done it there. And you know that table where you eat your meals and that counter where your mom prepares your food? They've done it there too. Essentially, your parents' naked butts have been everywhere in that house. And your mom was in college for two years of their marriage, so they've probably had phone sex too. That's when you have sex over the phone. I hear that's a lot of fun." Kevin started shuttering and lost what appetite he'd had left.

In truth, Mickey had no idea how true his assumptions where, but if Jacob and Nessie where anything like his parents, then they were probably pretty adventurous as far as that sort of stuff was concerned so it was a safe assumption to make. Mrs. Sunbird took the kids away from the cafeteria after ten minutes of snack time and brought them back to the classroom so they could play. Class let out at noon and Mrs. Sunbird waited with the kids outside while they waited for their parents or guardians to come pick them up. Edward came to pick up Maxi and Kevin and dropped Maxi off at his home before taking Kevin to the house. He heard what Kevin was thinking and what Mickey had told him and decided he needed to at least help clear things up. And he wanted Kevin to stop thinking about Jacob and his naked ass.

"Kevin."

"Yeah, grandpa." Edward sighed, not wanting to talk about this.

"Don't listen too much to what Mickey said okay. And your father wasn't hurting your mother. What they were doing….was completely natural." Every fiber of Edward's being wanted to vomit when he said that. "And he wasn't hurting her."

"But I heard noises. It sounded like he was hurting her." Edward sighed heavily.

"I know it seems that way, but I assure you that isn't what was going on. I know that doesn't make this whole thing any better, but I just think you should know that being angry at your father isn't right. It will take a while, but don't worry. You'll eventually come to terms with this whole thing."

"How will I do that? I still see it." Edward groaned.

"Believe me, Kevin I know you do. And I don't blame you for being upset about this. But the truth is, it's something they do and you're going to need to come to terms with that. You don't have to do it immediately, but you should try to do it as fast as possible. Your parents will want to talk to you about this okay."

"But I don't want to talk about this. I want it to go away."

"I know, Kevin, but that's not how life works. You just have to face the problem head on. So when your parents talk to you about this, I want you to sit there quietly and be patient when they try to explain what was happening okay. Can you do that for me?" Kevin groaned.

"Okay grandpa."

"Thank you Kevin." Edward told Kyle the same thing in private when he and Kevin got to the house and watched them play while the kids waited for Jacob and Nessie to come get them. At the shop, Jacob told Brian about what happened last night during their lunch break.

"Oh god, Kevin walked in on you two? I don't envy you, Jacob. I can't even imagine how you're going to explain this to him." Jacob sighed.

"I'm sure. The poor thing saw my naked ass and might have seen Nessie naked. But if nothing else, at least he popped in after we were done." Brian laughed.

"Yeah, at least he had the common decency to wait until you two were done before he walked in and scarred himself for life."

"Shut up. You're not the one that has to explain the birds and the bees to a three year old."

"Indeed. And I'm grateful for that. Good luck explaining to a three year old that daddy wasn't hurting mommy." Jacob gave Brian a dirty look and Brian chuckled. "Sorry. I'll just go back to work."

"Yeah, you do that." Brian kept smiling and walked out of the break room to go back to work. After work, Nessie and Jacob picked up the kids and went straight home. When they got home, Nessie started dinner while Jacob was in the living room with the kids. Kevin and Kyle weren't looking at Jacob at all. Jacob didn't bother saying anything to them either. When dinner was ready and everyone was in the kitchen to eat, Nessie finally brought up what no one wanted to talk about.

"Okay, Kevin. I think it's time we talk about what happened last night. And I'm sure Kyle knows about this so I want you both to listen." Jacob groaned and stopped eating. Kevin and Kyle reluctantly looked up from their food at Nessie. "Now Kevin, I don't know what you think your father and I were doing, but you need to understand that it's something that mommies and daddies do when they love each other very much. And it's perfectly natural I promise. You'll understand it when you're older okay."

"It's alright, mommy, I don't want talk about it."

"I know, sweetie, I don't want to talk about it either, but we have to." Jacob groaned.

"Do you want us to explain what it was we were doing, Kevin?"

"Mickey said you were…having sex or something." Jacob shrugged.

"Okay, that about sums it up. If you have any more questions, talk to your grandma Billy and he'll provide you with a really old addition of hustler magazine. That's how he taught me." Nessie gave Jacob a weird look.

"Jacob, we're not explaining this with a hustler magazine. Kevin, the truth is that you're too young to understand what your father and I were doing, but trust me when I tell you that it's nothing bad." Kyle shook his head.

"Mommy, don't talk about it no more. I read what you thought, I understand. I no want to talk about it anymore." Jacob sighed.

"Thank you, Kyle. Please Nessie, let's change the subject already." Nessie gave Jacob a mean look, but sighed and nodded.

"Fine, we'll drop it. But from now on, honey, you knock before coming into mommy and daddy's room okay?" Kevin nodded.

"I'll do that."

"Good."

"Now that we have this cleared up, let's never speak of it again alright." Kevin and Kyle nodded enthusiastically at Jacob's suggestion and ended the conversation and got back to their dinner. Later that night after Jacob and Nessie put the kids to bed, they both laid in bed about to fall asleep when Jacob spoke. "Are you feeling better now that we've got that cleared up?" Nessie shrugged.

"As better as I can feel under these circumstances." Jacob sighed.

"It's still going to be awkward for a while, but at least we finally got it out of the way. Now all that's left to do is let the awkwardness diffuse gradually. I wish I could offer better, but that's as good as it gets." Nessie groaned.

"If you say so. I just wish Kevin hadn't seen that."

"I know Nessie and I didn't either. But it happened and we've dealt with it, so let's just move on okay."

"Fine, fine, we'll move on." Nessie turned on her side and tried to get comfortable. Jacob groaned.

"Are you made at me?" Nessie shook her head.

"No, I'm not mad at you. I'm just upset in general."

"Believe me, I am too. I probably more irritated about this than you are. At least he didn't see you naked. I was kind enough to make sure of that." Nessie tried not to giggle, but she couldn't hold it back. "See, there's a smile."

"Thank you for that. I feel a little better now." Jacob grabbed Nessie into a hug, holding her close to his chest, and kissed her neck.

"That's all I want. Please don't be too upset. This will all blow over soon, okay."

"Sooner rather than later I hope." Jacob smiled.

"Yeah, I know." With a big teasing grin, Jacob reached his hand around to her breast. "How about we make love now?" Nessie swatted Jacob's hand and Jacob just laughed. "I'm kidding, Nessie."

"I know, Jacob. I know."


	9. Five Years Later

**Five Years Later**

**Narrator'sPOV**

To Natalie's joy and Nathan's irritation, Natalie now had a room to herself. The room she and Nathan had once shared was now hers and Nathan had moved in with Kevin and Kyle. Since they were able, Emmett, Jasper, Edward, and Jacob and a few other members of the pack expanded the room to make it bigger so all three boys could better fit in the room. The room was now a seventeen by twelve feet room that was that was able to accommodate the boys' beds, a dresser, and some space for their toys. Natalie had more than enough room for her toys and her bed and vanity and all the other girly things that she had and the room was now painted a light yellow that went with everything she had that was pink, purple, and so on. The boys' room stayed white since none of them really wanted any color in particular.

Ryan and Valerie were still living at the Cullen house, but they wouldn't live there much longer. Ryan had just got through school and was now working in the same hospital as Carlisle as a pharmacist. It was thanks to Carlisle that he was able to get a job right out of college. The hospital thought Ryan was Carlisle's nephew. Valerie had gotten out of school a long time ago and she was currently working for a wedding planner in Seattle. They were both currently saving money for their own apartments. Though Valerie and Tae Sook often toy with the idea of just having her move in with him. Emmett of course shot that idea down instantly. It wasn't like he thought they never slept together, but he didn't want it happening any more often than it probably did.

Ryan still didn't get to see Lia as often as he would like, but Felix was kind enough to visit the Cullens whenever there was an excuse. Though Ryan had made the grave mistake of offering up the idea to Lia that she move in with him when he had his own place so they wouldn't have to be so long distance. Naturally, that didn't sit well with Felix. Ryan had nicknamed Felix the Chastity Belt because he made sure Ryan and Valerie never had a moment alone. Once when Demetri's coven was visiting over Christmas one year, he secretly begged Demetri to try and talk Felix into giving him and Lia some time alone. Demetri said it wasn't likely to happen but that he would try. Shortly thereafter, Demetri posed the idea to Felix, who laughed out loud, then calmly said no and that was the end of that. Even now, Felix watches Ryan like a hawk whenever he's around Lia.

Tae Sook and Ryan still hated each other, but it had warped into an unusual brotherly like hatred where they relentlessly teased each other and played pranks on each other and would sometimes make the other look bad in front of the girlfriend. Valerie had given up on trying to get Tae Sook and Ryan to get along and just act as the referee when their 'play' became a little too over the line. Tae Sook had heard about Ryan's childhood nickname, Gremlin, and called him that whenever the opportunity came up or the situation permitted. Of course, when Tae Sook did that, Ryan would call him a communist and it would escalate from there. Valerie always called the arguments to a halt when racial slurs were brought into the equation.

As Edward had suggested to Leah, she moved to Hoquiam where Hailey and his mom had moved. She got a different job and it ended up being a better one in the long run. It had helped Hailey a little, but since she wasn't always around, there was only so much she could do. Hailey was able to go to a normal school, but because of his previous incidences with other kids, particularly the time he chocked a student, he was kept under close watch by a teacher's aide. Hailey hated her of course because he always thought she was plotting against him. He was still the same about taking his medication and that scared the school more than anything. They were more concerned with the fact that the counselor who interviewed him identified him as having paranoid schizophrenia. Frankly, we all figured that out a long time ago, but a therapist Hailey was seeing confirmed the diagnosis. He was nine now and in the fourth grade and doing very well in school academically, which surprised his counselors. Schizophrenics typically had a harder time with school because they had a hard time concentrating on one subject, but that didn't seem to be the case with Hailey. And he was still taking music classes and excelling at those too, which made Mrs. Stanley extremely happy.

Natalie had also taken a liking to theatre in recent years. Esme, momma, Rosalie, Alice and Nessie took Natalie with us to see _Beauty and the Best_ when the Red Night theatre was doing that show. Gretchen had known we were going to that show and invited them to come back stage so Natalie could meet the characters if she wanted. She ended up looking around for hours trying on costumes and playing with things in the back with everyone staying close behind and she loved it ever since. Gretchen offered to let Natalie take some acting classes with the regular actors who worked in her theatre and Natalie all but begged Nessie and Jacob to let her do it.

She started taking unofficial classes with them when she was four and she's still enjoying it. They gave her two roles in plays as a child, but so far her roles have been minor since she's so young. But she's enjoyed it non-the-less. That also meant that everyone in the coven went to the Red Night Theatre a lot more often. She usually went after school and would stay until she couldn't practice anymore. Tae Sook usually brought her home for us as a new part of his job. Tonight, Tae Sook brought her home and the boys were at Maxi's house spending the night. Since all the boys were in school now, they often hung out a lot more often. Jacob had patrol tonight, so he wouldn't be home until early morning.

"How'd she do today?" Tae Sook grinned and handed Natalie to her mother. He followed Nessie as she walked upstairs to put Natalie to bed.

"I made her sing in Japanese. It was cute. I'm planning to hang out with Valarie tomorrow, so maybe I could make her show you guys." Nessie smiled.

"How'd you get her to sing in Japanese?"

"I picked an easy song and sang it with her. It's called Suteki Da Ne and it was in Final Fantasy 10. I have to say, for a five year old, she didn't do too badly."

"That's good to hear. How did she do when she was singing in English?" Tae Sook chuckled.

"A lot better. And her reading's getting a lot better too."

"That's good. She is doing her homework before practicing though right?" Tae Sook nodded reassuringly.

"Don't worry, she is. And Bethani makes sure it's all right and she understand her homework before she can practice. But I have to say, she's getting really good at doing her homework in under an hour."

"That's good to hear. As long as her homework's done and she understands it, I'm happy. And Gretchen's been helping her learn piano right?"

"Yeah, she has. Unfortunately, Natalie's not taking to the piano like she is to singing and dancing and acting. The piano frustrates her a little, but she keeps it up." After Natalie was in bed, Nessie and Tae Sook closed her door and walked downstairs to the door, but Tae Sook stopped at the door before opening it. "Can I make a request, Nessie?"

"Sure. What do you need me to do?" Tae Sook sighed.

"Well, you know Gretchen's been opening up Red Nights in Europe right? England, Spain, Italy, so on?" I nodded.

"Yeah. She said she was going to open another one in France soon right?"

"Actually, that one's open already. She has some guy named Advent running it for her. Evidently they were friends. But don't tell Carlisle that. According to Gretchen, Carlisle and Advent don't like each other very much."

"Okay, I won't tell him."

"Also, she's planning to open one in Japan." We were both quiet until I eventually sighed.

"I take it she wants you to run the Red Night in Japan?" Tae Sook looked guilty.

"She brought it up. Honestly, I would love to but…" Tae Sook went quiet.

"Valerie." Tae Sook nodded.

"I can't just leave for Japan and leave Valerie here. We're too involved with each other emotionally." Nessie fought a laugh. Tae Sook was extremely awkward when it came to love. He would tell Valerie he loved her all the time, but talking to other people about it was hard for him. Valerie didn't mind, though. She knew he was shy and awkward at times when it came to anything romantic, so he had a tendency to speak about their love in a roundabout way.

"So what are you going to do?" Tae Sook sighed.

"I'm really the only connection she has that actually works for her that speaks Japanese. So I told her I was willing to stay there and run the place for a while until I was able to find a decent replacement. But that could take a while."

"So what are you asking me to do?" Tae Sook was quiet, but Nessie waited for him to think of the best way to answer her. He knew what he was about to suggest was probably ludicrous, but he wanted to try.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you to help me get Emmett to agree to the idea of…..Valerie coming with me." Nessie looked at Tae Sook surprised.

"Go with you to Japan?"

"I know it's a big thing I'm asking, but I honestly don't know how long I'll be gone. I would turn it down, but Gretchen's making me a huge financial offer and….I wanted to buy a house outside Seattle…and I was thinking that could be mine and Valerie's knew place…It's a good offer. And Since I would be running the place, she'd pay me as such."

"But that would mean Valerie would have to quit her job."

"I know that. She doesn't have to come with me, but the thing is if she lives in Washington and I'm all the way in Japan, we would never see each other. Look at Ryan and Lia. They're okay, but they never see each other. They see each other on holidays at best. Japan doesn't have to same holidays as America, so I'd end up coming when she has no time and when she does have time I won't."

"What about Christmas?" Tae Sook shook his head.

"Japan doesn't do much for Christmas. Students get one day off for Christmas, and people who work don't get the day off. Celebrating Christmas in Japan is getting cake and bringing it home. Most other holidays are only off time for students so they can go to festivals. It's a whole other world."

"I get it. But you know Emmett will never agree to this." Tae Sook sighed heavily.

"Valerie's a grown woman, not a baby. She can make her own decisions."

"Then why are you asking me to get him to agree?"

"Because I'm hoping it'll make the whole thing easier. Maybe you could talk to Ryan too and get him to talk Emmett into it. Ryan will be happy to be rid of me." Nessie sighed.

"I'll see what I can do, Tae Sook. You know what, why don't we do that now. I don't have to work tomorrow anyway and they're always awake."

"You don't have to do that. Besides, I have to go back at work." Nessie shrugged.

"Alright. I'll do my part tonight then. But tomorrow when you come over, bring Gretchen so we can talk about this further." Though looking guilty still, he smiled at Nessie and opened the front door.

"Thank you, Nessie." Tae Sook was about to walk out when a thought crossed Nessie's mind.

"Wait, Tae Sook. Why don't you ask her to marry you?" Tae Sook stood still a moment. Again, being extremely awkward when love was involved, he was reluctant to attempt talking about this. "You two have been dating for…six years has it been? Don't you think it's about time you two went through with marriage? Or did you two agree to never get married or something?" Tae Sook shook his head.

"No, it's not that. We've never really talked about it at all."

"Do you want to?"

"Of course. I would love to. But I….I've tried asking, but I'm such a chicken about it."

"You don't think she doesn't love you do you?" Tae Sook was about to shake his head, but stopped.

"What if she says no? Even if we're in love, what if she doesn't want to get married?" Nessie bumped Tae Sook's forehead with the ball of her hand.

"Tae Sook, she's a wedding planner. You think she does that because she wants to see other people happy? She's far too selfish for that. You should know that by now." Tae Sook chuckled a little.

"I guess that's true. But what if I pick the wrong ring? And what if we can't agree on where to have the wedding?" Nessie laughed a little.

"Geez, Tae Sook, where would you want to have the wedding that would be so crazy she wouldn't want to get married?" Tae Sook was quiet a moment before answering. He was a little embarrassed to say where he wanted to have the wedding. But it was where a lot of his family and where he was born.

"Korea." Nessie's eyes widened just a bit.

"Oh. I guess that would be a strange place. Why Korea?"

"Because I was born there. And there's a lot of family there that I never get to see."

"I thought all your Korean family was in North Korea. Or are you…..?" Tae Sook shook his head and interrupted Nessie before she could finish.

"No, not in North Korea. North Korea wouldn't let in Shaman Spirits of good will." Nessie gave Tae Sook a weird look.

"What?"

"Shamanism, it's the worship of spirits to cure ailments and wish for good fortune and…never mind. The point is, no I'm not suggesting North Korea. I mean South Korea. I have a few relatives in South Korea. I have two Aunts. One of them fell in love with an American soldier and they had a kid together. She's married to another man now, but she doesn't hate Americans. The other Aunt might be a little more guarded, but other than that, they'll welcome you guys as family. And Korean wedding ceremonies are nice." Nessie had to fight laughter.

"I have to say, Tae Sook, she's probably not going to go for that. Watch, her first concern will be that all her guests will reek of Kimchi. Watch, that's going to be the first words out of her mouth."

"Please don't tease. It would mean a lot to me."

"I'm not the one that needs convincing. Though I don't know how keen I am about the idea of a wedding in Korea. Isn't Korea a third world country?"

"It depends on where you go. And we'd stay in the city. We could have the wedding in Seoul. That's where my Aunts are." Nessie waved her hand.

"Okay, we're getting off topic. You go to work and I'll talk to Emmett about the whole moving to Japan thing. You remember your end of this." Tae Sook hugged Nessie suddenly.

"Thank you, Nessie. I really appreciate this." Nessie patted Tae Sook's back.

"No problem." Tae Sook released Nessie and waved goodbye before closing the door and running off. Nessie went upstairs and got Natalie in her arms before walking to her car and first driving to Paul and Rachael's house. Nessie knocked and was greeted by Rachael, who was surprised to see her.

"Nessie? What are you doing here so late? Is something the matter?" Nessie shook her head.

"No, nothing's wrong. I just need to go to my family's house to talk to them about something. It's concerning my side of the family. It's nothing too serious, though. I was hoping you would be willing to keep an eye on Natalie for me until I get back." Rachael shrugged.

"I'll keep her for the night if you need. She's out cold anyway, so I don't have to worry about her." Nessie smiled.

"Thank you, Rachael. I'll come get her when I get the boys tomorrow."

"You do that." Nessie and Rachael waved goodbye to each other after Nessie handed her Natalie and walked over to her car and drove away. When Nessie arrived at the house, Edward heard what she was thinking and took a few seconds to tell Emmett what was coming, the whole conversation happening within two seconds.

"Nessie's here to talk to you. It's about Tae Sook and Valerie." Emmett looked at Edward from the game.

"Valerie and Tae Sook? What does she want to talk to me about them for?"

"Gretchen wants to expand a Red Night into Japan and wants Tae Sook to help take care of it for a while until he can find a permanent manager for the place and Tae Sook wants to bring Valerie with her." Edward heard Emmett's answer as soon as he thought it. Hearing what was said, Rosalie came to Emmett's side and they both stood when Nessie walked in. Emmett gave his answer then.

"The answer's no." Nessie fought a laugh.

"You didn't waste any time with that." Nessie walked closer before attempting to get Tae Sook's side across. "He doesn't know how long he'll be away and he doesn't want to be separated from Valerie that long."

"He can visit over Christmas or something."

"Christmas is weird in Japan. Their Christmas is buying cake on Christmas day and maybe getting a day off. New Years is about the same. Tae Sook won't get any of that time off."

"I don't see how this is my problem." Rosalie swatted Emmett, but did take his side a little.

"I know this isn't an idea circumstance for him, but there's no way I'll let Valerie be that far away from home for such a long stretch. She'd have to quit her job and move to a country she's never been to and doesn't know the language of. It's not like she can get a job there to make extra money. She'd be stuck at the house unless she's lucky enough to have a nice neighbor that happens to speak English." Emmett nodded.

"Exactly." Alice spoke.

"Shouldn't we get Valerie before we talk about this more? I mean, she's an adult you two. If she decides she wants to go this, then that's her decision." Rosalie and Emmett glared at Alice, but she stood her ground. Bella stood from the couch where she was sitting with Edward.

"I'll go get her." Bella ran upstairs to get her. Ryan, who was watching the game with the guys, took the opportunity to talk.

"Tae Sook wants to take Valerie to Japan?" Nessie nodded.

"Yes, Ryan."

"Why doesn't he just go and leave Valerie here?"

"Because he doesn't want to be separated by an ocean."

"Lia and I are separated by a continent and an ocean most of the time and you don't hear me complaining about it." Nessie shook her head.

"Actually we hear you complain about it all the time." Ryan didn't answer. Everyone was quiet until Bella came down with Valerie, who had been briefed by Bella on what's happening and was ready with her argument.

"Daddy, I'm surprised about this too, but please let me decide whether or not I do this." Emmett looked at Valerie.

"Are you seriously considering this?" Valerie shrugged.

"I'd have to talk to Tae Sook about it. But honestly, depending on how long he'll be away, I might just go with him. I can tell my boss what's going on and she'll let me go. And I can always get a job when I come back. Maybe I can use the money I've saved up to start my own business instead of buying a house." Nessie shrugged.

"Tae Sook did say he was planning to use the extra money he got from this to buy you and him a house anyway." Valerie nodded and lifted her hand approvingly at Nessie.

"See. It all works out." Rosalie spoke.

"Valerie, you don't speak Japanese. You'll be at the house there with nothing to do all day but watch soap operas you can't understand."

"I could learn Japanese." Ryan spoke.

"It's a fourteen hour flight, so you could get a head start there." Everyone but Rosalie and Emmett laughed. Wondering if it might defuse the situation, Nessie suggested what she and Tae Sook had previously spoken about. Maybe bringing it up would speed up the process.

"Maybe she and Tae Sook could get married before they go to Japan. They've been dating for six years anyway." Valerie looked right at Nessie and spoke before anyone else did.

"He said he was going to ask to marry me?" Nessie shrugged her shoulders a bit as she spoke.

"In a roundabout way. He said he wants to but he always chickens out when he tries." Valerie squealed with joy then making everyone jump a bit.

"That's all I needed to hear, Nessie. See daddy. He want to get married. So if we do that, then it won't be as much of a big deal if I move with him."

"Valerie, that's not the point. Married or not, you're still a fourteen hour flight away. Seven hours if we swim. What if something happened? We'd have no way to get to you."

"Tae Sook's there. If something happens, he can take care of it. But please can we talk about this more when he comes over tomorrow? I think he'll know more about what'll happen than we do." Nessie interrupted.

"That's a good idea. Gretchen's coming too, so she'll give even more incite." Rosalie and Emmett didn't say anything. Instead, Ryan spoke.

"That's a better idea. But regardless of what happens, I plan to dance at the gate when he leaves." Valerie looked at Ryan meanly.

"He's coming back, so don't get too excited."

"I'll get as excited as I want little sister."

No one had anything else to add at the time, so Nessie left and went back home and straight to sleep. She woke up the next morning with Jacob sound asleep right next to her. She decided to leave Jacob alone and went downstairs to lay out some stuff for breakfast so the meat could thaw. Once that was done, she went upstairs and got dressed so she could go to Rachael and Paul's house to pick up the boys and Natalie. They were wide awake when she came to get them and went straight to the dinner table to wait for their breakfast. Rachael knew Nessie always made them breakfast on Sunday, so she let them wait. The smell of bacon and eggs woke Jacob up and he went right downstairs and hugged Nessie.

"Morning."

"Morning to you too. How was patrol?"

"The usual. I said hi to Tae Sook when he passed through the woods. He didn't come back for a while, though. Did he stop to see Valerie?" Nessie shook her head.

"No, not Valerie. He wanted to talk to me actually. Concerning Valerie."

"What did he want to talk about?"

"Gretchen offered him a job managing a Red Night she wants to open in Japan and Tae Sook wants to take the job temporarily until he can find someone else to do it and he wants to take Valerie with him." Jacob started laughing and responded though his laughter.

"There's no way Emmett and Rosalie will agree to that."

"They said as much. But Gretchen and Tae Sook are going there today, so we'll see."

Nessie and Jacob spent the day at home with the kids. At the Cullen house, Emmett and Rosalie were sitting with Valerie waiting for Tae Sook and Gretchen to arrive. No one was talking. They'd already done most of the talking they could do the night before and nothing more would be resolved until they had more details on the matter overall. Tae Sook and Gretchen arrived early together and Valerie ran straight to Tae Sook and hugged him tightly as soon as he walked through the door. Tae Sook hugged her back and Valerie began talking as soon as he did.

"Oh Tae Sook, I would love to marry you. You don't have to be so shy about it." Tae Sook was stunned.

"Marry you?" Valerie looked at Tae Sook almost hurt.

"You mean you don't?" Tae Sook shook his head.

"It's not that. I would love to. But that's not what Nessie was supposed to talk about. What about…" Valerie interrupted.

"Oh yeah, the moving to Japan thing. Yeah, she told me." Emmett and Rosalie walked over and Tae Sook hugged Valerie a little tighter.

"Are you going with me?" Emmett answered.

"We want to know more details about this. And don't think that you two getting married would change the matter." Gretchen looked at Tae Sook and spoke with her heavy British accent and confused.

"Marriage? I thought you already asked her." Tae Sook shook his head.

"I said I wanted to."

"And as I recall, I gave you the name of an excellent store. If you go to Jared, you can customize it. (_There you go Jared Jewelers. Free advertising._) Why haven't you done it by now?" Ryan answered.

"Because he's a huge pussy when it comes to that." Tae Sook glared at Ryan.

"I don't see you proposing to Lia you ass."

"I will. I'm just waiting until I find the right ring. Just because she has simple taste doesn't mean I can't pick something nice. I admit, finding a ring for Valerie would be hard, but at this point, you're not even trying." Valerie looked at Ryan.

"Shut up, Ryan. My taste isn't that flashy." Ryan huffed a laugh.

"Please. You'd wear a fifty karat diamond on your figure if the man could afford it." Valerie looked away from Ryan back at Tae Sook with a smile.

"Don't listen to him Tae Sook." Tae Sook shrugged.

"I never do." Valerie giggled and hugged Tae Sook tightly. While still hugging him, Valerie looked up at him.

"So anyway, let's get to the Japan thing. How long will you be there?" Gretchen began speaking.

"However long it takes. Though I promise you, his time there won't exceed two years." Emmett shrugged.

"That's not so bad. I guess you won't need to go there with him." Valerie shook her head.

"No, that's too long. I want to be with him if he's going to be gone that long." Rosalie walked closer to Valerie, who let go of Tae Sook to look at her mom.

"Honey, why don't you just visit him instead of moving there? Or maybe just spend a summer there. Honestly, moving there isn't necessary." Tae Sook stayed quiet since he knew that he wasn't currently in good graces with Rosalie and Emmett. In Tae Sook's defense, Gretchen spoke.

"I know you're not thrilled about the idea, but I'll see how much of the work can be done over the phone so Tae Sook can be with her more. That way you won't have to worry about Valerie being home alone. And she'll have Marlboro with her." Tae Sook shook his head.

"That will be a lot harder to do. Housing complexes in Japan are really strict about animals, particularly cats and dogs."

"Maybe a few, but I'll arrange for you two to have a home that allows cats. Of course, you'll need to do all the talking for me." Emmett shook his head.

"It doesn't really matter. If this were in Europe, it wouldn't be as bad. At least in Europe we know several people that could be there to help at a moment's notice if need be. But this is Japan. We don't know anyone there and if anything happens where Tae Sook can't help her, neither us nor connections we have would be able to get to her in time. I don't want her to be that far away from us. I don't mind her going there to visit him, but that's it." Rosalie nodded.

"Maybe spend a summer there, maybe spend Christmas there, but don't move there. Even if Tae Sook is with you most of the time, you'll still be alone and not working through the day. You don't know anyone there other than him and neither do we."

"I know, but I'll be fine. And I could always come home whenever you want me to. I just want to be with him most of the time. And Tae Sook and I can get married before hand anyway. I'm sure Gretchen would be willing to wait that long." This time, Tae Sook spoke up.

"Valerie, I would love to get married, but I don't want it to be because I'm being temporarily relocated. I want us to get married when we're ready for it." Valerie gave Tae Sook a stern look.

"We've been dating six years Tae Sook. I think we're ready."

"I know, but at least let me find a ring and propose properly." Ryan chuckled.

"Remember, Tae Sook. If she can lift the diamond, it's not big enough." Valerie glared at Ryan and answered in a harsh muttered voice.

"Shut up." Valerie looked back at Tae Sook. "Really, I love whatever you give me." Ryan interrupted again.

"I can't believe I'm defending him, but give the man some room, Valerie. He hasn't even made any indication that he's planning to ask you to marry him. The only reason it came up is because of Nessie. For all you know, she might have thought he wanted to propose to you and jumped the gun in telling you." Edward shook his head.

"Not really." Ryan looked at Edward, and Edward just shrugged. "I might not understand Japanese or Korean, but thinking about diamond rings is pretty clear to me." Valerie lightly squealed in joy again.

"I knew it!" Valerie hugged Tae Sook tight enough that she would chock him if he were human. Tae Sook hugged her back, but made a mental note to yell at Nessie later for bringing up marriage to Valerie. He would blame in on her being a wedding planner, but he thought it was also probably her mother's fault too. Edward noticed that Tae Sook was thinking about Rosalie in an irritated way and sensed the sarcasm in his thoughts, but couldn't understand exactly what he was thinking since it was in Japanese. Gretchen spoke out again.

"I've already bought the building, so I can wait until you're ready to go there. It's not like it needs to get done immediately. So if you two want to get married first, that's fine with me." Tae Sook looked at Gretchen with wide eyes.

"Gretchen, please stop." Rosalie spoke next.

"Married or not, I'm not comfortable with you being so far away. And hell, what if you get pregnant? Carlisle's the only doctor that can take care of you. You wouldn't be able to go to a hospital there because no one would know what to do." Tae Sook stiffened a moment. Kids had never come up between him and Valerie because he avoided the subject all together. There was something he would need to explain to her that he should have explained a long time ago. Again, Edward noticed the distress in his thoughts but couldn't understand exactly what was bothering him.

"If I get pregnant, then I'll take the next flight back home and stay home. Can we agree on that much? I know I wouldn't be pregnant long, but I would be pregnant long enough to come back home in time for the baby to be born. And regardless, I'm an adult. If I chose to go with Tae Sook, that's my decision to make, not yours."

There was a time of silence that followed that. Whether Rosalie and Emmett liked it or not, Valerie was an adult and she would do what she wanted to do regardless of what they said. Admitting this to himself at last, Emmett reluctantly agreed, but begged Valerie to really think about it before making a rash decision. He also encouraged her and Tae Sook to think getting married over. The truth was, Tae Sook didn't actually propose. Nessie just let it slip that he was thinking about it. Valerie agreed to think about the move before making a decision and left with Tae Sook to go to Seattle. Valerie used that drive to think about the decision with Tae Sook out loud, though he didn't contribute much to the conversation. He wasn't at all in the mood to go shopping for a new couch with what was on his mind. Valerie drove them to a furniture store and noticed Tae Sook's silence and finally asked about it when he didn't say anything regarding the first couch Valerie found that she liked for his apartment.

"Tae Sook, is something wrong? You seem really quiet." He looked at Valerie almost in a defeated manner. He knew now was as good a time as any to bring up kids.

"Actually, it's regarding what your mom said. About kids I mean." Valerie looked hurt when she thought she realized what he was talking about.

"You don't want kids?" Tae Sook solemnly shook his head.

"It's not necessarily that I don't want kids. There's more to it than that."

"What more is there to it?" Tae Sook sighed a little and sat down on the display couch. Valerie sat down next to him when Tae Sook inexplicably changed the subject.

"This couch feels nice. Maybe it would work in my apartment." Then Tae Sook looked for the price, then sneered. "With a price like that, it's not that great."

"Tae Sook, don't change the subject. Why don't you want kids? I want kids Tae Sook, so we have to come to an agreement of some nature or we're going to have problems." Tae Sook looked back at Valerie, defeated again.

"Valerie, it's not that I don't want to have kids with you. I just can't."

"What do you mean you can't?" Tae Sook sighed.

"When I was human, I was diagnosed with Leukemia. And as you know, it was a rare and serious case and they needed to give me constant care. That meant lots of drugs and lots of chemo therapy. They never thought I'd live as long as I did. And when I officially hit puberty and became a teenager, my mother asked what the chances were that I would be able to have kids. To put it bluntly, Valerie, the chances of me getting you pregnant are 15% at best. That was the percentage they gave me when I was thirteen. And it's probably gone down in likelihood since then. And the chances are even slimmer now that I'm not technically alive." Valerie's face fell a little and they both sat there quietly and awkwardly for a moment.

"So…we can't have kids?" Tae Sook shook his head.

"We could try. But it's not likely to have a positive outcome. I mean, we've slept together without protection several times over the years and you never even had a pregnancy scare."

"But it's not impossible right? It might be slim, but there's still a chance we could have kids right?" Tae Sook shrugged.

"It is possible. It's unlikely granted, but it's possible." Valerie smiled at last and hugged Tae Sook.

"That's good enough for me." Tae Sook looked at Valerie a little more hopeful.

"So….you still would marry me? Even if I probably can't give you kids?" Valerie nodded.

"We have a lifetime to try, Tae Sook. All I ask is that we try. And yes, I would love to marry you." Tae Sook and Valerie smiled at each other and shared a loving kiss. Instead of searching for a new couch that afternoon, they went ring shopping until Valerie found an engagement ring that was perfect. It wasn't the most romantic way to be proposed to, but she was happy to get married to him none-the-less. They announced the engagement officially that day when they came back from Seattle.

Jacob and Nessie heard about the engagement the next day when they came to pick up the kids from their grandparents' house after work was over, who took care of them when school was out. Nessie talked to Valerie about it more when she got home from work downtown. Tae Sook needed to work that night so he wasn't there, but Valerie had spoken with him about what they were considering doing the day before and some of it Nessie wasn't surprised to hear about since Tae Sook had already told her about it. Excluding Edward, everyone else was extremely surprised by the plans.

"He wants to have the wedding in Seoul, South Korea? Is he out of his mind?" Emmett said, his voice heavy with irritation.

"Korea's riddled with poverty. Why would he want to have a wedding there?" Jasper said, echoing Emmett's annoyance.

"He has family in South Korea and it would be easier for them to make it to the wedding that way. We can afford to travel around, but they can't. And it's cheaper for his parents to take a two hour boat ride from Japan to South Korea than it would be for them to fly fourteen hours to get here."

"If money's an issue, we can always send them the money to come here." Valerie shook her head.

"I already suggested that. Apparently, Tae Sook's father is far too proud for something like that. And I don't want to risk offending Tae Sook's parents before I've even met them."

"How could sending them free tickets to America possibly offend them?" Jasper said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Alice didn't swat him like Valerie was hoping.

"Because it's our money not theirs and sending them money would imply that we think we're better than they are and that's rude." Emmett shrugged.

"Is that really the case or are you making this up?" Valerie shook her head.

"No, daddy, I'm not making this up. Tae Sook's father, from what I've heard, is a really prideful man. He's probably put out with going to Korea as it is, but at least Tae Sook's in the hot seat for that and not us." Nessie giggled a little and Edward chuckled to himself as well when he heard what Nessie was thinking about. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." Valerie walked closer to Nessie.

"No really, what's so funny?" Nessie sighed with a big grin still on her face.

"It's just that when Tae Sook told me he wanted the wedding in Korea, I assumed you wouldn't go for it because you thought it would be ruined when all your guests smelled like Kimchi." There was a collective laugh while Valerie pouted a little, but still smiled a little.

"If you must know, that was my first concern." Nessie laughed again.

"Called it." After that, it wasn't long before Emmett's sense of humor wore thin and he needed to get back to his biggest problem with all this.

"I don't mind if you two get married, Valerie, but don't get married just because he's moving."

"He's not moving, he's being relocated temporarily."

"Okay, fine, relocated temporarily. And certainly don't get married just because you want to go with him." Nessie spoke after Emmett hoping to offer a reasonable suggestion.

"You could always have a long distance relationship for a bit. Jacob and I managed it."

"That's sweet Nessie, but I doubt hours of phone sex will do it for me." Nessie glared at Valerie.

"Don't get snarky with me, Valerie, I'm just trying to help. And Jacob and I didn't have the long distance marriage because we wanted to. We did it because we had to."

"Nessie, you could've easily gone to college closer to home."

"I went there because it was a really good school. And I got out of school a lot faster than you did at that really good school I'll remind you."

"Shut up, both of you!" Emmett interrupted and Nessie and Valerie both shut up. There were too many things going on at once and he didn't have the patience for bickering at the moment. Everyone stayed quiet while Emmett took a moment to think about everything. He wanted to come to the right decision, but in the end, he only came up with something that was only fair. "I've already said I don't mind if you two get married. And if you want to go with Tae Sook to Japan while he works there, that's fine. But if anything at all happens, you're coming right home and waiting for him to get back. Can you deal with that?" Valerie smiled and ran to Emmett and hugged him.

"Thanks for understanding, daddy." Valerie let go of Emmett, then looked around a moment and Edward answered her thoughts.

"He's sleeping on Ryan's bed."

"Who's sleeping on my bed?"

"Marlboro. Who else." Valerie said as she ran up the stairs.

"I hate that stupid cat. He always sleeps on my bed when I'm not around and when I go to bed at night there's cat hair all over my blanket. Why doesn't he sleep in yours and mom's bed anymore? It's not like you guys sleep in it."

"Ryan, that cat doesn't sleep on our bed anymore because when I caught him, I punted him off the bed and kicked him back into your room. That filthy hair ball knows better by now. And don't you ever tell Valerie about that. Clear?" Ryan nodded his head.

"Alright, I won't tell her you kicked the cat. Though it explains why Marlboro never rubs against you anymore."

"Like I said. The hair ball knows better." Ryan chuckled a little and left the couch to walk upstairs to the room he and Valerie still shared. He couldn't wait to have his own place, even if just so he could have room to himself at last. When Ryan walked in, Valerie was on the phone with Tae Sook with Marlboro in her lap. From what Ryan could hear, Tae Sook was pleased that Valerie and Emmett were able to agree on what would happen.

But Ryan was a little more concerned about the pounds of white cat hair on his bed. He washed his sheets so much that the once navy blue was turning into a pathetic dark blue. There were even a few spots that he'd bleached because the stupid thing had peed on his bed a few times. Ryan was convinced that Marlboro knew Ryan hated him and because of it went out of his way to piss him off when and where he could. Ryan began pulling his sheets and blankets off his bed so he could take them to be washed yet again.

"Valerie, please keep Marlboro off my bed."

"Hold on a minute Tae Sook." Then Valerie looked at Ryan. "I'm sorry, but I can't control where Marlboro naps. If he wants to nap on your bed, he's going to do it."

"I'm serious, Valerie. The next time I catch that cat sleeping on my bed, I'm tossing him out the window. We'll see if he really has nine lives."

"Do it, Ryan, and I'll skin you and use your skin to make a dress."

"How about you turn the cat into a muff. I'm sure he'd be far more comfy then me." On the other line, Tae Sook said something teasing Ryan and Valerie laughed and gave her full attention back to him and their phone call.

Having lost Valerie's interest, Ryan walked out of the room with his sheets and things to take them downstairs to be washed. After he had everything loaded, he felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket and looked at the screen, which said it was a text from Lia. Ryan smiled to himself and opened the phone to eagerly read her message. He hadn't had a chance to call her in a few days and he felt bad. But Ryan's enthusiasm lessened when he read the text.

_Valerie's getting married? For realz?_ Ryan did laugh a little at her spelling. Lia could speak English just fine but her spelling tended to be a little lax, so sometimes she just wrote in texting abbreviations or misspellings.

_Yes, she's getting married. Though I'd like to point out that Tae Sook didn't technically propose. Nessie brought it up that he was thinking about it and Valerie made the decision from there._ Ryan pressed send and put his phone back in his pocket and finished putting in the detergent and things before starting his laundry load. Then Ryan's phone vibrated again and he took it out to read Lia's message.

_Lol, that sounds like her. So when's the wedding? Have they decided? And I better at least be a bride's maid._ Ryan laughed a little and answered.

_Maid of honor more likely. Trust me, you'll be in the wedding party. And as far as when the wedding is, they haven't said yet. But they have decided they want the wedding to be held in South Korea._ Ryan left the laundry room after sending his text and went into the living room with Emmett, Jasper, and Edward to watch something. They were watching CNN. Ryan kept his phone on his knee and answered when it vibrated again.

_Why?_ Ryan laughed to himself and stopped when Emmett pinched Ryan's shoulder telling him to be quiet so they could listen.

_Because Tae Sook has family there or something. Didn't Valerie already talk to you about this?_ Ryan sent the text and answered when his phone vibrated.

_She only texted me that she and Tae Sook were finally getting married. She also said, "Marlboro's napping on Ryan's bed. He'll be so pissed. Sweet, sweet revenge, lol". Why do you hate Marlboro so much again? He's such a sweetie._

_He's a sweet pain in the ass more like. He sleeps on my bed and gets cat hair all over the place and he's peed on my bed on more than one occasion, he's barfed and hacked up hairballs on my bed, the little shit has even shit on my bed. I really need to explain why I hate that cat?_

_Wait, he's done all that on your bed? Ew, I've been on that bed!_ Ryan bit his lip so he wouldn't laugh, but really, he didn't think Marlboro's incompetence was funny at all. Just the fact that Lia thought it was gross too.

_Yes, he has and yes you've been on that bed. A million showers doesn't wipe that memory away I'll have you know._ Edward laughed a little and Emmett looked at him confused.

"What's so funny?" Edward shook his head.

"Something Ryan said about Marlboro." Emmett groaned a little.

"How long do Persians usually live?"

"They can range about 14 to 20 years. Since he's so well taken care of, it'll probably be longer."

"Not if I have a say in it." Ryan grumbled to himself and Emmett just nodded. Then Ryan received another text from Lia.

_It's okay I guess. Daddy never lets me in your room for long stretches of time anyway. At least now I have a motivation to listen when he says we can't go to your room._

_Don't say it like that. You make it sound like we're teenagers._

_I know, but you still live with your parents, so it's hard not to make it sound that way. __ I'm sorry dearest._

_Don't worry about it, I know it's true. But I'll get my own place really soon. Then we can have all the time to ourselves as we want._ Edward grinned after Ryan sent that message.

"Not if Felix has anything to say about it, you won't." Again, Emmett looked at Edward confused.

"What?"

"He texted Lia saying they'd have all the time alone they wanted when Ryan finally got his own place." Emmett and Jasper laughed, and Emmett patted Ryan's back.

"Not if Felix gets his two cents in. Which reminds me, when are you moving out? I put suitcases next to your bed so you could pack, but you never left." Ryan laughed with the rest of the guys. Emmett's father had put suitcases in front of his door on his eighteenth birthday letting him know it was time to move out. Emmett did it to Ryan as joke. The morning of their high school graduation, Emmett put Ryan's suitcases next to his bed and Ryan just laughed it off and put them away.

"Soon, dad. I've almost got enough for an apartment near the hospital."

"Good. Are you looking right now?"

"More window shopping. But after a few more paychecks, I'll have enough to pay for the first few months of rent and such."

"Good." Ryan's phone vibrated again and Ryan answered it, again fighting a laugh.

_Just so you know, Daddy said no._

_How did he say no? I'm curious._ Felix always had creative ways of saying no on matters like these and after all this time, Ryan started thinking they were funny as opposed to being scared stiff that Felix would actually act on his threats.

_He said, and I quote, "tell him if he touches you, I will kill him in his sleep and feed his crotch to that flat faced hairball your friend calls a pet" not exactly encouraging words._

_He's told me worse._

_I tried telling him the term was brachycephalic, and he just said it was a broken face. Daddy can be so mean sometimes._

_I can't say I disagree with your dad. _

_Don't be so mean to Marlboro. I know you don't like him, but I think he's adorable._

_You just like him because he's fuzzy and cute. All women like fuzzy cute things._

_Duh. Marlboro lays on a couch and says, "Look at me, I'm lovely" which he is._ Ryan rolled his eyes a little and didn't respond to the last text. Instead, he went to the laundry room to check on his blankets. They were cleaned and now he just needed to put it in the dryer. One good thing about that dumb cat. Forcing him to clean his sheets so frequently sometimes forced Ryan to sleep on sheets that were right out of the dryer, which felt phenomenal. After his sheets were done, he brought them upstairs to the room he and Valerie shared and shooed Marlboro off his bed where he was for some reason resting.

"Why is he on my bed?" Valerie shrugged and looked up from her book.

"He was at my feet a moment ago." Ryan rolled his eyes and got the hair roller to get the hair off his bed before he put down his sheets. "Ryan he just likes your bed for some reason. Stop getting so upset about it." Instead of arguing with Valerie, Ryan went to the bathroom to change into his pajama pants and shirt and came back to the room.

"I'm going to bed. If you want to stay up, go downstairs." Valerie sighed and picked up Marlboro before walking out of the room to go downstairs and read so Ryan could sleep. The next morning, Valerie wasn't in her bed, and neither was the cat.

Ryan went about his daily routine before getting dressed so go could leave for work. Carlisle always left earlier so he could avoid being seen in the sun and left late for the same reason. Ryan had the benefit of not needed to do that. Once he was ready to leave, he walked downstairs and drank some donated blood that Carlisle still had in the fridge after he warmed it up. He said goodbye to everyone and walked outside to the garage to get ready to go to work. Ryan started his car and began backing out when the garage door was open, but he was stopped when he heard a loud thud and a loud screech. Ryan slammed on the brakes, put his car in park, then jumped out of the car and stepped back when he saw Marlboro under his tire. Everyone was in the garage in seconds and Emmett spoke.

"What happened?" Ryan shook his head nervously.

"I didn't see him. He just came out of nowhere, I swear!" Emmett rubbed his face and shook his head. He wasn't too concerned with the loss of the cat really. Jasper walked to the cat and looked at the damage and sighed.

"Jasper, isn't there anything we can do?" Jasper gave Ryan a weird look.

"Of course not."

"There has to be. Do you have any idea what Valerie will do to me if we don't fix this? I like my penis where it is thank you." Emmett shook his head.

"Don't worry, son. She'll be too mad at you to actually allow you to live, so I wouldn't worry about that." Ryan walked closer to the cat to assess the damage himself and felt sick at how hopeless Marlboro looked after being run over.

"Holy shit, what did you do?" Everyone looked at Tae Sook, who was suddenly standing in front of the garage and had seen the dead cat.

"What are you doing here?"

"Valerie forgot her wallet and she asked me to come here and get it for her, but that's not important right now." Ryan held up his hand.

"Listen Karate Kid. I don't have time for you right now. I've got to figure out what to do about this stupid cat. When Valerie finds out about this, I'm dead." Tae Sook smiled.

"Oh yeah, I noticed. How do you miss Marlboro? He's a giant ball of hair."

"Shut up, Tae Sook. You're not helping."

"Stop whining, Ryan. I'll get you out of this." Ryan looked at Tae Sook surprised, then suspiciously.

"You're going to help me?" Tae Sook nodded. "What's the catch?" Tae Sook looked offended and shook his head.

"There's no catch. It's more for my benefit then yours. Frankly, Ryan, you're not the only one who will suffer for this. She'll be sobbing about this and there's only so much of your sister's high pitched crying I can take."

"Oh boo hoo you have to listen to her cry about a dead rat. I'm the one who'll feel the worst of her wrath." Tae Sook stood there a moment quiet.

"I don't see how that's my problem."

"Of course you don't you chink prick." Rosalie looked at Ryan wide eyed.

"Ryan!" Tae Sook, instead of being offended, grinned.

"Funny, Ryan. The problem with your insult however is that I'm not Chinese. So the jokes on you. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to look for Valerie's wallet, then get your ass out of trouble." Tae Sook walked away from the garage into the house to get Valerie's wallet and left all in the same four seconds. When he was gone, Emmett looked at Edward, who rolled his eyes.

"Emmett, I don't know what he has planned. He was thinking in a language I don't understand."

"Damn it, Edward, learn Korean and Japanese! Make my life easier for a change!"

"You learn it, Emmett. He's your future son-in-law." Being extremely unhappy with the fact that there was a dead cat in her garage, Esme stepped between everyone.

"Let's just get Marlboro out of here. Put him in a box and bury him away from the house. And Ryan, you call Valerie on your way to work and let her know what happened." Ryan nodded his head, but had no intention of calling Valerie. Edward looked at Ryan sternly.

"This was your fault, Ryan, so you have to call her. I can tell when you're lying." Ryan sighed.

"Fine, I'll call her." Edward kept looking at Ryan sternly until Ryan's thoughts finally agreed, then Edward left him alone and dealt with the cat. When the cat was gone from the ground, Ryan walked to his car while pulling out his phone.

"Should we get Valerie a new cat?" Bella asked with concern in her voice. Emmett gave her a look of death and Bella shrugged. "What? She's going to be upset about this. It only seems fair to make the offer." Rosalie shook her head.

"Let's not. If she wants another cat, she'll have to wait until she doesn't live with us anymore. Emmett doesn't want to deal with another cat. She can talk to Ryan if she wants him to buy it for her, but not until she's living on her own or with Tae Sook."

Everyone cleared out of the garage so Ryan could back out and start his drive to the hospital. He tried calling Valerie, but she didn't pick up her phone. She had a habit of leaving her phone in her purse and having it on silent when she was at work, so it was next to impossible to get a hold of her during the day unless she was expecting a call. But against Edward's demands, Ryan stopped trying to call Valerie after one call. He didn't want to talk to her about Marlboro and had no intention of coming home until very late that night, no matter what the consequences of that would be. He was a grown man for fuck sake, and if he wanted to not come back home for a while, he was free to do so.

When he finally clocked into the hospital and went to the pharmacy there, he was greeted by a few nurses and doctors who were there already with one of the other doctors. Ryan wasn't there five minutes before Carlisle walked to the desk with a stern look on his face. Ryan rolled his eyes and groaned, knowing exactly what Carlisle was about to tell him.

"Edward called me to make sure you called Valerie about Marlboro." Ryan sighed.

"Yes, sir, I did." Carlisle kept looking at Ryan, somehow knowing he was lying. Ryan sighed heavily again. "I tried calling her and she wouldn't answer her phone. I probably won't be able to get a hold of her until she gets off work. So I'll try again at five." Carlisle shook his head.

"The sooner you let her know about Marlboro, the better. If nothing else, at least text her." Ryan sighed again and pulled out his phone.

_Valerie, I killed your cat. Sorry._ Ryan pressed sent, then looked at Carlisle.

"Alright, I texted her."

"Ryan, don't get mad at me. You'll have enough to deal with once Valerie gets back to you. Now give me some anti-histamines and I'll leave you alone." Carlisle handed Ryan the prescription and he looked around for the drug Carlisle needed and handed it to him when he found it and had measured it out.

Carlisle walked away with a thanks and left Ryan alone again to work. A little later, Ryan felt his phone start vibrating. But it wasn't a single round. It was continuous, indicating that it was a call. Ryan left the desk and walked to the back of the storage unit of medication before answering his phone reluctantly and asking someone to take care of the front for him for a while. Ryan didn't even say hello before Valerie's voice rang from his phone.

"_What the hell do you mean you killed my cat? What happened?"_ Ryan groaned.

"Valerie, it was an accident okay."

"_Wait, you __literally__ killed Marlboro? You killed my cat?"_ Valerie's voice started shaking with tears from pure rage.

"I'm sorry, Valerie. He sneaked into the garage somehow and I didn't know he was there. I started backing my car out and I heard a thud, and it was Marlboro." There was a silence on Ryan's part as he listened to Valerie sob for a moment. But instead of arguing more with him like Ryan expected, she just hung up on him and didn't answer Ryan when he tried calling her back. A short time later, Ryan's phone started vibrating and Ryan answered, hoping it was a calmed down Valerie. But it wasn't Valerie, it was Lia.

"_You killed Marlboro?"_ Ryan was about to ask how she knew, but already knew how.

"She doesn't have enough time to call me back, but she has enough time to text you about what a horrible brother I am. Great."

"_She's really upset. She didn't want to talk to you."_ Ryan sighed.

"It's not like I killed the stupid thing on purpose. He was in a place that he wasn't supposed to be and I accidently ran him over. I know she's mad, but come on at least talk to me rationally." Lia sighed on the other end of the line.

"_She was crying so hard she was hardly able to tell me what happened. I'd just got off the phone with her a few minutes ago. I'm afraid I wasn't able to get her to calm down too much. So be prepared for her wrath when you get home tonight."_

"It'll be a while before I get home, Lia. I'm planning to work really late tonight. I'm not ashamed to admit it's just to avoid her."

"_That's not going to work, Ryan. She's really pissed at you and she'll hunt you down if she feels the need to. She's only waiting now because of work. But once she's home, she's really going to wail on you. There's no avoiding it."_

"I'm not confronting Valerie until she's thinking rationally. I don't care if I have to stay at a hotel for a few days for that."

"_Ryan, stop being that way. I'm sure all she'll do is scream at you for a bit."_

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"_No, that's not the point. I'm just trying to make this go by as smoothly as possible. I know you don't want to talk to her immediately, but at least go there and let her yell at you and don't yell back. I'm just trying to help, Ryan."_ Ryan groaned.

"I know, Lia. I know. But the truth is…..I don't feel that bad about it. I hated that cat and though it was never my intention to kill him, I can't pretend that I'm not happy to be rid of that stupid thing."

"_I know you didn't like Marlboro, but that's still your sister's cat and she's really upset that he was run over. You can't tell me you don't at least feel a little bad for this."_ Ryan shrugged.

"I feel bad that Valerie's upset, but that's about it. I'm just glad there won't be a cat for us to argue over anymore."

"_Ryan, whether you liked Marlboro or not, that was Valerie's cat. And frankly, you wouldn't have had to tolerate him much longer anyway since you're planning to move out as soon as you can."_

"Lia, stop talking like I did this intentionally. It was an accident."

"_I never said you did it intentionally, Ryan." _ Lia sighed. _"Look, just go home tonight okay? I know she'll be mad at you, but think of it as the sooner you talk to her, the sooner you can get it all over with."_ Ryan groaned.

"Alright. You're right. I know you're right."

"_Exactly. You should know I would never steer you wrong."_ Ryan finally smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. I know." Lia and Ryan gently laughed together. When the laughter stopped, Ryan smiled a little sadly. "How long has it been since we last saw each other?"

"_Valentine's Day. So two months ago."_

"That's too long frankly. And Tae Sook and Valerie haven't said when their wedding will be. That could be a year from now for all I know."

"_Don't worry. We're planning to go there to visit this summer. It'll only be for a week, though. Daddy just wants to avoid tourists for a bit."_

"Just a week? Can't you get him to stay longer than that? The Italian tourist season's going to last a lot longer than one week." Lia giggled.

"_I know it does. But you know how daddy is. He hates coming to Washington. The only reason we go so often is because of you and me. If it weren't for that, it would be years at a time before we ever came to see you guys. Truth be told, he wouldn't come to visit unless he needed something or you needed something."_ Ryan shrugged.

"I guess. But say you'll at least attempt to get him to stay longer. Or better yet, just have him send you here and he can stay in Rome. Everybody's happy." Lia sighed.

"_Geez, Ryan. It's like you don't even know my father."_

"I just thought I'd throw that thought out there." Ryan was interrupted by a coworker who told him he needed to get back to work. Ryan nodded at the man and turned his attention back to Lia. "Baby, I've got to let you go. I'm still at work."

"_Alright, Ryan. And please do as I said and go home tonight."_ Ryan sighed reluctantly.

"I will, Lia. Don't worry about it."

"_Thank you Ryan. I'll talk to you later. I love you."_ Ryan repeated the words back and hung up his phone to get back to work. Ryan did work later that day than usual. He ended up going home after Carlisle even though the other person who did the night shift was already there. When Ryan did finally get ready to leave, it was two hours past when he usually went home. And when he was getting closer to the house, he could almost feel Valerie's rage radiating to him from miles away. That feeling only got worse when he was finally outside the house and in the garage. Ryan took a deep breath before locking his car door and walking into the house. Valerie was standing before in mere seconds and her eyes were actually a little red.

"You asshole! I'm going to kill you!" Before Valerie could get her fingers around Ryan's neck and make good on her enraged threat, Emmett came up behind her and grabbed her in time.

"Honey, calm down. It's alright."

"No it's not! I knew you never liked Marlboro, but I never thought you'd run him over, you prick! Wait until daddy lets me go! I'll feed you to those mongrels Nessie calls family!" Emmett then jerked Valerie harshly, letting her know she had spoken out of line. Jacob, who was standing next to Nessie in the living room with the family, ignored Valerie's comment, knowing she was only speaking from pure rage.

"Valerie, watch your mouth."

"Valerie, calm the fuck down! I didn't kill that stupid cat on purpose. It was his own fault for wandering into the garage where he wasn't supposed to be and it's your own fault for not making sure he didn't get into what he wasn't supposed to!" That didn't help Valerie's mood at all. If anything, it just made her angrier and try even harder to get to Ryan. "Valerie, I'm sorry, okay. It was an accident."

"Accident my ass!"

"Jesus, Valerie, it was just a cat! It's not the end of the world, okay. If it's upsetting you that much, I'll buy you a new one, but for the love of God, just calm the hell down!" Valerie finally stopped trying to get to Ryan and just started crying again.

"I don't want a new cat, damn it! I want my Marlboro." Valerie then rested her face into Emmett's chest and cried. Emmett patted her head lovingly and hugged her.

"It's alright, sweetheart, it's alright. Ryan didn't do it on purpose." Valerie shook her head.

"That's not the point. He was always so mean to Marlboro." Ryan rolled his eyes.

"Oh come on, Valerie. I was not the only one who hated that cat. Dad's the one who.." Before Ryan could finish, Emmett interrupted him with a look of death. Ryan sighed and rephrased. "Also hated Marlboro. Neither of us wanted you to keep that cat. And Esme hates the smell that thing always spread across the house."

"Dear, please don't drag me into this." Ryan and Valerie continued arguing while Valerie was sobbing about the loss of her dear Marlboro. Jacob leaned in towards Nessie and spoke quietly.

"Why is she so upset about this? It's a cat." Nessie sighed.

"Jacob, women just form bonds with their pets. Men do too I'm sure, but women more so. Marlboro wasn't just her cat. Marlboro was that sweet kitten that she rescued and that loved her unconditionally and she loved him unconditionally too. Marlboro wasn't just her cat, he was kind of like a baby to her." Jacob sighed.

"Cat's don't love unconditionally. They tolerate."

"No, Jacob. Cats love their owners. They're just very independent. Marlboro cuddled up to Valerie when he felt like it and napped the rest of the time. That's just how cats are. That doesn't mean the Marlboro didn't love Valerie."

"Okay, fine. But I don't see why we need to be here."

"We're here because she called my crying about Marlboro." Jacob shrugged, then looked around. "What are you looking for?"

"Tae Sook. I'm surprised he isn't here. I would assume he'd love to see Valerie blow up at Ryan. Why didn't she call him crying?"

"I'm sure she did, Jacob. In fact, he's probably the one who told her. He saw it happen didn't he?" Nessie directed the question to Edward, who shook his head.

"Actually no. He just dropped off her wallet and left." Nessie looked surprised.

"He didn't tell her?"

"That's another big surprise. I always figured Tae Sook lived for getting Ryan in trouble." Edward shook his head at Jacob's statement.

"He likes to, but never to this degree. He doesn't really consider something like this funny. At least, that's what I could gather from his thoughts. Reading his mind gives me a migraine."

"I always thought you spoke Korean. Or is that Alice?" Edward shook his head.

"Just because Alice knows the Korean national anthem and the alphabet doesn't mean she speaks Korean. She just picked those things up when we went to school in the nineties and she did a pre-school program. The little kid she handles was Korean and he used to sing the Korean national anthem and sing the alphabet in his head."

"South Korean I assume?" Edward rolled his eyes at Jacob.

"Duh." Valerie ended up overhearing the conversation and looked straight at Edward for some answers.

"Wait, you mean to tell me Tae Sook already knew about this? And he didn't tell me when he get to the office?" Ryan couldn't fight the sigh of relief that he was no longer the only one in deep trouble. Now Tae Sook was in hot water, and that just fine by him. Edward explained.

"He said he had a plan to make this better."

"Is that what he was thinking?" Edward finally gave up.

"Valerie, I don't speak Korean. Nor do I speak Japanese. I have no interest in learning either. And frankly, typing what he was thinking into babblefish isn't going to shed much light on what he was thinking. Besides, I don't know how to write in Korean or Japanese either. But hey, if you can convince him to start thinking in English or most any other European language, then we'll be fine." Valerie started crying again and Emmett took her back in his arms.

"Uncle Edward, why aren't you helping?" Edward didn't answer, since there wasn't an answer he could give that would make her happy. After a minute, Valerie nudged Emmett to let her go and she pulled out her phone to call Tae Sook. Work or not, he would answer to her. Ryan noticed the number and grinned to himself. And as if Valerie had eyes in the back of her head, she said, "Don't you smirk, Ryan. You're still ass deep in hot water as far as I'm concerned." After a minute, Tae Sook finally answered his phone.

"_Valerie?"_

"Did you already know that Ryan ran over Marlboro when you came to my office this morning?" Valerie wasted no time. She wasn't in the mood. Backed into a corner, Tae Sook tried being silly first, hoping being cute would at least ease the anger he knew Valerie felt towards him at that moment.

"_[__私は英語を理解していない__](__Watashi wa eigo o rikai shite inai)(I do not understand English)_." Unfortunately for Tae Sook, that didn't work at all.

"Not now, Tae Sook." There was a momentary silence on the other end. Tae Sook decided to try one more time.

"_[__제가__영어를__못__알아__](__jega yeong-eoleul mos al-a)(I do not understand English)."_

"Tae Sook." Again, a moment of silence.

"No hablo ingles?"

"Tae Sook!"

"_Okay, okay, fine I knew about it already. You were already in a bad mood and I didn't want to wreck the rest of your day. And it was Ryan's responsibility to tell you since he's the one who ran Marlboro over. I'm sorry I didn't tell you immediately."_

"I don't care who's responsibility it is! My cat was run over and you didn't tell me!"

"_Look, Valerie, I'm sorry. I don't know what else to tell you. What can I do to make you feel better?"_ Without a beat, Valerie gave him an answer.

"You can go to hell!" Then Valerie pressed end call on her phone and threw it in some direction and ran upstairs to her room. Emmett made a mental note to himself to talk to Valerie later about how she was acting. It was a cat and certainly didn't warrant her acting like a child. Jacob caught Valerie's phone and it was vibrating again as soon as she caught it.

"Should I answer it?" Ryan ran over to Jacob and grabbed the phone.

"I'll do it." Jacob handed the phone to Ryan. Ryan looked serious so he didn't suspect he'd do anything. He didn't notice Edward pinching the bridge of his nose. Ryan answered the phone and Tae Sook spoke.

"_Valerie, I'm sorry, okay. Don't be that way. Seriously, tell me what I can do to make it better?"_ Ryan grinned.

"Looks like you're in as much trouble as me, Tae Sook."

"_Why the hell do you have your sister's phone? Give the phone to Valerie. Let me talk to her." _

"You heard her, Tae Sook. She told you to go to hell, and I'm not about to disagree with her. So take her advice, Tae Sook Hacky sack."

"_Give your sister the phone Ryan Mc-Go-Fuck-Yourself!"_ Ryan smiled a little more. Insulting Tae Sook was making him feel a little better.

"Big talk coming from a four foot tall communist. Or do you have nuclear weapons I should know about?"

"_I will fucking kill you! Do you hear me? I will rip off your fucking balls and feed them to you in a bourbon sauce with a side of pilaf! Now stop fucking around and put your fucking sister on the phone!"_ Tae Sook's accent was getting heavy while he was yelling and Ryan was having a slightly harder time understanding him. So he poked fun at that.

"Sorry, Tae Sook. I only speak American and I can't understand a word that's coming out of your mouth."

"_That's it! Be ready you inbred Anglo-Saxon faggot! You wait until I get there!"_

"I'll be waiting with bells on little Kim." Ryan hung up the phone. In Seattle, Tae Sook was one rooftop, staring at his phone with two other scouters nearby, though he ignored their presence.

"That fucker's so dead!" Then Tae Sook began making his way down with the other two scouters looking at Tae Sook dumbfounded.

"What was his problem?" His friend shrugged.

"Something about feeding some guy balls with rice or something?"

"I'm just going to ignore that one entirely." His friend nodded.

"Yeah. Good call." Back at the house, Emmett was behind Ryan and swatted his head after he hung up the phone.

"Ow!"

"What the hell is wrong with you? Jesus, you and your sister. You're both acting like babies and I'm sick of it! You're not too old for me to make an example of you! The only reason I'm not doing it now is because Tae Sook will probably do it for me."

Ryan didn't say anything. He knew Emmett was never one to go back on his word. And he certainly never tolerated the twins giving him mouth or back talking him, so Ryan knew better than to argue. Instead, he turned to leave, but Emmett stopped him.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Out."

"No you're not."

"Dad, I'm not a kid."

"I don't give a shit. As long as you're living here, you're going to live by my rules. You have a problem with that, then move out."

"Working on it, dad. Working on it." Emmett didn't say anything. He didn't feel like arguing anymore. And he was already livid. If he did anything, he'd end up killing Ryan and he didn't want to do that.

Ryan didn't end up leaving. Instead, he went to the kitchen and stayed there to make himself some venison. He didn't care how late it was and he wanted to keep himself occupied and out of the living room where Emmett was. Alice, Jasper, Jacob, and Nessie were all in the kitchen too, not wanting to be involved in the argument. Jacob came in after handing Ryan Valerie's phone. When Ryan had out the venison and was thawing it out, Alice took the opportunity to talk to Ryan and try to play peace maker more or less.

"Ryan, why didn't you have to argue with Tae Sook like that?"

"Because I hate him. And I want him to crawl into a corner and die. That's why." Alice sighed.

"Ryan, you're being a baby. So is Valerie, but you more so. You have no reason to be mad at anyone."

"That's not the point, Alice."

"What is then?" Alice saw Ryan's rude response and stopped him when he opened his mouth. "Ryan, you say that to me and so help me God, you'll be dead." Ryan didn't say anything, and Alice sighed heavily. "Never mind."

Ryan didn't respond at all. He was irritable and didn't want to talk to anyone at the moment. He feared what the consequences would be if he spoke his mind right now. Once his venison rack was done, he cut it up and dug in. Jacob looked at Nessie and begged to go home. The boys were with Rachael, so he wasn't worried about them. Nessie agreed and they left, not wanting to see the eminent storm that was approaching. Ryan ended up eating through two thirds of the venison rack before there was a knock at the door. Edward noticed that Tae Sook was singing the South Korean National Anthem in his head to block out other thoughts and was instantly suspicious, but he answered the door. When he did, Tae Sook was standing there with a small box in his hand and Edward smelled it and groaned to himself.

"Please tell me you didn't." Tae Sook didn't answer.

"Where's Ryan? I would like to have a word with him please." Edward, again not able to get what Tae Sook was really thinking, sighed and called for Ryan to come to the door. He saw the box in Tae Sook's hand.

"What the hell's that thing?"

"It's called a box, dumbass." Then Tae Sook walked closer to Ryan and put the box in Ryan's hands.

"Why are you giving it to me?"

"So my hands are free to do this." Then, without warning, Tae Sook punched Ryan clear across the face, then grabbed the box from him before he could fall. Ryan was okay thankfully, but there would definitely be a bruise on his face for a while. Tae Sook breathed out and smiled. "Ah, that felt good." Ryan stood up.

"Funny, Tae Sook. Now allow me to retort." Ryan was about to punch Tae Sook back, but Emmett grabbed his hand to stop him and looked right at the box.

"What's in there?"

"Something for Valerie to help her feel better." Hearing the commotion, Valerie came downstairs and saw everyone standing near the door.

"What happened? I heard someone fall." Tae Sook looked at Valerie and smiled. Valerie still wasn't happy with him and didn't say anything to him. Instead of being put off by her silence, Tae Sook walked through the crowd of family members towards the staircase.

"I actually brought something to make up for earlier. I know it might be a bit too soon, but at least it will help you cope." Valerie walked the rest of the way down the stairs and stood in front of Tae Sook with a confused look on her face.

"What are you talking about?" Tae Sook smiled and opened the little box and revealed a little kitten. It wasn't a Persian kitten. It was actually a Siamese with very light brown coloring on its face and paws and tail. But the little kitten looked up at Valerie and let out a sweet little meow and Valerie smiled just a bit. Valerie was the only one who smiled.

"You asshole." Ryan said, far from happy about the kitten. Valerie picked up the kitten, ignoring Ryan, and held the kitten on her shoulder, where the little kitten started purring lightly and licked her ear.

"Do you like him? It's a little boy kitten. I know he's not Marlboro, but does it at least make you feel a little better." Valerie sighed.

"He's adorable and I love him. But he's not my Marlboro."

"I know. But at least give him a chance to fill the hole." Valerie looked at Tae Sook, then she looked at the little kitten and petted it a moment. Then she held the kitten baby style. It was a little older than six weeks, so he wasn't as small, but he was still smaller than he would be eventually. Maybe about two or three months old. Valerie started tickling the kitten's belly, and the kitten responded with love mauling by gently nipping her hand and gently holding on with his claws. Just the way Marlboro used to do when she petted his belly. The kitten meowed again and Valerie smiled.

"He is really cute." Valerie looked at Tae Sook. "Thank you." Tae Sook smiled.

"So what are you going to name him?" The kitten meowed again. Valerie suddenly remembered that Siamese cats often meowed constantly. (_*Author's Note-Seriously, they are talkative cats. Just a note to those planning to adopt a cat, Siamese are great cats and make phenomenal family pets, but if you can't stand constant meowing, don't get one. They'll drive you mad!*)_ Valerie thought a moment trying to think of the best name for her new kitten. He had striking blue eyes which was a breed standard for Siamese.

"I don't know yet. Where did you get him?"

"He was at a shelter. He's actually a rescue cat. They found his litter and his mother in an abandoned house. The mom was feral so they couldn't keep her, but thankfully, the kittens were young enough to be domesticated, so the kittens were saved. And I played with him a bit and he seemed like the perfect cat for you. Sure, he's a loud mouth, but he's nice." The cat meowed again as Valerie propped the kitten back on her shoulder and smiled.

"He's a Siamese. They're talkative cats. What did the shelter name him?"

"Socks." Valerie shook her head.

"That's not his name anymore, I can tell you that much." Tae Sook smiled at Valerie.

"I know you'll give him a good name. So do you feel better?' Even though she was smiling, Valerie shook her head.

"Not at all. I'm still thoroughly pissed. All that's saving you and Ryan is that I'm being distracted by a cute kitten." Tae Sook just smiled.

"Happy to hear it, Valerie." Valerie kept playing with the kitten and he continued his nipping and light scratching as she kept tickling his belly lovingly. Eventually, she had a thought.

"He's definitely a fighter isn't he?" The kitten's meows and nipping mixed into one while they played, and then another thought came to her mind. "You know what. I like Sparta."

"Sparta?" Valerie nodded at Tae Sook's confused expression.

"Sparta was a fighting province in Greece. This kittens a little nipper. So I want to name him Sparta." Tae Sook wasn't completely sure how appropriate the name Sparta was for a Siamese cat, but he went with it. It was her kitten now. Sparta was purring and nipping and meowing all at once. "You are a cute little thing aren't you?"

Valerie left the downstairs to go upstairs with little Sparta and Tae Sook followed her upstairs, leaving the family downstairs, extremely annoyed with Tae Sook's solution to the problem. When Jacob and Nessie got home with the boys, it was really late and the kids were all already sound asleep and ready to be tucked into bed. Jacob followed Nessie upstairs and helped her get the kids in bed and they both fell into bed together really tired from the day. They'd both had a really hard work day and Valerie's dead cat dilemma didn't help any. But sadly, Nessie and Jacob weren't in bed for two minutes before the house phone started ringing.

"Baby, get the phone please."

"You get it, Jacob. It's on your side of the bed." Nessie mumbled this with a voice heavy with sleep and Jacob sighed, looked at the caller ID, and groaned, answering the phone.

"Dad, Nessie and I are trying to sleep."

"_Well, boohoo, son. So was I. I just got a call from your grandmother's lawyer. You're grandmother passed away today. Apparently, she died in her sleep."_ Jacob felt a little bad.

"Oh." Nessie looked at Jacob.

"What's wrong?"

"Grandma died."

"Your grandma?" Jacob nodded. "Billy called us this late for that?" Jacob didn't get upset. He had to admit that was the first thing that popped into his mind too.

"Who found her?" Billy groaned a little.

"_According to her Lawyer, she'd been playing craps the night before and went home with someone and she was dead the next morning when he woke up. "_ Jacob just rubbed his face.

"Figures. How're we going to plan the funeral? Are we burring her here?" Billy laughed slightly without humor.

"_Your grandma would rather be fed to dogs. She wanted to be buried in Vegas, so that's what we're doing."_ Jacob groaned.

"We have to go all the way to Vegas for this? I don't want to. Can't we just burry her here and pretend we buried her in Vegas?"

"_Jacob, I'm not usually superstitious, but if there were any Indian chiefs that would come back and ensue their wrath on the Quileute, it would be your grandma. And frankly, Jacob, better she haunt some family in Vegas than us."_ Jacob sighed.

"Fine, I guess we'll burry her in Vegas. But no one will come to the funeral."

"_Are you implying people would've come if we had the funeral here?"_ Jacob was quiet a moment.

"I guess not. But we aren't staying long, dad. We'll be there over night for the funeral, but then we're going back home. I don't want to morn too long over a woman who made me miserable."

"_How the hell do you think I feel? I had to live with the woman for eighteen years. You only had to put up with her whenever she invited herself over to the house. Believe me, if your mother had her way, you wouldn't even know your grandma. We'd be having this conversation now and you wouldn't know who the hell I was talking about. One of the many reasons it pains me that your mother isn't still alive. It was nice to have someone at least attempt to explain to my mother how vicious she was."_

"Nessie did. I mean, sure, Nessie only saw her about three times, but those three times she's seen her, she's always put her in her place."

"_Yeah. And guess who got to listen to her bitch about it later."_

"I'd say sorry, but frankly, dad, better you than me." Billy laughed sarcastically and took a sip of his beer he'd been drinking. "So when is the funeral?"

"_Next weekend. I told the Lawyer to arrange for next Saturday. I still need to call Rebecca and Rachael and let them know."_ Jacob chuckled a little.

"I'm sure they'll be thrilled to go to her funeral."

"_Don't be sarcastic, Jacob. She's still my mother, and she's still your grandmother. So I expect you to be respectful."_

"I will be, dad, don't worry. I'm just saying."

"_Fine. But get it all out before Saturday, you here?"_ Jacob nodded.

"Yes, dad." Jacob and Billy said goodbye to each other and Jacob hung up the phone and looked at Nessie, who was now sitting up looking somewhat sad.

"I'm sorry, Jacob." Jacob smiled and hugged Nessie close to him.

"You don't have to pretend you're sorry, Nessie. She was mean to you. She was mean to me too."

"So when are we leaving for Las Vegas?"

"Probably Friday. I'll see if I can get tickets for then. I don't really want to be there that long. I figure we can come in on Friday and leave first thing Sunday morning. Should we take the kids?" Nessie nodded.

"Yeah, we should. She was their grandmother after all. And I'm sure their teachers would be happy to bring them up to speed on what they missed Friday."

"We probably won't have to do that. We can leave after they come home from school. We can have a late flight and come in a little late, then just go to the funeral, back to the hotel and get some sleep before leaving again." Nessie shrugged.

"That works I guess." Jacob smiled at Nessie and kissed her tenderly before turning off the lights and bringing them both under the covers and cuddled until they fell asleep.

Through the week, they made plans to go to Las Vegas and Jacob put Bryan in charge of the shop until he and Nessie came back. They decided it would be easier to just call the kids out of school to fly out. So the kids were sure to let their teachers know and they had their homework the day before. Only Jacob, Nessie, Billy, and the kids left for Nevada. They arrived in Las Vegas around five and went straight to the hotel. The kids shared a room with Nessie and Jacob and Billy was able to have a room to himself. As soon as they got into their room and Jacob started putting down their single bag of luggage, Natalie grabs a hold of Jacob's legs and looks up at him with her classic puppy dog eyes.

"Daddy, can we please go get dinner? I'm hungry." Kevin spoke next.

"Me too. Can we get something to eat?"

"You ate on the plane." Nessie said. Kevin shook his head.

"I didn't like it, so I didn't eat it." Kyle, Nathan, and Natalie nodded in agreement and Nessie sighed.

"Can we wait for a while? We just got here and I want to get some sleep." Jacob looked guilty.

"I'm actually kind of hungry too. Do you want to just stay here and sleep while we go out? Room service is way more than it's worth. I figure we're better off going somewhere and eating good cheap food instead of expensive mediocre food."

"Yeah." Natalie said with a smile. Nessie shrugged.

"That's fine with me. Tell Billy and take him with you." Natalie yells hurray and continued to hold onto Jacob's leg as he and the boys walked out of the hotel room to go get Billy to go out for dinner.

When they were gone, Nessie fell into the bed that she and Jacob would share and fell asleep instantly after hitting the pillow, not even bothering taking off her shoes. She woke up the next morning with her shoes off and under the covers with Jacob, Natalie and Nathan both poking Jacob. Jacob was still sound asleep when Nessie caught them poking Jacob and she made a light sound to get their attention and they both looked at Nessie when they heard her.

"What are you two doing?"

"We're hungry." Nessie sighed at Nathan's comment.

"Why are you poking your father?"

"We're hungry. Daddy said not to bother you. So we're leaving you alone and bothering him." Nessie groaned.

"Baby, poking daddy isn't going to get you what you want. If you force him out of sleep, he'll be cranky and none of us will be happy. I'll just call room service and get you all some food alright." Natalie smiled and hugged Nessie around the neck while she crawled out of bed and went to the phone. Nathan stuck close to Nessie and Kevin and Kyle both woke up and watched Nessie call room service, getting food for everyone. She knew Jacob wouldn't be too happy with her, but she wanted the kids to calm down.

Nessie ordered breakfast for all but herself, taking the orders of those who were awake and guessing at what Jacob would want. He always liked steak and eggs, so Nessie just got him that. Jacob woke up to the boys whining that their food wasn't there yet after waiting for ten minutes and that already set him up for a bad mood. Jacob groaned when the kids woke him up and Nessie told the kids to go check up on Billy so she could attempt to get Jacob out of his bad mood. When they were alone, Nessie sat on the side of the bed next to Jacob and placed her hand on his.

"You got room service? Why?" Nessie sighed.

"They wanted breakfast and I didn't want to wake you. I'm sorry." Jacob sighed.

"Whatever. I had a nightmare that something was poking me with a stick." Nessie smiled a little.

"That wasn't a stick. It was Natalie poking you with her finger. She said you told her not to bother me, so she bothered you instead. She was trying to wake you up and tell you she was hungry." Jacob groaned again.

"This isn't going to be a great trip."

"It shouldn't be. It's for a funeral."

"I guess. But I was hoping they'd behave for a weekend." Nessie giggled.

"They're your kids, Jacob. They won't behave." Jacob smiled a little and grabbed Nessie to bring her closer to him.

"I guess that's my fault then." Nessie smiled and hugged Jacob.

"Let's get dressed while the kids are distracted. When's the funeral?"

"I don't know. Billy's the one with the information." Then Jacob had an idea. "Maybe we could take a shower together. That way, even if the kids come back, they still won't catch us."

"They can't anyway. They don't have keys." Jacob grinned.

"You don't say." Jacob pulled Nessie into his arms with a big smile on his face and took her with him into the bathroom so they could take a shower together. Just in case, Nessie told Jacob to make sure to stay quiet while they were having sex. She didn't want another incident with Kevin. It took forever for him to get over it last time.

After they came and were both clean, they came out, lucky with no kids in the room, and get ready for the funeral. Nessie wore a simple black dress and Jacob wore black slacks and a white shirt and black tie so they were dressed appropriately for a funeral and at least look like they were heartbroken. After Nessie and Jacob were dressed, Billy knocked on the door letting them know the funeral was at one, so they had an hour to get ready before they had to leave. Nessie got the kids dressed in time to leave and when they arrived at the funeral home, there were several men there that Billy didn't know. It appeared that they were they only family at the funeral.

"Who's funeral is this?" Jacob answered Natalie.

"It's your grandma Ann's funeral." Kevin looked at Jacob a little upset.

"You mean the grandma that was rude to mommy?" Jacob rolled his eyes slightly.

"Yes, that one."

"Well, good reddens to her, then." Billy smacked the back of Kevin's head and Kevin grunted a little from the force.

"You mind your mouth." Billy wheeled himself towards the front and the family followed. Billy sat up front and saw a younger guy sitting on a bench to his right. Billy gave him a strange look and finally spoke up. "Excuse me." The guy Billy was speaking to looked at him.

"What?"

"How do you know my mother?" The guy looked surprised.

"Mother? She can't be your mother. She's only fifty two." Billy laughed without humor.

"Sure, kid. So how do you know her?" The guy was quiet a moment, then finally answered.

"I was the one who found her dead."

"Ah. So you were the one night stand."

"How old is she really? She doesn't even look at old as she said she was." Billy rolled his eyes.

"The women was 87 and I'm her son. And I'm over sixty."

"Wow. Your mother aged well."

"I guess you could say that." Billy ended the conversation there. He was really annoyed with the fact that most of the people at the funeral were lovers either current or former. Billy was also the only one who did any crying at all and it was minimal. Even though she was vicious, she was still his mother and he loved her. Jacob felt bad about not crying at the funeral and no one really said anything after the funeral and didn't say much to each other on the way to the airport to go back.


	10. Seoul

Seoul

After coming back from the Funeral of Ann Black, Billy had amazingly been slightly depressed. Rebecca couldn't go to the funeral because she couldn't afford to fly out from Maryland, where she and her husband were now living, and Rachael couldn't afford tickets either. Paul already refused to go to the funeral because he didn't like Ann either. The pack sympathized with Jacob and Billy, but Jacob asked them to stop. He already felt bad for not really mourning his grandmother and his friends' sympathy was only making it worse. Billy did eventually feel a lot better, especially when he found out about her will. After leaving Las Vegas, Ann's lawyer had called them to let them know about her will. Jacob flew himself, Billy, and Nessie back to Nevada, leaving the kids with Nessie's parents, so they could talk with the Lawyer. When they finally arrived at the lawyer's office, Billy sat closest to the lawyer's desk and Nessie and Jacob stood side by side behind Billy. Once he had everything on his desk that he needed, he began speaking.

"Well, first and foremost, let me express my sincere apologies for your loss." Billy smiled a little.

"Thank you." The lawyer smiled a little as well, then went straight to business.

"Well, as I said, your mother has orchestrated a will for herself, being sure to divide everything to her approval. Now I must warn you, I don't remember exactly what it says off hand. She had a habit of changing her will at every turn, so let's hope she was in a good mood the last time she revised it."

"Wait, she revised it? How much and how often?" The Lawyer looked at Jacob, then thought a moment before answering.

"Several times to be frank. As I recall, she revised it after coming back from visiting you all when she found out about Mrs. Renesmee Black. She's changed it since then I promise, but she was in a very bad mood when she came back." Jacob rolled his eyes.

"Great. I'm screwed out of my inheritance because I married a white woman?" The lawyer shook his head.

"Screwed is a harsh word." Billy hit Jacob's leg.

"Let the man talk, Jacob." Jacob sighed heavily, then kept his mouth shut and Billy looked back at the lawyer. "Now what does her will say?" The lawyer, Mr. Freedman was his name, put on his glasses and took out a large pile of papers from a manila envelope and began reading through really quickly. After finishing the first paragraph, he finally looked up.

"She gets right to the point, that Ann. Anyway, the first thing she expresses in her will is that Billy will get all her gambling earnings, which amounts to.." Mr. Freedman got out another form to look at, then looked back at Billy, "$267,000. Plus her life insurance that she had, and that's another $50,000, which totals over $300,000. And her will expresses the desire that the money be equally divided among the grandkids once you pass away." Billy looked a little stunned.

"I never knew she was worth that much."

"Although you get this money, as far as who gets it when you pass away will have to be specified in your own will. So when you get the chance, you'll want to do that with your lawyer."

"I don't have a lawyer. I don't even have a will." Mr. Freedman looked up at Billy.

"I suggest you do so. Especially since you have assets and family to look out for. You never know when the worst could happen." Billy groaned.

"I guess I should."

"Believe me, I know how daunting it is. But you'll feel a lot better knowing that if anything does, God forbid, happen to you, then your family will be alright. It takes a huge weight off your shoulders."

"I guess. So what else is there? She seems to have written a lot down." Mr. Freedman turned the page to look at the next few paragraphs of the will.

"Jacob, it says here that since you've earned yourself a shop, she wants you to have another $50,000 that she had in her savings to put towards your business just in….never mind."

"What?"

"Nothing. It said something about Mrs. Black. Just know you have.."

"What did she say?" Nessie interrupted. Reluctantly, Mr. Freedman looked at the sentence.

"It says, 'To Jacob, firstly, I leave $50,000 to put towards his well earned business just in case his wife leaves him. To him I also leave my home in Las Vegas for the same reason'. I'm very sorry. I tried to tell her not to put that there, but she insisted." Nessie rolled her eyes.

"Even from the grave she's trying to ruin my marriage." Mr. Freedman laughed a little.

"It certainly feels that way. Now, Jacob, to you she also left her car. It's a nice car. A 2010 Buick Lacrosse that she expresses is to be driven by you and you only." Nessie laughed without humor.

"Suck it, Ann. I'm driving that car." There was a moment of silence before Mr. Freedman continued.

"That's all as far as Jacob is concerned. You might want to call your daughters and let them know what they got. They each got $50,000 and they each got other personal belongings of hers. Rebecca got her wedding ring and Rachael got her engagement ring." Mr. Freedman pulled out the two boxes that held each ring. "Those are in here for you. I assume you know which is which. And like Jacob, she also leaves Rebecca keys to her condo in Vegas if she ever…..," Mr. Freedman sighed, "If she ever decides to come to her senses and dump that white trash hillbilly of a husband and find a real man." Everyone looked at him stunned. "I swear those are her words not mine." Billy sighed.

"Don't worry, I know. It sounds like something she'd say. So what else is there? Does everyone get money and that's all?"

"Yep. That's it. And Billy, please take my advice about making a Will for yourself. It'll make your life so much easier."

"Mine or his?" Billy pointed at Jacob.

"Well, dad, by the time we'll even look at the Will, you'll be dead, so I'd say it'll make my life easier."

"Why would I do that and make your life easier after I'm gone when I could make things a living hell? It would be my way of teasing you one last time." Jacob and Billy shared a laugh and Mr. Freedman handed Jacob one set of keys to her condo and promised to send the other one to Rebecca in Maryland. When they were back at the hotel, Jacob took out that key and looked at it a moment.

"Maybe I should sell this. I could put it on the market and split the money into three with my sisters."

"Why do that when we could keep it and have it as a romantic destination?" Jacob gave Nessie a weird look.

"I'm not usually superstitious, Nessie, but I'm not risking upsetting grandma's ghost. And she'll haunt me more than you." Nessie giggled and rolled her eyes.

"Fine, Jacob. We'll sell it." Jacob smiled and kissed Nessie lovingly.

"Thank you, Nessie." Nessie smiled back and hugged Jacob tightly. They all went back to Washington the next day and Billy sent Rebecca the key to the condo that Ann left her and the check and ring. Rachael and Paul were happy about the money they'd received and Rachael was extremely happy with the ring.

Shortly after coming back home, Nessie and Jacob brought the kids to the Cullen house for dinner and Gretchen and Tae Sook happened to be there because Tae Sook and Valerie wanted to discuss wedding planning. Alice had already ordered a dress that she'd designed herself and had anticipated it being attainable by winter. When Jacob and Nessie arrived with the kids, Gretchen walked to Jacob and hugged him. He ignored the smell and hugged her slightly back.

"I'm so sorry about your grandmother." Jacob shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. It's done with. So what brings you here?"

"Well, I'm invited to Tae Sook and Valerie's wedding and I wanted to help plan. Let's be honest, Tae Sook doesn't make enough to afford this wedding and I wanted to help out. He is one of my best scouters after all."

"Why isn't Valerie planning her wedding? She's a wedding planner."

"Because I plan other people's weddings all day, every day. I'd like the chance to sit back and actually enjoy the wedding process. And since I'm in a position to do that, I'll take advantage of it." Jacob shrugged.

"Whatever you want. It's your wedding. And by the way, how do you plan to get all the guests to Korea? I doubt all your friends can afford a roundtrip ticket to a third world Asian country."

"We'll pay for the tickets for my friends. At least the girls that need to be there. And besides, all the friends I'm inviting can easily swim or run if all else fails."

"Oh come on, Valerie," said Ryan, "you can't expect your maid of honor to run to South Korea from Italy. Even if she has Felix with her, it'll take forever for them to get there."

"What do you mean 'IF' Felix comes with her? Why wouldn't he? You honestly think he would allow Lia to be alone in a strange country, particularly with you? I think he'd shoot his foot first."

"Like shooting his foot would do anything." Not in the mood to argue at the moment, Tae Sook changed the subject.

"So aside from Lia, who else are we inviting? I already called my mom and she said she'd handle invitations on my side of the family." Ryan laughed a bit.

"Who on your side would want to go? Don't they know about the little nurse kill fiasco?" Tae Sook kept smiling.

"Actually, most of them do. My mom wasn't very secretive about what happened to me. Of course, most of them don't believe her and they think I'm dead. My dad's side know what happened and will probably refuse to come to the wedding because of what I did. Mom's side don't have TVs for the most part. So they only know what mom told them."

"So what you're saying is we shouldn't expect anyone on your family to show up except your parents?"

"I didn't say that. I doubt anyone on my dad's side will come, but my mother's side is mostly likely coming, even if only to see whether or not my mother's sane. Either way, we'll have enough food and accommodations for everyone who comes. Why do you ask so many questions today, Ryan?" Ryan shrugged.

"Just because I don't like the groom doesn't mean I can't expect my sister to have the wedding of her dreams. Which, by the way, is why having the wedding in Korea is ass retarded."

"How so? Having the wedding in Korea makes it easier for my side of the family to come. And I want as many on my side to come as possible. I haven't seen them all in over ten years. And it would make my mother happy."

"Jesus, Valerie. You couldn't decide to marry a man that wasn't still attached to his umbilical cord?" Valerie rolled her eyes at Ryan and Tae Sook spoke in his own defense.

"I believe the term you're looking for is a grateful and attentive son, Ryan. I don't see you going out of your way to make your mother happy." Ryan glared at Tae Sook.

"If mom ever needs anything, I'm the first one to help. There's a big difference between being independent and being distant. Thank you very much." Tae Sook shrugged.

"If you say so, Ryan." Ryan looked at Tae Sook surprised a bit.

"That's it? No colorful retort?"

"Ryan, I'm in a good mood today. I don't want to argue with you. Just once, could you be a halfway decent human being and let me and my future wife plan out wedding?" Ryan was about to say something, but Edward placed his hand on Ryan's shoulder letting him know now was the time to shut up. Tae Sook bowed his head to show his appreciation to Edward. Then Gretchen took over the conversation.

"What's certain is the bar tenders and scouters are all invited to the ceremony. Though I doubt all of them will go, so there will be plenty of people still there to run the place, so Red Night will still be open for the duration of this trip. Vacation or not, I still need to make money off this place. And if everyone does decide to come, I can always call on my employees in New York or Chicago or Salt Lake City to come and help. No one from Las Vegas can come, though. We hardly get to work since Nevada is so sunny, so construction is going slow." Jacob looked at Gretchen surprised.

"You decided to build a Red Night in Vegas? When did you start doing that?"

"About a year ago. But like I said, construction's going by very slowly because of the sun."

"Can't you hire a construction company to do the work for you?" Gretchen shook her head.

"Not at all. They might get too suspicious. And if any of them figure out what we really are, I wouldn't know what to do that would best help the situation. So I would much prefer to avoid it entirely and have my scouters and other workers do it instead. Besides, if we aren't positive how to do something, we go to a hardware store and a book store and ask or get a book and read up on what to do. So far, all my construction projects have come out perfectly despite the lack of experience some have. I was even thinking, if business goes well in Tokyo and I like the location, I may begin construction on a Red Night in Seoul." Tae Sook shook his head despite Gretchen's apparent enthusiasm.

"No, don't waste your money, Gretchen. There aren't many vampires in Korea, or Vietnam, or any of those countries. It's too humid, disease is too rampant, and despite the excessive population in places like India for example, so many of the people are sick that there's no good blood to be had. So vampires typically avoid the area entirely. And since those places are also really sunny most of the year, living there would be a huge waste for a vampire. That's why I asked Alice to make sure she picked a day that was rainy for us to have the wedding. It's the only hope we have for an overcast day so Valerie and I don't have to hold the wedding so late." Gretchen sighed.

"I know you're right. I've never been to those countries, so I was hoping maybe I could determine for myself whether or not those places were good business locations."

"You could still make it a bar; it just wouldn't thrive as a blood bar. And truth be told, the wealthy class in South Korea, and North Korea for that matter, is really small. Politicians and big business owners are rich, but that's about it. Everyone else is either dirt poor, or just barely middle class. That's what my family is. Lower middle class."

"Tragic." Ryan responded sarcastically before walking away. As he made his way to go upstairs, Sparta was walking down the stairs meowing away. Valerie looked towards the staircase and began calling for Sparta to come to her while Ryan walked upstairs. Sparta took his time, but eventually got to Valerie's lap and started purring. "Stupid cat." Then Ryan walked up the rest of the stairs and to his room he and Valerie still shared so he could be to himself and maybe do some work. Tae Sook was relieved to be rid of him and finally relaxed a bit.

"Now that my evil brother-in-law is gone, let's plan for the wedding a little more." Valerie just looked at Tae Sook a moment with a very light smile, then turned all her attention to Sparta and started petting his belly since he was laying on his back.

"I haven't called a caterer yet for the event. I was waiting for you to find one you liked and you can call and talk to them." Tae Sook shook his head.

"Honestly, not many of our guests are even eating. And the ones who are have picky tastes last I remember. I'm planning to ask my aunts to just make the dinner themselves. People do that all the time anyway and they'd be happy to contribute." Valerie shook her head.

"I'd rather they didn't. If nothing else, I want the cake professionally done." Tae Sook smiled.

"If you want. Should I tell them to make it all peach flavor?"

"Actually, whatever sounds good to you is fine. I don't know their taste. I hear Lychee's are good though."

"I remember liking them. We could always serve Lychee ice cream. I used to get that sometimes when I was out of the hospital. Mom would sneak me some too." Valerie smiled.

"Is lychee so delicious?"

"It's a common fruit is all. Especially on the main land. We can buy some and you can try it if you like." Valerie shrugged.

"I suppose we could do that." Valerie and Tae Sook smiled at each other, then Tae Sook's phone started ringing. He stole a peck on the cheek on Valerie before checking to see who was calling. He immediately answered.

"안녕하세요(_annyeonghaseyo_)(_Hello_)?" Valerie began to hear another person speak on the other line.

"Who is it?" Tae Sook looked at whispered, "It's mom," then went back to his conversation. Tae Sook stood from his seat and went to the music room so he and his mom could have a more private conversation regarding invitations and who would make the food and so on.

Alice didn't start sending out invitations until November of that year. Everyone was invited, including the pack. Even Alec and Jane were invited, even though no one saw them since Aro and Caius were killed. Valerie invited Ada-María and asked her to be a bride's maid, though Lia would be the maid of honor. What bothered Jacob as always was the fact that Ada-María being invited meant that Marcelo would also be invited. Nessie hadn't seen or even heard from Marcelo in a long time and she was eager to see him again. She wanted to introduce him to her kids. She knew Marcelo and Kevin would get along royally. They had the same mischievous tendencies and were both wicked in a sense, so Nessie was sure Kevin would get along with Marcelo really well.

The time, for Valerie and Tae Sook, was spent planning the wedding. Meaning Valerie told Tae Sook what she wanted and he called his family and told them what needed to be done to make Valerie's dream wedding. They had decided that they wedding would be held New Years Eve. It was an obnoxious time in some people's opinion, but Valerie thought it would be a great time to have it. And from what she could tell, hardly any of her guests really had jobs, so there wasn't much of a problem. And according to Tae Sook, his family didn't have a problem with the wedding date, so they stuck with it. On the bright side, they came up with the date when it was early summer, so there was still time for those who did work to arrange to get work off and center their plans around the wedding.

Alice, since she already designed Valerie's dress, picked out her bride's maid's dresses that would be a deep blue color. Tae Sook's mother ended picking the temple that Valerie and Tae Sook would get married in. It was the same temple that she and her husband had gotten married. They would be married at the Bongeunsa Buddhist Temple. Valerie was reluctant about it, but Tae Sook showed her some of his parents' wedding photos that showed what the temple looked like and that made her warm up a little more to the idea. But she still wasn't sure about having a Buddhist ceremony. They agreed finally to have the ceremony performed by a Baptist priest. Emmett's family had been Baptist, so it was more an effort to make everyone happy. Valerie invited all the pack members, but Jacob was the only one going, and only because Nessie was making him. No one had the money to go to Korea for a wedding and they turned down financial help when it was offered. But they bought wedding gifts to make up for their absence.

When it was finally December, Tae Sook left first so he could handle any last minute things, leaving Valerie in the US. About two weeks after Tae Sook left for Korea, the dress that Alice had designed finally arrived at the house and Valerie could finally try it on. The dress had a silk lining and was covered by a top material that consisted of small flowers and cranes to give the dress a distinctly Asian feel. It was an empire waste and the top of the dress was a tight fitting variation of the traditional Korean dress with quarter sleeves. Valerie loved it and knew that Tae Sook would love it too. Then, when it was a week before the wedding, Valerie and all her guests began making their way to Seoul. Waiting to get on the plane was long and miserable, especially for the kids. When the plane was finally ready to be boarded, Natalie walked on the plane with Kevin behind her. He had an idea. Edward looked at Kevin, but sighed to himself and decided to let it go. He wasn't doing anything bad.

"Nat." Natalie looked at Kevin. "Remember, Nat, you have to take off your shoes before boarding the plane." Natalie looked at Kevin surprised.

"I do? Why?"

"Sanitation reasons." Natalie continued to look at Kevin a moment, then bent down to untie her shoes. Kevin, Kyle, and Nathan walked ahead of her. The woman checking tickets noticed Natalie untying her shoes.

"Excuse me, young lady. You don't have to take off your shoes. You can leave them on if you wish." Natalie looked up at the woman, then frowned and ran onto the plane after Kevin. She yelled out his name, but forgot that her right shoe was still untied and she tripped on her shoe laces. Jacob heard her trip and walked over to her to help her get back on her feet.

"You alright, Nat?" Natalie nodded and stood up. "Why is your shoe untied?" Natalie looked at Kevin angrily.

"Kevin said I needed to take off my shoes. The lady at the desk didn't tell me I didn't need to until I'd already untied my shoe." Jacob rolled his eyes and looked at Kevin.

"Kevin." Kevin shrugged.

"I was just playing a prank on her. She wasn't hurt."

"I fell on my face, you meany!"

"That's your fault. You should know better than to run when your shoes are untied." Natalie kept glaring at Kevin. Jacob picked her up and walked to the plane, but not before kicked Kevin in the butt, hard enough for it to hurt, but not enough to make him fall over. Tae Sook, before he left, lent a bunch of his handheld game systems to Jacob so he could make sure the kids stayed occupied through the flight. Thankfully, he had games that were in English, so he didn't have to worry about them asking him what something meant. They were on the plane for a total of thirteen hours and had to stop in Hawaii. But they were only there for an hour, so they didn't have time to enjoy themselves while there and by the time they finally arrived in Seoul, it was eight in the morning. Jacob and Nessie were the first two to get off the plane and Jacob took a look around and sighed.

"I'm literally three feet taller than everyone here." Nessie giggled. Kevin looked around, then looked at Nessie.

"Mommy, what's that spicy cabbage smell?"

"I think that's kimchi." Kevin was silent and stayed so until everyone was off the plane and began making their way to baggage claim. Then Edward chuckled a little when a thought came across Kevin's head.

"We don't have to eat dog while we're here do we?" Everyone started laughing, but Jacob looked right at Valerie.

"We don't right?" Valerie shrugged.

"Of course not! Only old school Koreans do that."

"And you know this for a fact?"

"Ryan asked already and Tae Sook answered, so yes, I know for a fact. Though if you ask nicely, I'm sure one of Tae Sook's grandmothers will happily fillet you some dog." Jacob shook his head and Emmett spoke with a grin.

"That would be cannibalism, honey, which is frowned upon in most civilized society." Jacob ignored Emmett's teasing, but Natalie looked up at Jacob with a sad face.

"Daddy, please don't make me eat a poor doggy." Jacob looked at Natalie's sad little face and he patted her head gently.

"Don't worry, Nat. You won't have to eat dog." Natalie kept hugging Jacob's leg while he grabbed his suitcase when he saw it. Nessie's suitcase was next. It took almost an hour to get all their bags together, but once they finally had all their bags, they walked outside and found a man outside holding a sign that had 'Cullens' written on it. Valerie came to the front of the group to greet the man. When Valerie walked to him, he bowed his head humbly.

"Are you Valerie Cullen?" The man, to everyone's relief, didn't have a heavy accent. It was certainly there, but not so much that he was hard to understand.

"Yes, that's me." The man smiled and held out his hand. Valerie took it and shook his hand.

"Good wishes to the happy bride." Valerie smiled and looked around a moment.

"Where's Tae Sook?"

"Mr. Hanamura has instructed me to take all of you to the hotel where you will be staying. He has promised to meet you there. My associate and I shall drive you there." Valerie and the rest of the family followed the man out of the airport where two limos were waiting for them outside.

"When will the other guests get here?" Valerie asked Emmett.

"They'll all start showing up three days before the wedding. Don't worry, honey. They'll be here." Valerie sighed and kept quiet while getting into the limo. Nessie and Jacob were in the other limo with Edward, Bella, Alice, and Jasper. Natalie sat on Jacob's lap while the boys sat next to Nessie. It always made Nessie giggle a little that Natalie was such a daddy's girl.

They arrived at the Millennium Hilton Hotel four hours after they arrived in Korea. A large group of men that worked for the hotel came out to help the family with their luggage. Their drivers opened their doors and everyone came out and took a minute to look at the hotel. It was a nice hotel for sure. The lobby was even more breath taking. It had a high ceiling and there were two floors, separated by a large staircase that had an open middle section. Tae Sook was waiting at the bottom of the staircase. When Valerie saw him, she ran to him and hugged him tightly. They shared a moment of silent hugging, then he looked at the family with a smile.

"It's nice to see you all again. It's been a while." Everyone smiled.

"I missed you. Are all the guests from your side already here?" Tae Sook smiled.

"Most of them live here. The few who don't won't be here until the night before the wedding."

"Who did you invite that isn't here in Korea?"

"I invited Midori. The one who changed me." Valerie looked at Tae Sook surprised.

"Really?"

"Yeah. She was nice to me and we were friends. I was just in a bad place at the time so we didn't get as close as we would have otherwise. She said she would love to come."

"If it's alright with you then. Are you the only one here?"

"Yeah, it's just me. I'm here to take you guys to my Aunt's house when you're ready to go. She's making dinner." Tae Sook looked at Jacob and the kids. "I take it you've never had Korean food before?" Jacob shrugged.

"I've had kimchi ramen before when Nessie was at college."

"Ah. I can honestly say Kimchi flavor isn't like the real thing. My aunt has an entire patch of her back yard devoted to kimchi and she leaves them to ferment for three years each. She even rotates them regularly. And with all that care, it makes for really good kimchi. But that's based off what I remember. I know the rest of you won't eat, but please don't deny anything."

"Are you telling me saying no is rude in this country?" Emmett elbowed Ryan, but Tae Sook answered anyway.

"Saying no isn't rude per se. It's just polite to accept whatever your host offers. If you don't, it's implying that they're not being a gracious host and that's rude. You'll hurt my aunt's feelings."

"So what you're saying is you want us all to stomach eating the food?"

"As much as you can. I've been pretending to eat it all month and I have to say, making it come up hasn't been hard." Valerie looked at Tae Sook.

"Isn't that equally as rude?" Tae Sook chuckled.

"Only if she catches me. And mom knows the deal about my eating habits, so if she catches me, she doesn't say anything. You'll meet her tonight when we go to my aunt's house for dinner. She's really eager to meet you too." Valerie smiled.

"I'm eager to meet her too. I've heard so much about her over the past several years and it would be a joy to finally meet her." Tae Sook smiled and hugged Valarie tighter to him still and he walked them to the desk to get their keys to their rooms. Nessie and Jacob had their own room with the kid's room being separated from them only by two doors that opened one way. Nessie opened both suitcases and began hanging a few things in the closet space provided, leaving things like underwear in the suitcases.

"You know, this is the first time I've ever been to a foreign country other than Canada." Nessie smiled.

"You never really wanted to go anywhere else."

"I guess. I have to admit, Korea wasn't exactly my first choice of what foreign country I'd like to visit in my lifetime."

"I didn't think you really had a list of foreign countries you'd want to visit. You're not much of a traveling kind of guy."

"I know, Nessie." Jacob walked to the bed and fell down exhausted. He hated the flying aspect of traveling. Flying made him tired, even if the flight wasn't too long. "I'm so tired." Nessie walked to the bed and lay down next to him, hugging him as best she could. He turned to face Nessie and smiled. "Did Tae Sook say what time we were going to his aunt's house?"

"I don't remember. I'm sure we'll get a call when they're about to leave." Jacob nodded absent mindedly, his lids droopy from sleepiness. Nessie stayed beside him and rubbed his back while he took a nap. Nessie liked watching Jacob sleep. He looked so peaceful when he did. Jacob was able to get in a four hour nap before her cell phone rang. It was Edward letting her know that they were leaving for Tae Sook's Aunt's house.

Nessie woke up Jacob and they let themselves into the kids' room and woke them up so they could leave. Nessie went to Edward and asked him to help carry the kids out. Natalie and Nathan were refusing to wake up and Kevin was more asleep then awake. Kyle was fine, but since the others were being held, he wanted to be held too. They took the same limos to the Aunt's house and the drive there was a good thirty minute drive. Upon their arrival, Tae Sook was the first to step out of the car and Valerie followed closely behind him. The rest of the family also followed behind Tae Sook as he walked to the small house. The neighborhood wasn't horrible, but it was a far cry from what they were used to. And it was much hotter and mustier. But thankfully, today was also cloudy, so the sun wasn't present. Alice had checked the week, and the month of December promised to be a very dreary month as far as weather was concerned, so they didn't need to worry. Before Tae Sook reached the front door, an older looking woman, couldn't be older than her forties, opened the door and walked out and began babbling in Korean. Behind her wan a man that looked much older, possibly in his sixties.

Tae Sook began talking to the woman that was babbling to him with a big smile on his face. Then he brought Valerie by his side so the woman could see her and continued to talk to the woman. The woman hugged Valerie suddenly and began to talk to her. Then Tae Sook interrupted that, then the woman looked apologetic. The older man walked over to the group with a small smile and held out his hand to Valerie.

"I'm sorry, my wife doesn't speak English. I'm Ryoji, Tae Sook's father. This is his mother Mi Sun. She was saying she's heard a lot about you and was happy to finally meet you." Valerie looked at Mi Sun, who still had dark black hair with a slightly wrinkled face, but it was hardly unbecoming on her. But Tae Sook looked at his father, though it was a little harder to tell since his father's hair was getting white and his face was wrinkled clearly from years of smoking.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too. It's a pleasure to finally meet you Mi Sun." Mi Sun smiled and began speaking in Korean again, but Ryoji didn't bother translating this time. She wasn't saying anything really important other than welcoming Valerie to the family. A large group of people came out of the house now. Tae Sook turned to Valerie.

"The eldest woman in the group is my great aunt. The rest are aunts and cousins. They'll introduce themselves to you when they get to you, okay." Valerie smiled and looked towards the family members who were crowding around her. The relatives that couldn't speak English had Tae Sook translate what they said while the few that did speak English had a quick conversation with her. Valerie's family and Tae Sook's family introduced themselves to one another, Tae Sook and his father translating for those who didn't speak English. When everyone was introduced properly, Tae Sook's family invited everyone inside the small house, where the smell of food was heavy in the air.

"What's your mom making?" Tae Sook smiled.

"They're making some budae jjigae. It's a type of stew. It was a favorite of mine when I was a kid and it's an easy recipe to make for a large group." Valerie took in another deep breath.

"It smells spicy." Tae Sook shrugged.

"That's how I liked it. And of course there will be plenty of rice. And my aunt brought up a new batch of kimchi from the back yard for this special occasion."

"Now I feel bad that I won't be eating." Tae Sook smiled.

"You don't have to eat much. Just pretend it's the best food in the world." Ryan walked over to Valerie's side.

"How spicy is all this?"

"The kimchi is the hotter stuff. Everything else should be fine. Why, do you not like spicy food?"

"I only like venison." That suddenly reminded Tae Sook of something and he looked back at Valerie.

"We have some lychee berries that we just got today if you want to try it." Valerie nodded and Tae Sook led her with him to the kitchen that was packed with the women of Tae Sook's family. He asked his mother for a lychee berry and gave it to Valerie.

"How do I eat this? The outside's hard."

"It's not too thick. All you do is peel away the hard outer shell. Just remember, there's a seed in the middle, so be careful." Valerie did what Tae Sook said. Kevin and the other kids came into the kitchen too and watched Valerie taste the berry. She scrunched her nose lightly and Tae Sook laughed. "I take it you didn't like it." Valerie shook her head.

"Not very much." Tae Sook smiled and Kevin walked closer to Valerie and snatched the berry from her and tried it himself.

"It's pretty good. Do you have any more?" Tae Sook grabbed the basket that held the lychee, but his aunt, Aunt Chun Hei, stopped Tae Sook and looked at Kevin.

"Not now, dear. You can have more when dinner finished." Her English was harder to understand, but it was better than a lot of the others. Kevin sighed and the kids walked out of the kitchen. Then Chun Hei looked at Valerie. "They nephews?" Valerie shook her head.

"They're my cousins. Their mother Nessie is my first cousin." Natalie, who hadn't left the kitchen, walked closer to Aunt Chun Hei and gently tugged her skirt to get her attention.

"Why isn't there a Christmas Tree in your house? I looked and I couldn't find one." Chun Hei was confused, then she looked at Tae Sook.

"크리스마스 트리는 무엇입니까?_(__keuliseumaseu teulineun mueos-ibnikka?)(What is a Christmas Tree?)"_

"위에 천사와 다양한 스타일의 장식으로 장식된 상록수 나무입니다. 미국에서는 크리스마스에 아래에 부착 할 것입니다 어린이들을위한 선물. 크리스마스는 미국에서 큰 명절입니다.(_Wie cheonsawa dayanghan seutail-ui jangsig-eulo jangsigdoen sanglogsu namu-ibnida. Migug-eseoneun keuliseumaseue alaee buchag hal geos-ibnida eolin-ideul-eul-wihan seonmul. Keuliseumaseuneun migug-eseo keun myeongjeol-ibnida.)(_ _It is an evergreen tree decorated with many different style ornaments with an angel on top. In America, presents for children are put under it on Christmas Day. Christmas is a big holiday in America.)_" Chun Hei was still confused.

"에버그린은 무엇입니까?(_Ebeogeulin-eun mueos-ibnikka?)(What is an Evergreen?)_"

"에버그린 나무들이 일년 내내 녹색 유럽과 미국의 북부 지방에 큰 나무입니다. 그들도 그들에게 독특한 냄새가있다. 내가 당신에게 하나의 사진을 보여 줄까?(_Ebeogeulin namudeul-i ilnyeon naenae nogsaeg yuleobgwa migug-ui bugbu jibang-e keun namu-ibnida. Geudeuldo geudeul-ege dogteughan naemsaegaissda. Naega dangsin-ege hanaui sajin-eul boyeo julkka?)(An Evergreen tree is a large tree in Northern parts of Europe and America that are green all year. They have a distinct smell to them too. Should I show you a picture of one?_" The Aunt shook her head.

"아니, 내가 무슨 말을하는지 알 것 같아요. 그런데 왜 크리스마스는 한국에서 발생하는 방법을 어린 소녀에게 설명을 안 했어? 지금 그 불쌍한 소녀가 실망하게 될 것입니다. _(__Ani, naega museun mal-eulhaneunji al geos gat-ayo. Geuleonde wae keuliseumaseuneun hangug-eseo balsaenghaneun bangbeob-eul eolin sonyeoege seolmyeong-eul an haess-eo? Jigeum geu bulssanghan sonyeoga silmanghage doel geos-ibnida.)(__No. I think I know what you are talking about. But why did you not explain to the little girl how Christmas occurs in Korea? Now the poor little girl will be disappointed.)_"

"내가하지만 그것을 설명 아마 내가 안 그랬어 맹세 수 있습니다._(__Naegahajiman geugeos-eul seolmyeong ama naega an geulaess-eo maengse su issseubnida.)(I could swear I explained it but perhaps I did not.)_" Aunt Chun Hei sighed, then looked back at Natalie, who was confused herself. She couldn't understand a word they were saying. Valerie was already getting a headache herself.

"I'm sorry dear. But we not have Christmas tree. We don't do much for Christmas here." Then Natalie looked disappointed.

"Oh." Chun Hei sighed and looked right back at Tae Sook with a stern look in her eyes.

"당신이 나를 어떻게 만들었는지 보라 구! 이제 불쌍한 것은 슬픈 일이 난 악마 일 닮았어요!(_Dangsin-i naleul eotteohge mandeul-eossneunji bola gu! Ije bulssanghan geos-eun seulpeun il-i nan agma il dalm-ass-eoyo!)(__Look at what you made me do! Now the poor thing is sad and I look like the evil one!)_" Tae Sook looked defensive.

"당신은 기분이 좋지? 언제부터? 당신은 버릇없고 불쾌해하는 미국의 자녀를 비난 하나이다. 왜 지금 나한테 화난거야?(_Dangsin-eun gibun-i johji? Eonjebuteo? Dangsin-eun beoleus-eobsgo bulkwaehaehaneun migug-ui janyeoleul binan hanaida. Wae jigeum nahante hwanangeoya?)(You feel bad? Since when? You are the one who accused American children of being spoiled and ungrateful. Why are you mad at me now?)_" Chun Hei waved her hands at Tae Sook and stopped talking to him so she could turn her attention back to the tofu she was cleaning.

"What's the matter?" Valerie asked. Tae Sook sighed.

"She's just upset because I forgot something." Chun Hei looked at Tae Sook, but decided to leave it alone and kept patting down the tofu to get rid of the access water. Natalie was still looking at Tae Sook.

"If you say so." Then Valerie turned to Aunt Chun Hei. "Is there anything you would like me to do?" Chun Hei smiled.

"You can help dry tofu. You do what I do." Chun Hei then showed Valerie how to dry out the excess water from the tofu and it was done in half the time when she helped. Once they were done with that, Valerie helped with the noodles. She stuck with Chun Hei for that time since she was the one that spoke English in the group.

Since the usual eating area wasn't very big, Tae Sook and his cousins had set up a large table in the backyard so everyone could sit comfortably. It was the most amount of people that were ever at Aunt Yun Hee's house at ounce since she was a little girl. According to Tae Sook, she was the relative that was related the closest to Mi Sun's mother, who was still in North Korea. They were both young when the Korean war broke out and they were separated after the war. And Aunt Yun Hee was the one who had a son with an American soldier. Her son's name was Jae and also spoke English and Emmett, Jasper, Carlisle, and Edward were able to strike up a conversation with him.

"So do you know your father?" Jae shook his head at Emmett.

"No, I never knew him. According to mother, he ended up being killed. Jung Ko was a good man, so it wasn't hard to adopt him as my father when he and my mother married. But I must admit, mother still misses my father from time to time. He'd promised to take her with him to America so they could get married, but since he was killed, that obviously couldn't happen."

"How do you know he died?" Carlisle asked.

"My father had asked his superiors to make her a person of interest so if he died, she would be sent a note informing her, the way other family members would get. When he was killed, a group of soldiers came to my mother's home with an American flag and told her that my father died in action. She was still pregnant with me at the time. She still has the flag too, but she keeps it locked away. She's shown it to me once, but she gave me one of his badges as a way to remember him. Mother keeps the flag to herself." The group was momentarily silent.

"I'm sorry you never got to know him." Carlisle said with sympathy. Jae shook his head.

"Don't worry. I've seen pictures of him and mother tells me stories of him even now. It's almost like I knew him all along." Carlisle smiled.

"Have you and your wife ever been to America?" asked Edward. Jae shook his head.

"Too expensive. My older son went to America, though. He works for an engineering company, so he gets to go from time to time. He's not here now because he's visiting New York." Jasper kept to himself what bothered him about what Jae just said. Jasper was alive when industry was still in America and it angered him immensely that most of production went overseas now. But he kept that to himself to avoid an argument and changed the subject.

"So what was your job before you retired?"

"I'm not retired yet. But I work for a suit shop downtown. It's good pay. It sent my older son to college, so that's better than nothing."

"How many kids do you have if you don't mind my asking?" Carlisle asked.

"Five. My oldest son was able to go to college, but my other kids couldn't afford it. They couldn't get scholarships like their brother." Curious, Jasper then enquired about other government issues, including relations with North Korea, but Jae didn't want to talk much about that. When it was finally dinner time, Tae Sook sat next to Valerie, who sat next to his mother. Rosalie sat across the table from her because she still wanted to talk to her too.

"So, Mi Sun, your son tells me that you grew up in North Korea." Tae Sook translated for his mother, who then nodded in response.

"예.(Ye)"

"'Yes.'" Tae Sook translated.

"What was that like, living in a place like that. I'm sorry for being intrusive, but I'm just curious." The rest of the family turned to Rosalie and Mi Sun while Tae Sook translated. Mi Sun smiled and shook her head.

"그런 생각하지 마십시오. 당신은 가족입니다. 당신이 원하는 무슨 일인지 물어보세요.(_Geuleon saeng-gaghaji masibsio. Dangsin-eun gajog-ibnida. Dangsin-i wonhaneun museun il-inji mul-eoboseyo.)_"

"' Do not feel such. You are family. Ask me what you wish.'" Rosalie smiled and Mi Sun smiled back before continuing her story.

"귀하의 질문에 답변하려면 북한에 살고있는 다음 여기에 살고있는 많은 차이가 있습니다. 내가 어렸을 때 몰랐지만, 자라 몇 가지 권리를했다_.__(__Gwihaui jilmun-e dabbyeonhalyeomyeon bughan-e salgoissneun da-eum yeogie salgoissneun manh-eun chaiga issseubnida. Naega eolyeoss-eul ttae mollassjiman, jala myeoch gaji gwonlileulhaessda.)_"

"' To answer your question, living in North Korea is much different then living here. I never noticed when I was little, but I had few rights growing up.'"

"나는 우리가 우리 집에 있던 라디오를 기억 해요. 내 아버지는 우리가 충분히뿐 아니라 텔레비전이있어서 운이 있었다, 그래서 정치 사람이었습니다. 각 정부의 도구가되었다.(_Naneun uliga uli jib-e issdeon ladioleul gieog haeyo. Nae abeojineun uliga chungbunhippun anila tellebijeon-iiss-eoseo un-i iss-eossda, geulaeseo jeongchi salam-ieossseubnida. Gag jeongbuui dogugadoeeossda.)_"

"'I remember the radio we had in our home. My father was a political man, so we were lucky enough to have a television as well. Each was a tool of the government.'"

"나뿐만 아니라 대용량 게임되었습니다. 난 성능의 체조 부분에 수행했습니다.대용량 게임 너무 선생님은 우리가 열심히 우리가 준비 될 있도록 훈련을 실시 될 일련의 날짜는 없었어.(_Nappunman anila daeyonglyang geimdoeeossseubnida. Nan seongneung-ui chejo bubun-e suhaenghaessseubnida. Daeyonglyang geim neomu seonsaengnim-eun uliga yeolsimhi uliga junbi doel issdolog hunlyeon-eul silsi doel illyeon-ui naljjaneun eobs-eoss-eo.)_"

"' I was in the Mass Games as well. I performed in the gymnastics portion of the performance. There was never a set date the Mass Games would be held, so the teachers trained us hard so we would be prepared.'" Mi Sun then looked thoughtful.

"일부는 이해 못되는 루틴이 없어서 사실, 난 전에 집에 자정이 가까워 오는 기억 해요. 학교는 이른 아침과 정오에 종료했다. 학교의 하루 중 나머지는 연습과 점령했다._(__Ilbuneun ihae mosdoeneun lutin-i eobs-eoseo sasil, nan jeon-e jib-e jajeong-i gakkawo oneun gieog haeyo. Haggyoneun ileun achimgwa jeong-o-e jonglyohaessda. Haggyoui halu jung nameojineun yeonseubgwa jeomlyeonghaessda.)_"

"' In fact, I remember coming home close to midnight before because there was a routine that some could not understand. School began early in the morning and ended at noon. The rest of the school day was occupied with practicing.'" Rosalie looked at Tae Sook questioningly.

"What are the Mass Games?" Tae Sook, without translating to his mother, answered Rosalie.

"The Mass Games is a big recital in a sense that's held on Kim Jung Il's birthday when he was the ruler. His son's in power now(_author's note: not this moment, but by the time this is based, his son will probably be the one in power_) so it's held on his birthday. But it's not every year. He just announces when he wants it to be held and that's the date they plan for. It's done by the school kids and it lasts for a few days. And some of the younger kids have an entire portion of the seats in the arena to themselves so they can portray pictures of history and of the leader. It's a big event."

"Oh. So your mother was in that?" Tae Sook nodded and translated Rosalie's question to his mom.

"She's been in it twelve times in her lifetime."

"That's cool. What made you decide to leave? Or more appropriately, how were you able to come to a decision like that?" Tae Sook asked his mother. She looked thoughtful a moment.

"나는 영국인의 큰 그룹은 다큐멘터리에 대한 내 학교에 왔을 때 기억 해요. 나는 그들 중 하나를 말씀과 영국이 어땠는지 물었다. 너무부터 내가 알고있는 것을 다른되었다. 그 사람은 내가 그의 집에는 무료라고 하더군요 이야기. 내가 항상 그가 말한 후에 생각. 결국, 난 그가 내 인생이 있었는지 나는 그 차이에 놀랐다에게 말씀 하셨다 무엇과 비교하기 시작했다. 더 내가 더 그 여자가 내 고향에 만족하지, 그것에 대해 생각. 모든 것이 좀 무서워지기 시작했다. 내가 어른이되었을 때, 나는 탈출하기로 결정했습니다.(_Naneun yeong-gug-in-ui keun geulub-eun dakyumenteolie daehan nae haggyoe wass-eul ttae gieog haeyo. Naneun geudeul jung hanaleul malsseumgwa yeong-gug-i eottaessneunji mul-eossda. Neomubuteo naega algoissneun geos-eul daleundoeeossda. Geu salam-eun naega geuui jib-eneun mulyolago hadeogun-yo iyagi. Naega hangsang geuga malhan hue saeng-gag. Gyeolgug, nan geuga nae insaeng-i iss-eossneunji naneun geu chaie nollassda-ege malsseum hasyeossda mueosgwa bigyohagi sijaghaessda. Deo naega deo geu yeojaga nae gohyang-e manjoghaji, geugeos-e daehae saeng-gag. modeun geos-i jom museowojigi sijaghaessda. Naega eoleun-idoeeoss-eul ttae, naneun talchulhagilo gyeoljeonghaessseubnida.)_"

"' I remember when a large group of Englishmen came to my school for a documentary. I spoke to one of them and asked what England was like. It was so different from what I knew. The man I spoke to told me that his home was free. I thought about that all the time after he said it. Eventually, I began comparing what he had said to what my life was and I was surprised by the difference. The more I thought about it, the more unhappy with my home I became. Everything began to scare me. When I was grown, I decided to escape.'"

"I didn't think they allowed anyone in North Korea." Tae Sook translated for his mother, who shook her head.

"일반적 안돼. 그러나 그들은 그들이 다큐멘터리를하고 있었에만 있기 때문에 국내로 허용되었다. 나는 확신 체류하는 조건이 있었다. 그들은 아마 금지했을 방식으로 나에게 말하기._(__Ilbanjeog andwae. geuleona geudeul-eun geudeul-i dakyumenteolileulhago iss-eoss-eman issgi ttaemun-e gugnaelo heoyongdoeeossda. Naneun hwagsin chelyuhaneun jogeon-i iss-eossda. Geudeul-eun ama geumjihaess-eul bangsig-eulo na-ege malhagi.)_"

"'Normally no. But they were allowed into the country only because they were doing a documentary. There were conditions to their stay I am sure. Speaking to me in the manner they did was probably prohibited.'" After that, Emmett posed his question.

"Do you ever miss it there?" Tae Sook translated for his mother, who then sighed and looked intently at her food, trying to think of the best way to answer. When she had it, she looked at Emmett with a light smile.

"내가 북한을 놓치지 마세요 척 수 없습니다. 난 거기서 태어 났죠 그리고 그것은 나의 가정과 나의 엄마와 아빠가되었습니다. 나는 부모님을 그리워하고 내가 그들에 대해 우려하고있다. 그래서 네, 질문에 대답. 나는 종종 북한을보고 싶어요. 하지만 내 인생은 내가 도망 이후 좋습니다. 의심할 여지_.__(__Naega bughan-eul nohchiji maseyo cheog su eobs-seubnida. Nan geogiseo taeeo nassjyo geuligo geugeos-eun naui gajeong-gwa naui eommawa appagadoeeossseubnida. Naneun bumonim-eul geuliwohago naega geudeul-e daehae ulyeohagoissda. Geulaeseo ne, jilmun-e daedab. Naneun jongjong bughan-eulbogo sip-eoyo. Hajiman nae insaeng-eun naega domang ihu johseubnida. Uisimhal yeoji.)_"

"'I cannot pretend that I do not miss North Korea. I was born there and it was my home and where my mother and father are. I miss my parents and I worry about them. So to answer your question, yes. I miss North Korea often. But my life is better since I ran away. No doubt of that.'" Emmett smiled back. Then a thought came to his head and Edward placed his hand on Emmett's arm.

"Don't ask about her father. Her thoughts were sad when she thought of him." Emmett looked at Edward.

"They were?" Edward nodded and Tae Sook elaborated.

"My grandfather was the one that helped my mother get out of the country, even if he didn't know her real intensions. He was most likely held accountable and killed for his involvement. Mother knows that, so she feels really guilty. Her mother's probably dead for what she did too. Don't bring it up to her. She's already a little sad now that she's thinking about it." Emmett looked apologetic.

"Sorry for bringing it up at all." Tae Sook smiled and shook his head.

"It's alright. She doesn't know you asked." Tae Sook looked at his father, Ryoji. "You won't bring it up to mother?" Ryoji shook his head.

"Of course not." Mi Sun looked questioningly at Tae Sook, who told her that they weren't talking about anything important. Meanwhile on the other end of the table, Jacob was gulping down milk to cool his mouth.

"Christ, is this food or lava?" Nessie smiled.

"Probably a combination of the two. I didn't think it was that bad. The kids don't seem to mind it so much."

"That's them. I admit, this is good, but I can't taste it for very long. Food will taste like rubber for a week after this." Nessie giggled and hid the distaste she had for the food and ate as little as possible without being rude. The rest of the Cullen family did the same. They stayed and visited well into the night and didn't leave until Aunt Yun Hee was very tired and wanted to sleep, sending the family away from her house.

Through the week, last minute preparations were made for the wedding. Other guests that weren't in the family didn't arrive until the 29th of December. Though Ryan knew that Felix would be there, he was still disappointed when he saw Felix walk off the plane with Lia in front of him. Lia walked quickly to Ryan when she saw him and they hugged for a few minutes, talking at the same time. Felix stood close by them. The other Volturi members that were coming to the wedding arrived on the same plane as Felix and Lia. Carlisle spoke with the front desk at the hotel to get everyone their own rooms. They had a few hours to kill before the Denalis and Nahuel's coven.

"So how've you guys been doing?" Nessie asked Dante. Alphonse was sleeping on Amadora's shoulder and Amadora was barely awake.

"We've been great. Me and Amadora got married a few months back." Nessie looked surprised.

"You did? Why didn't I hear about it?"

"We actually didn't call about it. Sorry about that."

"Well, either way, I'm happy for you two. It's been long enough."

"I know. We didn't invite many people. It was strictly between the family. Felix and Lia weren't even there if it makes you feel better. Alphonse was my best man. And you know the best part about it all?" Nessie smiled.

"What?"

"If Amadora and I want to have sex, we can." Nessie fought a laugh while Dante looked at Ryan with a smile. "It's a great feeling, Ryan. You should try it." Dante was kidding of course, but truth be told, Ryan found it too true to be funny and just flipped him off. Felix saw, but he didn't get upset. Instead, he just grinned to himself, satisfied with his success in keeping Ryan's raging hormones away from his baby girl. Dante smiled anyway and looked back at Nessie. "We might even have another kid soon."

"That's good to hear. How's Alphonse feeling about that?" Dante shrugged.

"What does he care? He lives on his own by now. Besides, Amadora wants to have more kids. It would be nice to actually plan to have a kid."

"It is nice to plan, I'll admit that. So are you working for an Orchestra?"

"Yeah, actually. I work for the orchestra at Teatro Argentina in Rome. I'm one of their better violinists, so when the current first violinist retires, I can audition for the spot. That'll mean a nice boost in my pay."

"I can only imagine. Does Amadora work at all?" Dante shrugged.

"Not really. She works over the holidays sometimes, but she prefers to spend her days with Lia when she can. Felix and Lia live in Rome too, so they hang out all the time. Did I tell you we have our own apartment now?"

"No, you didn't. I'm sure it's nice."

"It is. It's enough for the two of us. But if we decide to have more kids, we'll move to a bigger place."

"Where do you guys live?"

"We live near the theatre. Palazzo Olivia. A lot of the apartments there are short time rental, but we found a place that was permanent living. We're renting it, so it's not as expensive, but let me tell you, tourist season is a nightmare there." Nessie smiled.

"I would guess Rome would be nightmarish during tourist season anywhere."

"It is, but when you've got rich people that crowd up the streets every summer, it becomes near unbearable. I'm tempted to move even if we don't have more kids."

"Where does Alphonse live?"

"Right now he's outside the downtown area of Rome. He's working for a theatre company there as a stage hand. He specializes in the lighting, but he'll fill in for others when they're sick or something. He's doing well for himself and we're proud of him."

"That's always good news. Is he dating as far as you know?" Dante shook his head.

"Not seriously, that's for sure. He'll tell us about a girl, but it's never serious enough that we meet them. He's dating human women, though I'm not sure why. I mean, what happens when he finds one he really cares about? Then he's stuck with the obvious dilemma." Nessie shrugged.

"I'm sure he's seeing vampires too. But as long as he's happy that's all that matters."

"That's true enough. I just don't want him to set himself up for the worst is all."

"I know. But he's an adult. He'll be fine." A few hours later, the Denali clan arrived at last from Alaska. The family had a joyous reunion and only waited another hour before the plane from Brasilia finally arrived. Nahuel and his sister, Yaretzi, as well as Rafael, came off the plane as expected, as did Ada-María. Atzi and Citclali didn't come, but that wasn't a big surprise to anyone. But when Marcelo came off the plane, there was a woman with him.

She was very tall. Almost as tall as Marcelo and she had dark skin and black hair with a kind face. Marcelo went to Nessie with the woman at his side following closely behind and hugged Nessie tightly. Nessie hugged Marcelo back and they had a joyous reunion that they hadn't had in a long time. When they were done saying hello to each other, Nessie looked at the woman Marcelo was with questioningly.

"So who's this? You've yet to introduce us." Marcelo smiled and brought the woman closer.

"Forgive me, Renesmee. This is Laura." Laura smiled and held out her hand to Nessie.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Renesmee. Marcelo tells me you two are good friends." Nessie nodded.

"Yes, we are. And who might you be? This is the first time I've ever seen you with this coven." Marcelo grinned widely and answered for Laura.

"She's….well, I guess she's my mate." Nessie smiled.

"Really? That's wonderful, Marcelo! I'm so happy for you!" Marcelo grinned.

"Wonderful indeed. I thought I'd never find a woman as wonderful as you, Renesmee, but in Laura, I think I finally found one. Maybe even better." Laura giggled.

"He exaggerates I'm sure." Nessie shook her head.

"He does that at times, but I think he's telling the truth now. I'm so happy for you, Marcelo. We have plenty of time to kill while getting all the luggage, so why don't you tell me all about yourself. First of all, you must tell me how you two met." Nessie, Marcelo, and Laura followed the group to baggage claim and Laura explained through the whole thing.

"Well, before I met him, I lived in Venezuela. In my human life, I'd lived all over the place, Miami, California, my mother actually lived in Italy for a while. But the last years of my human life, I lived in Venezuela. I traveled after that, but Venezuela was where my apartment was, so I stayed there. Naturally I needed to quit my day job and find a night one, but not until after four years of a ravenous vampire stage." Laura giggled. "But anyway, this time, I'd traveled to Argentina because I heard there was a tango recital going on there that I wanted to see. The Tango recital was fantastic by the way. The passion in their eyes was exquisite and their movements superb. It's such an erotic dance of frustrated love and passionate performance. But anyway, after the recital, I left the theatre and went to a blood bar that I managed to discover was present in the area. I can't tell you how much easier a blood bar made my life. And since I was finally able to hold down a job and get an income, I could pay for my blood, stay off the streets, have a place to stay, and no one's the wiser.

"So I go to this blood bar in Buenos Aires and ordered three pints of AB blood. It was expensive, but I figured I deserved to spoil myself that day." Nessie smiled as Laura continued. "Anyway, I was there for a few hours when Marcelo walks up to me with a big smile on his face and, what I now know is his, usual cocky disposition. I noticed he had a slightly human smell to him, but to my surprise, it wasn't that appealing. And then he took the empty bar stool next to me and spoke.

'Hello. I'm Marcelo. What's your name?' I then noticed he head a Portuguese accent and I admit that interested me. I always thought Portuguese was a funny language. It sounded like a Scandinavian trying to speak Spanish in my opinion." Nessie laughed, but didn't say anything so Laura could continue her story. "Anyway, I answered him as politely as possible.

'I'm Laura.' After telling him my name, Marcelo grinned even more, and let me tell you he got straight to the point.

'I must say Laura,' he said, 'you are a site to see. So much in fact, that I find it necessary for us to express carnal passion in a method fondly known as coitus. So if you would follow me to the back of the bar and to a nice Hilton hotel room we could break into, we could begin said process instantaneously. What do you say?' Well, needless to say, I was horrified with his request. So instead of answering him, I slapped him right across the face, gulped down the last of my blood, and walked out. I remember hearing the bartender laughing at him as well, so that was a nice little moment for me later on. But at the moment, I was furious that he would dare speak to me, a lady, in such a manner." Nessie giggled again.

"Believe me, I know the feeling. One time, we had a silent moment while playing cards and after that, he told me that was the part where I was supposed to leap across the table and begin to make out with him." Laura laughed, thankfully not upset with Marcelo's actions. Depending on how long they'd been together, Nessie imagined that Laura would be used to Marcelo's womanizing tendencies.

"That's my Marcelo alright."

"So anyway, how did you two end up together after that?" She continued while we were standing at baggage claim looking for our luggage. Marcelo had taken care of looking for their things while Laura told me the story.

"Ah, well after that, naturally I was furious. I ran from that bar and decided to make my way back to Venezuela. This happened seven years ago, by the way. And I didn't see him again for another two years. I'd traveled again in those two years, but I'd gone to Spain and Italy. I'd always wanted to go to Spain. I also met a kind vampire while I was there named Estela. I didn't realize until recently that this was the same Estela that Marcelo's father had apparently been engaged to in their human lives." That got my attention.

"You don't say. What's she like?"

"She's nice. A little arrogant and self-centered at times, but an all around nice lady. Rafael hates her, but I suspect that's from years of being forced to like each other and come to terms with having to get married. I haven't seen her in years, but I suspect that if I ever called on her, I could easily get her to come see me."

"That's nice to hear." Laura nodded.

"And she likes to brag about all the people she 'saved'. She didn't save that many honestly. I've met them all. One of them is a really successful former Tango dancer. He became one after he was changed and now he owns his own dance company. And goodness, is he charming."

"What's his story?" Laura shrugged.

"I don't know. He didn't say. He just said that Estela changed him and they've been friends since then. I thought at first that they were romantically involved, but she's actually having an affair with another man she changed. He was actually a soldier in Franco's army and was killed in the line of duty by a vampire. That was an exciting story." Nessie smiled.

"Well, speaking of stories, you were saying how you and Marcelo got together."

"Indeed. Forgive me for sidetracking. So anyway, three years after the incident, I decided to travel to Panama. I hadn't been there in years and I'd had lots of fun when I was there. I didn't end up enjoying it as much though. There weren't any blood bars there and the social circle of vampires was abysmal, so I decided to go to Colombia instead. And when I got there and went to another blood bar before going to a late night soccer game, there was Marcelo again. I remembered him of course and I slapped him before he could say a word to me. The bartender walked away not wanting to be a part of the situation at all. Marcelo took a moment to recover from my slap before he spoke to me. He still looked the usual as I'd remembered him looking. Arrogant and cocky and that didn't sit well with me at all. It was as if he'd not understood what he'd done wrong.

'I know I deserved that, Laura. But please forgive me for being forward with you,' he'd said. 'I know I should've at least asked you for a dance before I asked so brazenly for sex.'

'You have no right to ask me for anything,' I'd said. 'You assume you can accuse me of being a simple whore and then expect me to speak to you? Well, I don't think so. Get out of my site and don't you ever speak to me again.' I said it much angrier than that of course." When Laura had spoken her line, she said it with a small laugh, which wasn't the tone she'd actually spoken in. "Then Marcelo looked apologetic, though I wasn't buying it. If there was anything I'd figured out by meeting him just once, it was that he was an arrogant puto.

'I realize you're upset with me,' he said, 'but please give me a chance to explain myself. You see, I was so enchanted by your beauty that I simply needed to speak with you. And when I came to speak to you, I said the wrong thing clearly, no matter how romantically I said it.' I laughed at him then.

'Romantically? How comical of you to say. You ask me to spread my legs and now you walk up to me and speak like you've done nothing wrong. I told you to never speak to me again and I expect you to do so willingly, or I'll force you. And believe me, you don't want me to force you.' Marcelo shook his head, and then he sighed a little.

'I admit, I was forward and spoke inappropriately. But allow me to make it up to you with a dance.' Marcelo left my side then. I actually hoped he'd given up, but he was at my side again in seconds with his usual cocky grin on his face. Then a Thalia song came on. _Amar Sin Ser Amada_ was the name of the song. It was a song I admittedly enjoyed and he held his hand out to me waiting for my response. By the time Thalia began her first verse, I sighed heavily and took a hold of Marcelo's hand and let him lead me to the dance floor. Can you believe he actually engaged me in a tango? I think he just wanted to be allowed to touch me erotically, but he insists it was because he was trying to impress me. But I also noticed it was the same tango that I'd seen at the recital in the end so I could follow him from memory. He even ended the dance in the same way, hand running down my chest to my butt. I was mortified with him and I slapped him again. He just smiled innocently at me, which irritated me more.

'What?' he said, ' that's how the dance ended. And look, the others are applauding our performance.' Indeed they had been. The other vampires in the bar had watched us dance and they were clapping, impressed with us. And I must admit, I laughed then.

'You really are a sly Casanova aren't you?' Marcelo laughed and bowed his head. Then he took my right hand and kissed it. I didn't even slap him this time.

'I've been told I'm a charming man. I've also been told I'm an incredible lover. Interested?' This time, I had to laugh. I couldn't bring myself to be mad anymore. I didn't sleep with him or anything, but I did dance the night away with Marcelo. We didn't part ways until that morning when the bar was closing at four in the morning. He asked where I lived, I told him Venezuela, and he said he looked forward to our next encounter. I didn't see him again for another five months when I met him at a soccer game. He took a seat next to me and I realized he was there just from his smell.

'So, we finally meet again, Laura. Five long months I've had to be without your pretty face and now I finally see you again.' I giggled at his comment.

'I admit, I began to miss your wordy compliments and smooth talking. Do you speak like that to all the ladies or am I special?' Marcelo chuckled and kissed my hand.

'Only you, Laura.'" I laughed out loud then.

"You didn't believe him did you?" Laura laughed with me and shook her head.

"Of course not. I knew better than that. But instead of getting judgmental of him or telling him off, I went with what he was saying.

'I suspect flattery is necessary on my part.' Marcelo chuckled and kissed my hand again.

'You needn't feel obligated to do anything. Though I hope that you do feel something for my flirtation.' I giggled again when he said that. 'Is that a yes, or should I continue with my romantic sonnets?'

'Whichever you chose. I've come to find you an enticing person to converse with. It's not often that I meet such a romantic and charming man outside the borders of Italy. Now if only you weren't so fond of touching me inappropriately, you'd be a level above an Italian.' Marcelo chuckled his sensual warm chuckle and scooted closer to me.

'Is it such a crime that I can't help but be attracted to such a beautiful woman?' I giggled and continued to smile at him.

'They say flattery will get you everywhere. I can rightfully say it's gotten you this far with me. But I fear a more foolish woman would fall for it more quickly and open herself to you in a matter of minutes. Am I right in assuming that or do I overstep my boundaries?' Marcelo grinned and placed his hand on my knee. I let it slide, waiting to hear his answer.

'I admit, I've used my charm for the evils of carnal pleasure. Though I see nothing wrong it enticing a silly girl to allow me into her good graces. Though this is a trick I typically use on lady victims that I intend to drink after I'm satisfied for the night. My mother insists it's a terrible thing for me to do, but father insists that as long as I feed and don't let them live to press charges, then there's no harm done.' When he said that, I pushed his hand off my knee and frowned a little.

'So you are an incubus after all. I detest vampires like that. They are always arrogant and love hungry, but only for love of a shallow and passionate nature.' Marcelo then scooted back from me and looked slightly offended with me.

'A man is a man, Laura. We can't always help but be greedy with matters of sex. But since I've fallen in love once before, I've stopped doing such things to the extent I had before. Renesmee was her name if you're interested. But alas, she was in love with another man. A lap dog as far as I'm concerned which would explain her attraction to him. A man that would bend over backwards for his beloved is certainly an appealing toy for a woman as spoiled as my dear Renesmee.' Now you can imagine, Renesmee, that this took me by surprise. For the first year or so of our dating, I lived in jealous fear of you without even meeting you. He spoke so fondly of you that I wondered intensely why he would bother pursuing me at all. But I responded very politely at the time.

'Forgive me, but I always imagined that when a man was in love, he could never make love to another woman other than the one of his interest. You've said yourself that this isn't true of you, so please understand why I would be cautious of you.'

'Do you suggest that I sit around and mop over my loss to a dog? I can't pretend it doesn't break my heart that I've lost her, but I refuse to sit around and feel sorry from myself while they entwine together in their newlywed love. Renesmee wouldn't want me to be that way. So I moved on. Clearly, I'm attempting to do that right now by talking to you. Please, take pity on a broken heart and entertain him but a moment.' I smiled again and scooted back to his side from which he'd moved.

'So you are just a romantic stuck in a lewd man's body.' Marcelo chuckled.

'Women have said they enjoyed this lewd man's body. I admit I've become very fond of it myself. I've looked at my handsome face for long periods more than once. Admit you do the same when looking at yourself in the mirror. If I had your face, I think I would lose my site from the sheer joy of looking at it.' I couldn't fight a gentle laugh and a wide smile.

'So we return to flattery. Well, I suppose I should return the favor since you've expressed such great affection to me.' Marcelo and I laughed together a moment and we ended up talking through the majority of the soccer game. We even held hands while we walked out of the stadium together after the game. We went to a blood bar, drank some blood and talked some more, and by that morning, he asked for us to meet on a more regular basis. I gave him the number to my apartment and he visited me often and we were fating before we'd even discussed it officially. We've been together ever since." Nessie smiled.

"That's so romantic. He's been good to you over the years right? He's never cheated on you or anything?"

"In the beginning he was naughty. He never cheated on me with another vampire, but he would still sleep with victims before killing them. I kicked that habit right out of him." Marcelo chuckled.

"She means that literally by the way. One time, she caught me with a victim, snatched her right from under me and drank her blood herself. Then when she was done, she kicked me in the balls, while I was still erect mind you, and ran out screaming at me in Spanish. She refused to speak to me for weeks. But I finally got her to talk to me and forgive me. I've been a good boy since then." Laura looked at Marcelo with a mean, but still loving, smile.

"You better have, Marcelo." They all laughed and walked out together with the group with all their luggage and walked out to where the now three limos that were waiting to pick them up. The rehearsal dinner held the night before the wedding was at a large restaurant that had an open garden area that Gretchen had reserved for the bridal party. During the rehearsal dinner, Ryan sat next to Lia through the meal they barely ate from and danced together through the night together, Felix staying close as always.

"Can you believe Valerie's getting married?" Ryan smiled.

"To a communist no less." Lia gently slapped Ryan's face and looked at him sternly.

"Ryan." Ryan smiled and kissed Lia quickly.

"I was kidding." Lia smiled again and rested her head on Ryan's shoulder.

"You better be. He makes her happy, Ryan. You should be happy for her."

"I am happy for her. I may not like him, but I know he's a good guy anyway and he treats my sister like the queen she's used to being elevated to. And I know he loves her. As long as that stays true, I have no objections to them marrying. But just because Valerie loves him doesn't mean I have to." Lia sighed.

"I suppose that's true. I just wish you two weren't so mean to each other. Valerie really doesn't like it when you two argue and insult each other. She told me once that she was scared your arguing with each other would break up the relationship." Ryan shook his head.

"I would never do that to her, Lia. You know that." Lia sighed.

"I know that and I'm sure she does too. But you can't blame her for feeling worried about the way you two fight. For all she knows, Tae Sook might not be able to stand it anymore one of these days and he might leave."

"He wouldn't. He loves Valerie too much for that. Besides, if he does leave, it'll prove that he wasn't good enough for her because he couldn't love Valerie despite her loving and protective brother. She deserves the best. That's all." Lia finally smiled and looked up at Ryan. She rubbed the tip of her nose with his gently.

"See, you don't hate Tae Sook after all you big softy."

"No, I hate him, but I acknowledge that he's what my sister wants. And until he does something that shows otherwise, I'll leave him kind of alone." Lia giggled and rubbed her nose against Ryan's chest.

"How did you get so sweet?" Ryan smiled and hugged Lia closer to him as they danced together. The song playing now was faster, but they kept the same pace. Ryan was thinking to himself now. He glanced in Felix's direction, who was staring down Ryan like a hawk as always.

"Can I talk to you about something?" Lia looked up at Ryan and nodded. "I've been thinking about something."

"About what?" Ryan took in a deep breath before speaking.

"You know I love you don't you?"

"I love you too." Ryan smiled and bent down to kiss Lia's nose before getting back to what he wanted to talk about. Felix moved slightly closer to the two of them, taking one of Tae Sook's cousins into a dance. He had no idea who was who.

"I'm glad. But the truth is, I hate that we live so far apart. I hardly get to see you except on holidays and special occasions. It's beginning to wear on me a bit and I don't like it." Lia began to look concerned and she stopped moving with him.

"Are you saying…..you want to break up?" Felix stopped dancing when he heard that too. He was preparing for the worst. Tae Sook overheard what was going on and listened in while Valerie was talking Nessie and Amadora's ears off. Emmett and Rosalie listened in too, but they didn't stop dancing. If they did, it would begin to look odd and they didn't want to ruin the party. But Ryan shook his head.

"No, that's not it. I want us to be together. That's why this long distance is weighing on me so much. I don't want to wait until a special occasion to get to see you. I want to be able to see you every day. Maybe even wake up to your face in the morning." That had Felix upset instantly, but he kept his distance still, allowing Ryan to elaborate and maybe get himself out of the hole he'd begun unwittingly digging. Lia looked sad.

"You know daddy would never agree to move to Washington. He hates it there."

"Lia, you don't have to be with him. You're an adult, whether Felix likes it or not." And Ryan made the hole deeper. "And I'm looking into getting my own place. I've even found a few apartments near where I work that are great. They're on the expensive side, but I can afford it and it would be a great place for us to live and live comfortably. You can even decorate it if you want." And deeper again.

"You know daddy would never agree to that." Ryan finally lost his patience and let go of Lia. He did his best not to raise his voice. What little he did wasn't enough to bring attention to him and Lia. He didn't want to ruin Valerie's night.

"Lia, you're not a child. You don't need to ask Felix for permission to move in with your boyfriend of seven years. Seven years, Lia." Lia noticed his voice getting slightly higher and stopped him.

"Ryan, can we talk about this somewhere quieter? You're getting louder." Ryan breathed deeply and nodded.

"Sure. But it has to be alone. I don't want you dad five feet away from us jumping in the minute he doesn't like what he's hearing." Felix stopped himself from running over to them and putting Ryan in his place. He didn't want to cause a scene anymore than Ryan and Lia did. Demetri and Heidi were paying attention to the argument too, ready to assist in anyway needed. Lia nodded.

"Whatever you say, Ryan. But we can't talk here. Valerie." Ryan looked towards Valerie, who was still talking to Nessie and Amadora, oblivious to Ryan and Lia, to Ryan's relief. Then Ryan looked around for a place he and Lia could go.

"Follow me." Ryan took a hold of Lia's hand and they walked out of the garden in the restaurant and walked inside. Felix followed, but Emmett stepped in front of him while Lia and Ryan walked into the restaurant alone.

"Give them some breathing room for a change, Felix." Felix was about to retaliate, but Demetri touched his shoulder reassuringly, silently telling him to listen to Emmett and let the two be alone for a change. Ryan and Lia walked through the sitting area of the restaurant, earning a few looks from people at their tables. But Ryan ignored them. When they got to the parking lot, their limos were still there and he asked one of the limo drivers to let him and Lia in so they could talk for a minute. The driver opened the door for them and they both stepped inside and finally relaxed when the door was closed.

"There, we're alone now." Lia nodded, looking a little nervous. She could tell Ryan was getting upset and she didn't know what she would do to get him out of it. Ryan took a moment to calm down a bit before he began talking. "Like I said, I'm looking at apartments. They're all really good ones too. If you'd rather, I'll look at condos. Whatever you want."

"Ryan…"

"Not a word about Felix. I mean, if I didn't know better, I'd think you two were lovers and I was the other man the way you two talk to and about each other." Lia sighed and scooted away from Ryan.

"You know how protective daddy is. He has every reason to be that way with what happened to his sister and nearly losing me when I ran away with the others to your family. You weren't alive when that happened, so you wouldn't know much about that."

"Lia, I get it, your father's protective of you. But damn it, he's not the only man in your life anymore. You have me now and have had me for years. And for seven years, Lia, I've let it go when your dad you come screaming through my door whenever you and I started kissing a little too much. Lia, I can't stand it anymore, but I don't want to give you up. Something's got to give."

"Are you asking me to choose between you and my father?"

"No, Lia, I'm not. I'm asking you to tell your father to cool off and deal with the fact that we want to be together. And I need him to understand that I'm a man too. He should know what a lack of sex can do to a guy. Your father's Roman for God's sake."

"Is this really just about sex, Ryan?"

"No, it's not about sex! It's about everything. I can't hug you, I can't kiss you, I can't have a private moment with you without Felix being close by breathing down our necks. I want to be able to be with you without you father staring me down. I want to be able to see you every day. And yes, Lia, I want to have sex with you. I may be half human, but I'm still human." Lia was quiet. She wasn't sure what to do. She was trying to go through her head and come up with any solution she could that would make all parties involved happy. She knew, however, that wasn't possible in a situation like this.

"Ryan, you're putting me in a really uncomfortable position." Ryan sighed and fell back against the seat and looked out the tinted windows.

"I know." Then he looked at Lia, who was getting upset as well. Then he sighed and scooted closer to Lia so their faces were very close together. "I'm sorry. I just want…"

"I know what you want, Ryan. I know." Lia sighed. "Ryan, I know it's frustrating for you, but I can't just move to Washington and live with you when daddy's all the way in Italy. Called him paranoid all you want, but he's my father and I have to talk to him about this first."

"I'm not saying you have to just up and walk out. I'm saying you shouldn't have to ask for his permission at your age. I mean, Lia, you're older than me! And I'm leaving home and have a great job now. You don't see me asking my dad if I can have a girlfriend." Without meaning to, Ryan said his last comment with a lot of sarcasm and Lia didn't take well to that at all.

"You know what, Ryan, if you're going to get sarcastic with me, then we can just end this conversation here."

"No, Lia, I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to be sarcastic. Don't leave." Lia sighed and stayed where she was seated. Ryan took another deep breath trying to think of something to say that would make this better. "I don't know what else to do, Lia. I want us to be together, I really do. What can I do to make your father trust me and let you live with me. Or be closer to me. Anything at all?"

Lia was quiet and so was Ryan. They were both at a loss for what to say. Lia wanted to be with Ryan too, just as he wanted, but she knew Felix would never go for it unless….that's when Lia thought of what they could do. But she was discouraged seconds after coming up with the idea. She would love to marry Ryan, but she wanted him to ask her when he was ready and when he thought of it. Lia feared that if she brought it up, she would seem like she was being pushy. She and Ryan had never really discussed getting married before. Though unsure, Lia decided to perhaps try and get Ryan thinking the same thing she was thinking.

"Well…..if you and I had a more….permanent relationship, then he wouldn't have any reason to object to us living together." Ryan caught on what she was saying.

"You mean….get married?" Lia nodded.

"Yeah, get married. Like you said, we've been dating for seven years. We don't have to tell people about it right away, but we can at least tell them after Valerie's wedding tomorrow. Maybe we could announce it after they leave the reception. I mean, assuming you want….to get married."

"Of course I want to, Lia. I just always wanted to…..well, let's just say I never imagined us getting engaged like this. I wanted to find the perfect ring and ask you when we had a rare moment alone. We're alone, but I don't have the perfect ring to give you." Lia smiled.

"Do you want to wait and find a ring before asking me? You don't have to tell me when you're proposing. Just surprise me."

"No. Now that you've suggested it, I can't get it out of my mind." They were both silent a moment. Then Ryan had an idea and looked at Lia with a smile. "Lia, you go back to the party. I'll see you at the hotel later tonight okay?" Ryan kissed Lia lovingly, then gently pushed her from the limo and asked the driver to give him the number of a taxi. Lia went back to the party like Ryan asked her to and Felix was the one who walked over to her.

"Marriage, huh?" Lia looked up at Felix pleadingly.

"Daddy, I know you think of me as your little girl, but I'm grown up. You need to let me go eventually." Felix looked at Lia intently, then sighed and brought her to him in a hug.

"I know, Lia. And if Ryan wants to marry you, that's alright with me. I know how much you love him. I just don't want you two getting married because I'm a burden on you two." Felix lifted Lia's chin with his finger to make her look at him. "I'll tell you what. I'll let you live with him in Washington, engaged or not. But don't go through with anything for two years minimum. If at the end of that, you still love him and want to get married, then I'll gladly walk you down the aisle." Lia fought a tear that wanted to escape her eye and hugged Felix tightly.

"Thank you, daddy." Valerie later realized that Ryan wasn't there and Lia didn't know where he was when she asked. Valerie went to Edward and asked where he was and Edward just said, 'somewhere he's wanted to go for a while', and left it at that. Valerie asked him to elaborate, but she didn't get a response from anyone. She didn't see him again until late that night when she was going down the hall to his room. She knocked on his door and he opened it, wearing only a towel.

"Valerie, I'm about to take a shower. Can this wait?"

"Where did you go? I got a toast from everyone but you and when I look for you, you're nowhere to be found. And Uncle Edward told me you were, 'somewhere you've wanted to go for a long time.' What the hell does that mean?" Ryan sighed.

"I went to a jewelry store, okay." Valerie looked at Ryan oddly.

"A jewelry store? Why?" Ryan took in a deep breath, then walked to his suitcase and took out the back and pulled a small box out of it. Then he walked back to Lia and handed her the box. Valerie lifted the lid and saw a three stone, 1 ½ karat diamond ring in a band of 14 karat gold. Valerie looked at Ryan wide eyed. "Is this an engagement ring?" Ryan nodded.

"Yes. Yes it is. It's for Lia. I'm sick of a long distance relationship. And Felix said he'd let her live with me for two years as an engaged couple. And if after those two years, Lia and I are still in love, then he'll approve of us getting married. That's what he said. So I'm proposing to Lia after you and Tae Sook leave the reception." Valerie shook her head.

"Oh no you're not. Tomorrow's my day, Ryan. I'm all for you and Lia getting married, but do it after my wedding, okay." Ryan sighed.

"I said I'd wait until after you two left."

"You can propose the day after my wedding. Tomorrow's my day and my day only, okay. If the reception goes past midnight, then I'll let it slide, but before then, no proposing."

"Valerie, you can't tell me when I can and can't propose."

"Oh really?" Valerie began to walk away with the ring and Ryan grabbed her.

"Fine, fine, I'll wait, okay? Just give me back the ring."

"Thank you, Ryan. Here's the ring. And it's beautiful." Valerie walked away after that and went back to her little sleep over with her bridesmaids.

The next day, Tae Sook left early for the wedding venue to help his relatives with a few things. It was still a dreary day out. Valerie was dressed and ready for the wedding twenty minutes ahead of time and they left when the limo came to pick up the wedding party. Natalie was dressed in a little blue and purple dress, ready to be a flower girl, and Nathan was in a tiny tuxedo, ready to be a ring bearer. The wedding went on without a hitch. It was done in mostly Korean, but the pastor asked Valerie to say her vows in English and translated for her, so her family didn't miss the most important part. Then when they were married, they shared a kiss and walked back down the aisle hand in hand. Valerie had her perfect day just as she wanted, and as she asked, Ryan didn't present a ring to Lia that day. He did, however, dance with her all night. And to his surprise, Felix wasn't breathing down his neck the whole time like he usually did. A bigger surprise, when they got back to the hotel, Felix told Lia to go in without him and that he and Demetri were going hunting and not to expect them.

"That's weird." Ryan said while they walked to the elevator. "So he really meant it when he said he'd stop knocking on me, huh." Lia smiled.

"He did." And since they were alone, Ryan grinned and looked at Lia lovingly.

"You want to go to my room?" Then he took Lia's hand when the elevator door opened and they went to his room, all alone, without Felix anywhere near.


	11. Summer

**Summer**

_*I'm really sorry this took so long. I've just been so swamped lately that I haven't had time for anything. Please enjoy the chapter. I know it's short, but it should offer a good laugh.*_

"Hey dad." Ryan said to Emmett while he was heating up some donated blood.

"What?" Ryan smiled and took a gulp of blood.

"No more cat." Emmett smiled back and they both laughed. "No more smelly cat that meows and sheds and stinks up the house." Emmett sighed. Valerie and Tae Sook had moved to Japan officially only three days before. They used January to have a nice honeymoon and the rest of the time up to June was used to find a good apartment in Tokyo that was close to the location that Gretchen had bought for her new Red Night club and that allowed cats in the building. And until they had everything moved in (furniture-wise) they were staying in a hotel.

"Call me crazy, but I almost miss the cat. That stupid thing being gone means my daughter moved out. Speaking of which, when are you moving out?" Emmett and Ryan laughed together.

"I found a place that I really like. It's close to the hospital and it's a really nice place." Felix had agreed to allow Lia to live with Ryan since they were engaged. But he also said she wouldn't move there until Ryan found a suitable apartment and could afford to support her. Money wasn't the issue, but the lack of the apartment.

"That's good to hear. Have you already rented it?" Ryan shook his head.

"Actually, no. There's another person that wants that apartment and we've spent the week outbidding each other. I took the plunge and offered twice what the apartment's worth and hoping for the best. It really is a nice place."

"Good. Let us know when you get it and we'll get you some housewarming gifts." Ryan grinned.

"How about a king size bed?" Emmett laughed.

"Your mother and I will buy you the sheets for them. If you want anything else in the furniture department, I'd see what you can woo out of Carlisle and Esme."

"I'll see what I can do. After the money I'll have to spend to get that apartment, it'll be nice to get some free furniture. I'm not getting anything from Felix – that's for damn sure." Emmett laughed and patted Ryan's back. Kevin, who was sitting at the table eating his dinner, offered an opinion.

"You might not, but Lia might. Just get her to ask for something." Ryan sighed.

"Excellent idea, but alas it won't work. I sent Lia pictures of the place and she already asked Felix to get us granite countertops. He's made it clear that's all he's paying for."

"So? Tell her to just do what Nat does when she wants something. Sit on dad's lap, give him puppy-dog eyes, and say 'daddy': those three steps and dad's putty in her hands. Isn't that right, Nat?" Natalie nodded.

"Yeah, it's easy: works every time." Nathan gave Natalie a mean look.

"It's not fair, Nat. If I do something wrong, I'll get yelled at. But you just look sorry and dad goes easy on you." Natalie just smiled and ate a little more of her cereal.

"Hey grandpa? When did mommy and daddy say they were coming home?" Rebecca had finally been able to get tickets from where she and John were currently stationed, Florida, to go to Nevada, so Jacob and Rachael arranged a time for all three of them to meet with a lawyer so they could sell the condo in Las Vegas. No one wanted it and no one wanted the financial burden of keeping it up, so they decided to flip it a little and sell it for more than its original asking price and split the profit between the three of them. The kids were staying at the Cullen house and since summer vacation had already started, the drive to school wasn't a problem.

"It'll be a while, Natalie. But don't worry. Jacob promised they'd all be back before the end of the summer." Since Paul and Rachael were also gone, Billy was watching Maxi, Travis, and Jason. Natalie pouted.

"Why couldn't we come with them?" Bella patted Natalie's head affectionately.

"You wouldn't have fun in Vegas, Natalie. They'll be working on that condo most of the time. You and your brothers will have much more fun here with us, I promise." Natalie sighed and rested her head against Bella. "Kevin, are your cousins coming over today?"

"Yeah, grandpa's dropping them off at ten."

"Okay, honey. Is that all?" Kyle spoke next.

"We invited Luke and Nick over too. Hailey's busy this weekend, otherwise we would've invited him too." Bella sighed.

"I'm not saying Hailey isn't a good kid, but if he hasn't taken his medication, he's unpredictable. And let's face it. Hailey isn't good about taking his meds." Coming to Hailey's defense, Edward sighed.

"He's a _paranoid_ schizophrenic, Bella. It's expected that he would be suspicious of any medication provided to him."

"I blame the three imaginary friends. He wouldn't have those imaginary friends if he took his damn medication."

"Bella, it's more complicated than that." Not wanting to talk about this, Bella changed the subject.

"So Natalie, what time did you want to go to the theatre today?"

"Right after breakfast please. Gretchen said Bethani would help prepare me for Quil and Claire's wedding." Bella patted Natalie's head and let her finish eating her breakfast. Once she was done, Bella left with Natalie to drop her off and the boys stayed behind and watched TV with Ryan, Emmett, and Jasper until Billy dropped their cousins off. Once Luke and Nick arrived a half hour later, the boys all went outside to play. After two hours of wondering through the vast backyard of the Cullen home, they all sat down to eat the sacked lunch Esme had packed for each of them. While they were eating, Kevin had a great idea.

"Hey, guys, you know that company that just opened up a few miles away from the Makka Reservation?" Kyle looked at Kevin.

"You mean the one that dad told us not to go near?" Kevin nodded.

"Yeah, that one. I'm wondering what's over there. What do they do?"

"It's doesn't matter, Kevin. Dad said not to go there, so we shouldn't go there." Kevin rolled his eyes.

"Well, what dad doesn't know won't hurt him, unless _somebody_ tells dad we went there….Kyle." Nathan chuckled and took a bite of his sandwich while Kyle glared at Kevin. Nick scooted closer to Kevin with interest in his eyes.

"What would we do there? Just explore? I'm up for that." Luke nodded.

"Me too. It sounds like fun. Hey! Maybe we could steal something cool as a memento or something."

"Can we please not go? You two are listening to Kevin. Kevin!" Maxi said with food in his mouth.

"Says the boy who was more than happy to accept favors from me. I was the one that…"

"Shut up." Maxi didn't want Kevin bringing any of that up. Luke had a habit of being a tattle tale and he didn't plan to risk his parents finding out about any little _favors_ Kevin did for him. "Fine, I'm in. But seriously, what fun is there in going to a company to play? Don't factory workers hate their jobs?" Kyle shrugged.

"It's better than everything going to China." Jason looked at Kyle, who stopped talking when Jason thought he didn't want to talk about stupid grown up things.

"So it's settled. We're off to the plant to play!" Kevin, who was standing now, put his closed fists on his hips and looked further into the woods with a big grin on his face. Nathan raised his hand and Kevin pointed at him. "Yes, Nate?"

"Can we finish eating first?" Kevin noticed the sarcasm in Nathan's voice, but chose to ignore it.

"Only if you finish quickly." Once the boys were finished eating, Kevin got them standing and following him to the plant. They passed through the Makka reservation, hardly saying a word to anyone they passed, and hopped the fence of the plant when they arrived. They all looked around a moment and hid when an employee walked out of a truck. Kyle looked at the side of one of the trucks and saw a logo he didn't recognize: Amatech.

"Does anyone recognize the logo?" Everyone shook their heads. Kevin shrugged.

"I guess we'll have to find out." When the worker was out of sight, Kevin made a mad dash for another spot to hide. The boys followed him while he ran from spot to spot. Eventually, Kevin climbed up a wall onto the side to see what was on the other side. On the other side, Kevin saw what seemed like miles and miles of Styrofoam things. "I think it's a packing company or something."

"Okay, Kevin," said Kyle, "you've seen what you wanted to see. Can we leave now? Grandma and Grandpa are probably getting worried." Kevin waved his hands dismissively.

"They're fine." Kevin then started walking along the wall. The boys all followed after him, though Kyle was extremely reluctant. "Nate, do me a favor and look out for employees."

"Just curious, Kevin, if I do spot an employee, how will we hide from their sight?" Again Nathan was being sarcastic, and again, Kevin chose to ignore it.

"We'll jump and hold onto the side wall and when they're gone, we'll go back up the wall."

"Are you trying to kill us?" Maxi asked. "You might be able to grab onto a wall before plummeting to your doom, but I know I can't." Kevin laughed.

"And you call yourself a Black." Maxi glared at Kevin.

"I'm not a Black, I'm a Reid."

"Your mom is my dad's sister: that makes you a Black essentially."

"No it doesn't." As Kevin and Maxi were arguing, Nathan spotted an employee walking by and looked back at Kevin.

"Now's not the time to argue! We've got an employee spotting! I repeat, employee spotted! Code Red!" Panicking, Nick lost his balance and grabbed onto Luke's hand, who took Jason's hand, and the pattern continued all the way to Kevin, and they were all pulled off the wall. They landed on a bunch of soft stuff that was enclosed in plastic bags.

"Oh God, I think I landed on my PSP!" Said Jason, nearly yelling. Unknown to him, Luke was right under him and in a lot of pain.

"That wasn't your PSP. That was my leg." Jason looked at Luke, then reached into his pocket to check his PSP, then sighed in relief.

"Oh thank God, my PSP's fine." Luke groaned.

"You suck, Jason." As the boys were recovering from their fall, there was suddenly a loud, high pitched noise that sounded like heavy machinery. Seconds after that sound started, the boys suddenly noticed there was something blocking what little light was showing through the clouds. They all looked up and realized that a large cover was being placed on them. They screamed, but no one heard them through the loud noises and within seconds, they were enclosed in what Kevin realized was a large box.

"This is your fault Kevin!" Kyle said, just barely able to move around. There was a small bit of space between the product and the lid of the box, and it was enough for the boys to breath and the product was soft enough that they could mush it and move around.

"Stop crying, Kyle. We'll figure this out. Let's try to push this up and get ourselves out." They all positioned themselves on their back and lifted their hands and feet to the roof of the box. "Okay, on the count of three. One, Two, Three!" On three, they pushed up with all their strength, but it didn't work. Kevin counted up again and they pushed up again, but then they began moving. Kevin's eyes went wide and for the first time in his life, he felt, as Mikey would say, 'Royally fucked'.

"Oh balls."

**Several Hours Later**

"Any luck?" Billy asked when the entire Cullen household finally came back. It was midnight, and the boys were back yet. Something was very wrong. Edward shook his head.

"No luck. We couldn't even follow their scent. Once the rain started, it was washed away by the time we reached the Makka reservation. And all anyone remembers is them walking through the village to the north-east." Billy groaned. He knew Kevin, Kyle, and Nathan could probably take care of themselves well enough. It was the other boys he was worried about. They didn't have any strange gifts, like mind reading, or transferring thoughts, or passing thoughts from one to another. And they certainly didn't have any vampiric advantages that Kevin, Kyle, and Nathan may or may not have.

"I already called Rachael and Jacob. That was at dinner, though. I'll need to call them again and let them know it might be more serious." Edward nodded.

"I'll do it." Bella spoke next.

"I'll call Charlie and tell him to get other stations in on the search." Ryan scratched the back of his head.

"Where could those little runts have gone? They're 5 through 9. How far could they even go?" Alice groaned.

"You know, if they were human or vampire, this wouldn't be a problem. I could see them and we'd find them instantly. Should we call Alistair and ask for help?" Carlisle shook his head.

"I already tried calling Gretchen to see if she knew where he was. She doesn't have a clue." Alice took a moment to think about him. She found him, but he was nowhere near a phone. In fact, in Finland, the smaller villages didn't always have phones.

"From what I can tell, he's in Finland. At least, that's what the newspaper he was reading said." Carlisle groaned.

"Damn you Alistair for not having a cell phone. Honestly, his paranoia's painful." Jasper had a thought, but Edward immediately answered.

"No, they wouldn't have drowned in the ocean. If there's anything I know those kids can do, it's swim. And besides, the areas we didn't spot there smell was nowhere near the ocean. The Makka reservation is going away from First Beach."

"How did they even get to the Makka reservation on foot? That would take hours on foot." Edward shrugged.

"I don't know, Ryan." Edward left for the kitchen when Bella was done calling Charlie and took the opportunity to call Nessie's cell phone. After ringing a moment, Nessie picked up. In the background, there were loud noises coming from what sounded to Edward like an electric floor buffer.

"_Did you find them? Are they okay?"_

"No, honey, we haven't found them. We checked as far as the stateliness, but we didn't find them." Nessie's chest tightened a little and she became really scared.

"_Do you think….oh God, daddy, were they kidnapped? What if someone….oh God, my bobbies."_ Nessie began to tear up, but Edward tried calming her.

"We have virtually everyone looking, Nessie. Don't you worry, we'll find them."

"_We'll be on the next flight home."_ Then Nessie hung up the phone and so did Edward. He sighed and rubbed his face.

"I almost told her they weren't kidnapped." Ryan laughed a little.

"Kidnapped? There's no way. Kevin's a feisty little brat. If they were kidnapped, the assailants had to work for it. I can promise that. I doubt someone _could_ kidnap them."

"We don't know that for sure. Alice, as soon as Alistair's near a phone, give me the number and I'll call him." Alice nodded. "Bella. You, Esme, and Rosalie keep looking to the north. Start looking in Canada if you have to. Emmett, Jasper, and Carlisle, you guys start looking south of Washington. Ryan, you take Carlisle's car and start looking to the east." Everyone nodded and left while Alice and Edward stayed behind and waited for Alistair to get to a phone. An hour later, they found out he was in a very small town. One with one phone that Edward found out, upon calling, was out of order.

"Should we try Demetri?" Edward shook his head.

"We can't. He changed companies and he hasn't told us what his new number is yet. Damn it."

Everyone was extremely scared. The pack were already looking through Canada looking for the boys. Edward called the Denalis and asked them to start looking, just in case the boys did somehow get that far. Edward doubted it, but he knew he couldn't rule out the possibility that the boys may have been kidnapped. Ryan called Lia and asked if she or Felix knew Demetri's new number. Thankfully, Felix found out a few days ago.

"Edward, it's 8 (495) 227-84-33." Edward knew before he said it out loud, but he thanked Ryan before calling Demetri. He answered on the first ring.

"_Cullen?"_

"Yeah, it's Edward. Look, our grandkids are missing. We've looked all over, but we can't find them." There was a moment of silence before Demetri answered.

"_They're still moving, but right now they're in Colorado. Judging by how fast they're moving, they're definitely in a car or a truck."_ Edward suddenly felt sick. They were kidnapped. _"I'll keep in touch with you and I'll help you catch up to whoever's driving the car."_

"Thanks Demetri. Text me with updates whenever there's a change." Edward hung up the phone and went to his Volvo and sped out the door within a minute. Edward called everyone to let them know Demetri was helping him locate the boys. So they came home and waited for Nessie, Jacob, Rachael, and Paul to get back. The other parents where as soon as they heard. All the moms were bawling and Esme was helping consol them with coffee and comfort. When Nessie, Jacob, Rachael, and Paul came, Nessie ran to Bella, sobbing about her babies and how they might be hurt. Jacob held Natalie, who tried comforting him by gently petting his cheek.

"Don't worry, Nessie. We're looking for them. Don't you worry, we'll find them." Nessie didn't respond. She was crying too hard.

Nessie and Jacob stayed at the Cullen house, only leaving to go to work. Nessie didn't go as often as Jacob did, though. She wanted to be at the house ready to receive any good news. But soon, a week went by and Edward was still on the road chasing the boys. Last he called back, he was in Chicago. Another week went by and Edward said he was in Indiana. Another week, and he was in Rhode Island. Then Edward stopped calling and a few days later he walked into the house, a solemn look on his face. Nessie ran to him, the other mothers standing.

"Are they alright? Where are they?"

"They got on a plane by the time I reached New York. Demetri said they seemed to be heading towards Europe, so he would find them and tell us as soon as they were safe." Nessie began crying again. Jacob, who'd stayed home from work that day, walked to Nessie and hugged her tightly.

Jacob didn't say anything. He didn't know what he could say to reassure Nessie and he wasn't even sure he could be either. The rest of the parents were just as traumatized and worried about their sons. Demetri did his part and waited for the boys. Once he knew they were directed towards England, he snuck onto the next plane there. But since they were in Russia, the plane needed to pass through Germany before reaching England. And by the time he'd arrived, they were in the air again. So Demetri started running in the direction he sensed them. Several hours passed since then and everyone was waiting at the Cullen house for word from Demetri. People talked occasionally, but the talk never lasted long. Jacob was in the kitchen nibbling on something. He'd realized he was hungry. Then the phone rang. He called out that he would get it and walked to the phone to answer it. When he answered it, he heard loud street noise.

"Hello?"

"_Dad? Oh dad, thank God you answered."_ Jacob widened his eyes when he realized it was Kevin. Edward immediately snatched the phone and put it on speaker so everyone could listen.

"Kevin? What happened? Are you guys okay? Who took you?" Jacob was talking fast and Kevin spoke when he could get a word in.

"_No, no, no one took us. We're okay, dad."_

"No one took you?" Now that Jacob knew they were fine and no one kidnapped them, he felt himself getting extremely angry because he realized this meant foul play was involved.

"_No. No one took us. We're fine."_ In the back ground, Jacob's pack members were starting to get angry too.

"Where are you guys? What happened?" After Jacob's question, Kevin started laughing nervously.

"_Oh. You're going to laugh, dad. I promise you're going to laugh. It's a really funny story. You'll bust a vain, you'll laugh so hard."_

"I better be laughing real soon, Kevin." Jacob interrupted Kevin with daggers in his voice. He could tell whatever happened, it was Kevin's fault and he was going to be mad.

"_Right, right, you will be. Anyway, what happened was, and it was so funny, me and the guys were playing outside grandma and grandpa's house when we got really bored. We thought…."_

"_You thought, Kevin! I didn't want anything to do with this. Dad, I'm innocent in all this! Please spare me and Nate!"_

"What the hell happened? Answer me, damn it!"

"_I will, I will. Once Kyle shuts up!"_ There was a second of silence before Kevin continued. _"Anyway, since we were bored, we went towards the Makka reservation where that new factory just opened up."_

"You mean the one I told you guys to stay away from?"

"_Yeah, that one! Anyway, we jumped the fence of the factory walls and snuck around for a while to see what they do. We found a wall and walked on it and NICK lost his balance somehow and pulled us all into a box. After we fell in, none of the workers saw us, so they closed up the box and we end up in a truck, I assumed, for days and days. Then we were put in another truck. Then after that, we were put in a plane. Then a truck, and another place. Then one last truck before the box was finally opened and the workers let us go."_ Jacob was still. He was trying to keep himself from yelling. Everyone was wide eyed and furious. When Jacob was finally able to speak calmly.

"Kevin….where are you?"

"_Um…we're uh…..we're in Paris."_ Jacob clenched his right fist, took a deep breath, then spoke. He was beyond being patient now.

"Boy, for your sake, you better mean Paris, Texas."

"_No, no, the French kind that has French people. And French people are so rude! It took four hours for us to find a payphone because suddenly, French people speak enough English to shit talk Americans, but the minute you ask them for direction, they don't speak English."_ Jacob didn't even yell at Kevin for swearing. The swearing was the least of what Jacob was angry about.

"Where are you?"

"_Paris, France."_

"I know you that! I mean what fucking monument are you near?"

"_Oh, that. We're in front of…..some big pointy thing."_

"There's a lot of big pointy things in France! Give me specifics!"

"_I don't know what it's called! It's a tower."_ Jacob took in a deep breath.

"You know what. Demetri's following your trail, so I'll just let him find you guys." Then Jacob hung up the phone, still shaking from pure anger.

"Jacob, what the hell! Why did you hang up on them?" Jacob breathed out while Nessie yelled.

"You know what, Nessie, I'm so angry, I don't give a shit right now. It's Kevin, Nessie. I don't think we have anything to worry about. And Demetri's probably looking for them as we speak."

"Jacob, what if something happens to them?"

"Nessie, they'll be fine. Honestly, it's France. What's the worst that could happen? The Germans march in to take the Rhineland?"

"Jacob!" Seth, who was just as angry, interrupted.

"You know what, as long as Demetri's going to find them, I'm not worried." The arguing continued between the adults. Natalie walked over to Jacob, who picked her up. Once she was in his arms, she rested her head on his shoulders and gave him her puppy dog eyes.

"Daddy, when you kill them, can we break down the wall to give me one big room?" Jacob gave Natalie a stern look and she kept up her puppy dog eyes. She managed to calm, Jacob down just a little bit. Eventually, the phone rang again and this time, the call was from Demetri telling them he'd found the boys and was sneaking them on the next plane back to the US. Twelve hours passed before Demetri got the boys to the Seattle airport where Edward and Bella agreed to pick them up. Edward dropped off Kevin, Kyle, and Nathan to their home and drove off to take the others with him back home. As soon as they were home, Jacob looked at them a moment before sighing heavily.

"Just go to your rooms. I'll deal with you later."


	12. Something in the Woods

**Something in the Woods**

Jacob wasn't kidding when he said he would deal with the boys later. Neither of them could sit for three days. And their social life went down the drain for a few weeks. What was left of their summer break was reduced to sitting in their rooms with nothing to do, not being allowed to do anything, and thinking about how stupid they had been. When they returned to school, they realized that their companions had not been much better off. The first day of school was the first contact they'd had with the outside world in weeks. Once they were in the cafeteria eating lunch together, all the boys were staring daggers at Kevin.

"This is all your fault, Kevin. I hope you know that." Jason said, his tone harsh and bitter. "Because of you, I got an ass whooping my dead grandma could feel."

"Oh boohoo, Jason. You think it was just you? Dad did the same thing to me, Kyle and Nathan. And we were sent to our room and locked in, just like you. So don't give me a sob story, you crybaby."

"Shut up! I don't want to talk about this anymore. I don't want to talk about the ass whooping, I don't want to talk about the French people, I don't want to talk about the ride, and I just want to forget about everything that happened." Nick said in anger. Everyone was quiet while Nick stuffed his face with a little bit of his lunch. The silence continued through lunch until the end of school when Kevin insisted they all meet to talk. Once Kevin had them all together, he sighed heavily, closed his eyes, and did something he didn't want to do.

"I'm sorry I got us all in trouble. I shouldn't have dragged you all with me so I could entertain myself." Maxi was the one that sighed and walked forward.

"It's okay. What's done is done. Let's just pretend it never happened." Then Maxi looked back at his little brothers. "Can we all agree with that?" Travis and Jason nodded their heads after a moment. Then a horn honked and they all looked towards the sound. Rachael was there to pick up the kids. "There's mom. Let's get going."

"Why is your mom coming to pick you up? You could walk home?"

"I have a doctor's appointment today and mom scheduled it for thirty minutes after school, so we need to get there fast." Kevin shrugged.

"Whatever. Get going. Aunt Rachael looks like she's getting impatient." After that, Maxi and his little brothers left the group to their mom's car and they were off as soon as they were all in the car. Nick and Luke then left to walk home together. They lived almost next door to each other anyway. Kevin and Kyle stayed in front of the school waiting for Nathan and Natalie to get out of class. After a few minutes, Nathan walked out alone to Kevin and Kyle. Kevin looked over Nathan, then at him questioningly. "Where's Natalie?"

"Mom came to pick her up earlier. The Red Night needed her at the theatre for something. She'll probably be gone most of today." Kevin sighed.

"So demanding they are." Nathan shrugged.

"They do pay her for acting there. If works call, she has to go."

"How can they have her working? She's only six."

"I don't know." Kevin sighed and began walking. Kyle and Nathan followed. "And mom said she wanted us home right after school. Apparently, we're still grounded." Kevin groaned.

"You're kidding." Kyle rolled his eyes.

"Kevin, we…" Kevin cut him off.

"Shut up, Kyle, I know what we did. You don't need to remind me every waking moment." Kyle sighed and said nothing. As they were walking home, they walked on the side of the road while cars drove past, some slow, some fast. As they were walking, Kevin looked at the trees of the woods as they walked. Then he stopped suddenly for no apparent reason at all. Kyle and Nathan stopped too and looked at him questioningly.

"What are you looking at Kevin?" Kyle asked. Then he opened his mind to read Kevin's, but he was only thinking. But it was about something bad and Kyle rolled his eyes. "Count me out, Kevin. I'm not going to get in trouble again." Nathan looked at Kyle questioningly.

"What's wrong?"

"Kevin wants to go play in the woods and show off something he learned how to do. Frankly, Kevin, I already know what you want to show us and I'm not impressed. I already figured out how to do that."

"How to do what?" Nathan asked. Kevin looked at Nathan and grinned.

"Well, follow me into the woods and I'll show you. I've wanted to try what our grandparents do for a while since I learned what we can do."

"Just tell me, Kevin. I don't want to get in trouble either." Kevin shook his head and then sprinted into the woods. Kyle rolled his eyes and kept walking down the road. Nathan looked at him. "Where are you going? We can't just walk off without him."

"He knows his way home. He'll be fine. Let Kevin get in trouble if he wants, but I'm out." Nathan stayed where he was while Kyle walked away. He traded glances between him and the direction in which Kevin ran off. Eventually, he groaned and ran into the woods after Kevin. He followed Kevin smell, but then the trail suddenly turned sweet. Vamperically sweet. Nathan slowed and looked around cautiously. Then from behind, he heard someone yell, and he screamed in response, jumped, and looked towards the sound. Who he saw before him was Kevin. But his eyes were scarlet red and Nathan fell on his butt.

"Kevin? What's wrong with you?" Kevin grinned and held out his hand so Nathan could grab hold. When Nathan took Kevin's hand, it was like stone and ice cold, just like their grandparents'.

"This is what I was talking about. It's a trick I figured out how to do while we were grounded. I just thought about it really hard, then suddenly, I was." Nathan's eyes went wide.

"And all you did was think it?" Kevin nodded eagerly.

"Yep, that's it. Go ahead. Try it for yourself. Then we can go hunting together." Nathan stood there a moment nervously. When he was no longer scared, he took a deep breath and thought about being a vampire as hard as he could. Then he felt his body tremble, then go completely cold. When he opened his eyes and looked at his hands, they were paler than their normal dark tone and the cold air around him suddenly felt slightly warm. Kevin grinned wider and Nathan looked at Kevin with now scarlet eyes.

"I did it!" Kevin nodded.

"I knew you could. Now let's go hunting. I'm eager to give this a try." Kevin then began running. Nathan followed just as eagerly. Nathan then went off to his left towards the house to see what he could find. Kevin kept running until he found a little brown rabbit nibbling on something. He took a bite of its little back and sucked, but he almost instantly stopped. It didn't taste very good. Suddenly, he heard Nathan in the background.

"Kevin! Mom's care is coming!" Instantly, Kevin came to his feet and began running to the house trying to outrun Nessie's car. Once he was at the house, he and Nathan went inside through the back and changed back as soon as they were in the house. Then they went straight to their room where Kyle already was, doing his homework. He glanced up briefly, then went right back to his homework.

"You guys have fun?" Neither Nathan nor Kevin answered. They both just went to their beds, took off their backpacks and took out their homework. As they started, Nessie opened the door to their room to check on them. They all looked up and Nessie smiled a little before closing the door again to do something downstairs.

Two days went by. It was Wednesday morning and the children were up early with their parents for breakfast. Jacob was still mad at the boys, but Kyle knew he was cooling down. He told his brothers all they needed to do was remain on their best behavior and dad would be completely cooled in no time. Nessie wasn't really mad at the boys anymore, but since Jacob still thought they deserved to serve more time, she didn't say anything. Jacob was pretty much the disciplinary figure in the house, so she never really questioned him about that stuff. Of course, when it came to Natalie, she almost had to force Jacob to punish her when she did something wrong. Natalie had Jacob wrapped around her finger as much as Nessie did. Maybe even more. Nessie wasn't sure if that were the case or if it were her little 'mind control' gift Edward had discovered Natalie had. It wasn't as much mind control as much as it was heavy influence. If someone had the will power, they could out do Natalie's power, but if someone wasn't damned determined, she could force people to see things her way. It was extremely odd.

The kids had a day off from school today. Nessie was staying home from work so she could be with the boys while they were grounded. She'd take them with her when she dropped Natalie off at the Red Night Theatre, but after that, they weren't leaving the house. Nessie had made everyone eggs and bacon. She hadn't made them all a big breakfast in a while. Natalie was sitting next to Jacob. Once Nessie had the potato hash on the table, she sat down on Jacob's other side, Natalie was the first to help herself to it.

"Thanks for this, Nessie." Nessie smiled.

"You're welcome, Jacob." Nessie looked at the boys, who remained silent. They were still walking on eggshells, so they dared not talk too much. But Kevin looked bothered for some reason. "Honey?" Kevin didn't answer at first. He looked deep in thought about something. Nathan nudged him.

"Kevin." Kevin looked at Nathan, irritated.

"What?" Nathan pointed at Nessie, which made Kevin look at her, his face instantly calmer. "Yeah, mom?"

"Are you alright? You looked distracted about something." Kevin sighed.

"I feel like there's something I'm forgetting about." Nessie looked at Kevin confused.

"What are you talking about?" Jacob sighed heavily.

"Damn it, Kevin, what did you do this time?" Nessie swatted Jacob's hand. Jacob looked at Nessie critically while Kevin shook his head.

"I didn't do anything. I just feel like I'm forgetting about something. It's probably just some homework that slipped my mind. I mean, since we aren't allowed outside these days, it's hard to remember when we're stuck inside dreaming about going outside in the woods…oh my god, I forgot the rabbit!" Everyone at the table jumped when Kevin suddenly yelled. Jacob looked at Kevin critically.

"What rabbit?" Kyle opened his mind to read Kevin's, then his eyes widened.

"You didn't kill it? Are you nuts?"

"Mom was coming home! I didn't have time to." Jacob raised his voice.

"Kevin! What the hell are you talking about? What's the problem?" Kevin looked at Jacob nervously. He didn't answer at first and less than an immediate response wasn't something Jacob planned on taking. "What did you do, Kevin?" Finally, Kevin sighed and pushed the incident into everyone's mind. He didn't feel like saying it out loud. Jacob interrupted him when Kevin explained the turning into a vampire part. "Hold on. You what?"

"Well, a while ago I figured out I could faze into a vampire. And when I figured that out, I was curious about what it would be like to go hunting, so Nathan and I ran into the woods to hunt and I attacked a rabbit. But I didn't get very far. It didn't taste that good anyway. It was really bitter. But anyway, Nathan yelled that mom was driving home, so we ran home and I forgot all about the rabbit trying to get home." Jacob didn't respond at first. He seemed to be dumbfounded. Nessie was as well, but nowhere near as much. She was just mad because there could be a serious negative consequence to this. Nessie frowned and looked at Jacob, who remained blank faced. When he spoke, he was a lot calmer than Nessie would have liked.

"So let me get this straight. You're telling me that you drank a rabbit's blood and forgot to kill it, so there's a vampiric bunny running around in the woods?" Kevin nodded reluctantly.

"Yeah." Kevin sounded embarrassed and waited for Jacob to yell at him. But seconds went by and it never came. Then Jacob started laughing. It was soft at first, but it intensified as he continued. Nessie looked at him wide eyed.

"What's so funny?" Jacob shook his head and breathed.

"It's a vampiric bunn…." He stopped from being unable to talk through his laugh. Nessie was getting angrier.

"Jacob, this isn't funny! This could get really bad! Don't you get that?" Jacob took a deep breath to stop his laughter and nodded his head, fighting his smile.

"You're right, Nessie, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be laughing at this. There might be an evil bunny on the loose killing all the woodland creatures." Jacob then burst into laughter yet again. This time, Nessie's angry look didn't stop him. He just couldn't help himself.

"Damn it, Jacob, this is serious! Stop laughing!" Jacob shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Nessie. I can't." Jacob rested his head in his right hand while he laughed. Natalie started patting Jacob's back for some reason. Nessie rolled her eyes and went to the phone in the kitchen. Then she brought it back to the table and held it out to Jacob.

"Once you have some control over yourself, call the pack and handle this. You won't be laughing when half the forest is filled with bloodsucking animals." Instead of worrying Jacob like Nessie had hoped, it only made Jacob laugh harder. She didn't think that was possible. Kevin was relieved that Jacob didn't seem to be mad, but he was a little angry that he also seemed to think what he did was so stupid, it warranted a laugh that lasted near five minutes now.

"Dad, stop laughing." Jacob, again, took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, but he was finding it really hard.

"I'm sorry. I think I'm good now." Jacob then noticed that Nessie was holding the phone out to him and he took it with a loving smile. "Thank you, Nessie." Nessie sighed, still mad that Jacob thought this was funny. Jacob called the first number that came to mind. Paul. He was on speed dial anyway.

"_Jacob? What're you calling for? Did something happen?"_ It took everything in Jacob not to laugh.

"You could say that. I need you to call everyone in the pack and tell them to come to my house immediately. We have a problem." Jacob nearly broke. He couldn't bear to say this with a straight face. It actually hurt.

"_If it's such a problem, then why are you laughing?"_ Jacob took another deep breath to control his laughter.

"I'll explain everything when you all get here, okay. Just hurry up." Then Jacob hung up the phone and rested it on the table beside him. Then he went back to his breakfast calmly, making Nessie even more irritated.

"Jacob!"

"What?"

"For God's sake, start calling members! This is serious."

"Paul will take care of it, Nessie. Don't worry about it so much. We'll handle it."

As Jacob promised, all the pack members were at the house within fifteen minutes. It was still early, so no one had left for work or anything yet. Sam said that Leah would be here as fast as she could, but they'd all have to wait at least another fifteen minutes. Jacob insisted that they wait for Leah because this was something the pack would have to handle together. Nessie just rolled her eyes and rested her head in her left hand while her elbow rested on the arm of the couch. Jacob had even asked her family to come over; no doubt to prove to Nessie that he wasn't the only one who thought this was funny. Once Nessie's family was at the house, they sat or stood in the free spaces in the living room. Edward was already fighting laughter by the time they'd entered the house. Nessie just rolled her eyes and everyone else looked at Edward like he was nuts.

"Why won't you tell us what's so funny?" Edward shook his head at Bella.

"It's not funny in the least, Bella, not at all." Jacob grinned.

"You're such a liar, Edward." Paul finally took the opportunity to voice his own annoyance with Jacob.

"Okay, Jacob, what the hell's going on? We all have to go to work and it you're making me late because of a fucking prank; I'll ring your neck."

"I dare you to. And besides, this isn't a prank." Jacob looked at Kevin, who was standing to Jacob's right next to the chair he was sitting in. "It isn't, right? If it is…" Kevin shook his head with a sigh.

"No, dad, this isn't a prank." Jacob relaxed and looked towards the door. Again, Paul voiced his discontent, speaking for everyone.

"Damn it, Jacob, what the hell happened. Either tell me now, or I'm leaving. We're not all married to a trust fund baby that can pay the bills." This time, Jacob gave Paul a hard look.

"I pay for everything myself, thank you very much, Paul." Alice shrugged.

"Yeah, but some of that comes from the money you get from stock, which I set you up with by the way."

"Yeah, and you did that by stealing my personal information. Thanks for that, Tinkerbell."

"It worked out in the end, didn't it?" Jasper, coming to Alice's defense, spoke. He was just as annoyed as everyone else.

"Indeed it did. Let me tell you, Jacob, if you're taking your sweet time to tell us the problem, it probably isn't something to worry about." Emmett poked his comment in next.

"You know, Jacob, if you and Nessie needed money, all you needed to do was say so."

"We don't need money! Kevin did something and it's bad…" Jacob stopped. Again, he couldn't keep a straight face. Neither could Edward. He was fighting a laugh, though Jacob wasn't bothering this time. Carlisle looked at Edward critically.

"What are we missing, Edward? What's the joke?" Edward regained completely control and sighed.

"Leah's just outside. You'll find out in a minute." Then the doorbell rang. "Speak of the devil. I'll get it." Edward ran to the door to open it and let Leah in. She looked extremely concerned and she ran to the living room where everyone was, in a panic.

"What's going on? Is there a nomad we need to handle?" Jacob started laughing again. Leah looked at him with an angry look and Edward ended up answering for him.

"You could say that." Paul's eyes widened.

"Wait, this is about a nomad? Why are we sitting on our asses? We need to take care of this!" Jacob took a moment to regain control. Then he looked at Kevin sternly, but somehow still with a big smile.

"Alright, Kevin, tell them what you did." Paul interrupted.

"Wait a minute. You're telling me you've asked us all here because Kevin got in trouble? Jacob, I have my own kids to deal with. I don't need more."

"Shut up and let Kevin talk." Jacob then looked at Kevin again, who sighed heavily and looked at the crowd in the living room.

"Well, you see, the other day when me, Kyle, and Nathan were walking home from school, I didn't want to go home just yet, so I took Nathan with me into the woods so I could show him a trick Kyle and I learned how to do." Nathan interrupted.

"And it's really cool! You just close your eyes, think really hard and..." Then Nathan did what his brother taught him how to do. His skin paled and hardened, his scent became heavily sweet, and when he opened his eyes, they were scarlet red. When they saw it, everyone except Edward, Jacob, Nessie, Kyle, and Kevin were surprised. "And boom, I'm a vampire! Isn't that neat?" The pack stood from their chairs and Leah screeched a little. Carlisle was amazed. He walked over to Nathan to touch his skin and get a closer look.

"How did you do this? How is this possible?" Nathan shrugged.

"All I did was think about it. Kevin showed me how to do it." Natalie looked at her brother wide eyed before she looked at her hands a moment. Then she closed her eyes, thought really hard, and suddenly, her skin was paler and hard, her scent overly sweet, and when she opened her eyes, they were scarlet red. Natalie giggled, stood from the couch, and twirled around.

"Daddy, daddy! Look I did it!" Jacob wasn't necessarily comfortable with that, but he smiled anyway.

"Good for you, Nat." Still enthralled by this discovery, Carlisle walked to Natalie and picked her up.

"This is astonishing! I wonder if this could have side effects."

"Natalie, Nathan, change back now." Jacob said, not thrilled with Carlisle's question. Natalie pouted, but did as Jacob said anyway, as did Nathan. Once they were back to normal, Natalie reached out to Jacob, wanting him to hold her, so Carlisle gave her over and Natalie sat on Jacob's lap with a smile.

"I don't believe it." Seth, for the first time since he arrived, smiled.

"This is unbelievable! Do you know how advantageous this could be? We could actually trick nomads with this when they're older. Jacob, it's the perfect vampire extermination tool." Edward gently swatted Seth's shoulder.

"Don't say that, Seth, that's mean. And here I thought we were friends." Seth chuckled.

"We are friends, Edward. I'm talking about bad nomads that come here with bad intentions." Edward smiled and nodded.

"I know Seth." Paul finally sighed and relaxed. Once he wasn't creeped out anymore, he sat back down, the rest of the pack that had seats following suit, and spoke.

"So is that what you wanted us to know?" Jacob shook his head.

"That's only part of it. Finish the story, Kevin." Everyone in the group groaned in annoyance, but otherwise said nothing and waited for Kevin to speak.

"Anyway, before I was rudely interrupted by you, twerp," Kevin swatted Nathan's arm, who hit him back. Then Jacob grabbed the back of Nathan's shirt and handed him to Nessie, who took him with a sigh. "Anyway, I showed Nathan how to do that trick and I thought it would be interesting to try hunting. So we ran into the woods to look for something small. I ended up finding a rabbit. But it didn't taste that great. It was really bitter." Emmett interrupted.

"Little man, if you want good vegetarian blood, you need big hunting animals like bears. They taste the closet to humans." Then, suddenly, Jasper had a thought and looked at Emmett eagerly.

"I think I have an idea how to prove whether Evolution is true or not." Rosalie and Alice rolled their eyes, but Emmet raised his brow.

"Do tell."

"We should drink the blood of a chimp or an ape. Something along those lines." Emmett started laughing and patted Jasper's back.

"You're a genius, my friend." Raising her voice, seemingly for the first time since her existence, Esme raised her voice.

"Will you let the boy finish!" Everyone went quiet, stunned by Esme. She wasn't thrilled about the situation either. She was convinced this was some kind of prank on Jacob's part. Kevin looked around a moment, making sure he had everyone's attention, then continued.

"Well, I attacked a rabbit, but Nathan screamed that mom was approaching the house. I panicked and left the rabbit, running as fast as I could back to the house so we'd get there before mom and she wouldn't find out. I forgot about it until now." There was a silence in the room. Edward was actually cracking his bottom lip from keeping himself from laughing. Emmett looked thoughtful a moment, then spoke.

"So wait. What you're saying is that you attacked a bunny." Kevin nodded. "And you were in a vampire form when this happened?" Kevin nodded again. "But when you bit it, you forgot to, say, snap its neck or something." Nodded. "And therefore, you're saying that as we speak, there's a blood drinking rodent out in the woods?" Kevin nodded.

"Yeah, Uncle Emmett. That's about it." Then, with that confirmation, Emmett began to smile. As did Jasper. Then Carlisle, then the rest of the pack, excluding Leah. Once they were smiling, the room filled with loud laughter. Jasper even bent over, arms wrapped around his stomach. Edward and Carlisle were trying not to laugh. Nessie glared at them all.

"Why are you all laughing? This isn't funny!"

"You're right," Emmett said, "You're right, Nessie, I'm sorry. This is serious. We need to find thumper and kill him before he kills Bambi." A new string of laughs began. This time, Edward actually cracked his lip and had to hold it into proper position so it would heal. Once it did, he didn't bother stopping himself from laughing anymore. Bella looked at Edward stunned.

"What's wrong with you? This is horrible! This could get really bad." Then, in a Scottish accent, Seth spoke.

"'That rabbit's got a mean streak a mile wide! Look at the bones!'" A new string of laughs.

"Carlisle," said Brian, "I don't suppose your father left you with a Holy Hand Grenade did he?" Carlisle finally broke then and laughed. "We better come up with a plan if we're to concur this evil bloodsucking rodent." Leah looked at Jacob, her eyes filled with rage.

"You're telling me you called me away from work all the way in Hoquiam just to tell me your son made a vampire bunny?" Paul, who was in pain from laughing, started speaking.

"Jacob," he took a moment to breath, "Jacob, I'm sorry I yelled at you. This is something we need to handle." Then, Emmett pulled out his phone and started looking through his speed dial. Rosalie noticed, and breathed out harshly.

"Emmett, what the hell are you doing?"

"I'm calling the Denalis. Garret and Eleazar will most definitely appreciate this." Rosalie grabbed his phone and ended the call.

"Damn it, Emmett, no you're not. If you really want to call them, you can wait until we've caught the rabbit." Again, the room filled with renewed laughter. Jared was beginning to fall off the couch.

"Oh God, I can't breathe. I can't breathe, I'm laughing…so hard." Some of the pack members were already on their knees from laughing. Jasper finally stood up, straightened his shirt, then looked seriously at Kevin.

"Alright, Kevin now's not the time to laugh, as funny as this admittedly is. We must find this rodent and kill it before we have a forest filled with vampiric animals." This time, the laughter was muffled from trying to stay calm. "Where was the last place you saw this…creature." Jasper was attempting to avoid further laughing, so he used a different word than rodent or bunny.

"Two miles away from the house." Jasper nodded.

"Then two miles away is where we shall start. Come, everyone. We'll begin looking." Nessie was even more irritated now. None of the women seemed to think this was funny. Especially not Leah. The men were all laughing on and off while they looked for the rabbit. Jasper picked up what he assumed was the rabbit's smell and followed it. It hadn't gotten very far. When they finally found the rabbit, it was eight miles away from Nessie and Jacob's house and the rabbit was standing amongst leaves and grass minding its own business. Seth grinned when he saw it.

"Alright, let the Monty Python jokes begin." Everyone started laughing. The rabbit didn't seem to be bothered. It was even white on its toes and tail. It was mostly brown, but the white was there. Paul started.

"We must kill the bunny if we are to find the Holy Grail." Jacob stopped then before any more jokes could be made.

"Alright, alright, let's get serious. We'll laugh about this when it's taken care of." Then Jacob looked at Kevin. "Alright, Kevin. This is your mess, so you better fix it." Kevin looked at Jacob wide eyed.

"What? Me? Why me?"

"Because this is your fault. You caused this, so it's your responsibility to take care of it. Consider this to be a lesson in life. Now go on." Kevin sighed, then looked at Nathan.

"What?"

"You heard the man, Nathan. Take care of this."

"Dad told you to handle this! It's your fault." Jacob decided, despite Nessie's angry looks, to let them argue. Jacob was so humored today, he didn't really care. The boys continued arguing while Natalie worked her way to the front of the group to see the rabbit. When she saw it and saw her brothers arguing, she rolled her eyes at them, then fazed into a vampire. Jacob noticed and grabbed her arm when she began walking towards the rabbit.

"Nat, stay right here." Natalie began looking at Jacob with puppy dog, scarlet eyes, and she used her trick on Jacob. It worked and Jacob let go of Natalie, who began creeping to the rabbit

"Natalie Isabella Black, you get back here right now!" Nessie screamed. This got the rabbit's attention, which made it look in Natalie's direction. It actually leaped at her, but Natalie caught the rabbit, and removed its head all in two seconds. The crowed looked at Natalie stunned when she turned around, holding the bunny's body in her right hand and its head by the ears in her left. She looked right at Kevin and Nathan.

"Oh wow. I just killed a bunny. We should erect statues in my honor." Natalie said sarcastically. Then she ran over to one of the few pack members that smoked, stole their lighter, ran back to the bunny's body, and lit it on fire. The purple smoke formed and the sweet smell filled the air. "Mommy, can we leave now? If I'm late for practice, Miss Gretchen will make me stay in a split until I finish singing _God Save the Queen_. And I don't remember all the lyrics." Nessie near sprinted to Natalie and grabbed her up into her arms.

"Alright, everyone go to work for the day. Kevin, Kyle, Nathan, you stay here and make sure this mini-bonfire doesn't burn down the forest." Then she looked at Edward. "Daddy, make sure that's all they do and they go straight home after that. If they don't go right home, they're grounded for another month." Kevin stood to attention to argue. But Nessie noticed and shot him down. "Hush, Kevin. You're in enough trouble as it is. You know what," Nessie said, noticing Edward was still laughing about this, "Momma, you look after the boys. I mean it, you three. You go straight home with grandma or it's another month. If you do as I say, then I'll let you guys off the hook. Are we clear?" Kyle looked at Nessie stunned.

"But what did I do? I went straight home."

"Did you make Nathan and Kevin go home with you?"

"I tried, mommy, I tried, but Kevin wouldn't budge. You know he's stubborn." Coming to his own defense, Kevin stood tall and began yelling.

"You did not! You just said, 'It's your problem. I'm going home.' You just walked away so you wouldn't get in trouble, but we would."

"I did not!"

"Yes you did!"

"Shut up!" Nessie yelled. All three looked at Nessie and stood to attention. "I don't care who's fault it is, I don't care who did what, I just don't care! I just want this cleaned up, understood?" Kevin, Kyle, and Nathan nodded their heads nervously. Jacob stood back, stunned. He didn't think Nessie was so upset about this.

Nessie then walked past the crowd and began running to the house so she could take Natalie downtown for her acting classes with Gretchen and her coven. Once Nessie was out of sight, Jacob took a moment to have one last laugh. The pack joined. Leah, on the other hand, told Jacob he was a moron and walked away so she could drive back to Hoquiam for work. Kyle was the first one to walk over to the burning carcass and put out any flames that escaped. When Kevin and Nathan finally came over to help, Kyle voiced that he'd had enough.

"I hate you, Kevin. Every time you get in trouble, you always blame it on me."

"I do not."

"Yes you do, Kevin. I'm your little brother, not a meat shield for when mom's in a bad mood."

"Exactly, Kyle, you're my_ little_ brother. That means if you've got to take one for me, then you do and be grateful for it. But that doesn't mean I do that. I only told mom the truth. You really only walked away saying it wasn't your problem."

"I did that because you wouldn't listen to me! Why should I waste my breath getting you out of trouble if you never listen to me?"

"That's enough you two." Said Bella sternly. Everyone else had already left. She remained as Nessie asked. "You heard your mother. Clean this up, then you go straight to your rooms when you get home." Nathan looked at Bella with pleading eyes.

"Come on, Grandma, can't you give us a break? Can't we play outside at least for a few minutes? Mommy doesn't have to know." Bella shook her head.

"No, Nathan. If I do that, none of you will learn your lesson."

"I didn't even do anything!" Kyle yelled. "It was Kevin's fault!" Bella looked at Kyle sternly.

"Don't you raise your voice at me, Kyle." Kyle sighed and looked back at the rabbit. He was still steaming mad. Kevin did this all the time. He would do something, almost entirely singlehandedly, then he would somehow get Kyle and Nathan involved, then when he got in trouble for what he'd done, Kyle and Nathan were dragged down with him. He'd had enough of it. "Alright, that should do it. Put out the rest of the fire. And spread out the ashes, just to be safe."

The boys did as they were told and spread out the ashes among the forest floor where they were. Once they were done, Bella brought them back home and waited with them in their room for Nessie to come back home. They all sat quietly doing nothing. Bella was reading a book. Nessie finally came back about a half hour later. Bella went downstairs to greet her while the boys all stayed upstairs. Kevin and Kyle weren't looking at each other. They were still made. Nathan was sitting on his bed looking between them while they were laying down on their beds facing away from each other. Awkwardly, Nathan smiled.

"Does anyone want to play rock paper scissors?"

"Shut up, Nate." Kevin and Kyle both said. Now Nathan's feelings were hurt, so he curled up in a ball and laid down on his bed and began to cry. Kevin rolled his eyes. "Stop crying, Nate. I'm trying to sleep."

"Leave him alone, Kevin. He's only seven."

"I never cried at seven."

"Well, good for you!" Kevin ignored Kyle and returned his comments to Nathan, who was still crying.

"You shouldn't cry, Nathan. Boys don't cry. Grandpa told us so, remember?"

"Leave me alone, Kevin." Nathan said. Kevin looked at Nathan and sat up on his bed.

"Fine, Nate, if you want to cry, then do it quietly so I can sleep. There's nothing else to do these days but sleep." Nathan didn't respond. Nessie chose that moment to come in and check on the boys. She saw Nathan crying and walked over to his bedside and brought him into her arms. Then Nathan began crying on Nessie's chest clutching to her. She'd overheard the conversation and looked right at Kevin.

"Kevin, don't tell your brother things like that." Nessie petted Nathan's head so he would calm down and stop crying. Kevin sighed and laid back down on his bed. Kyle was still staying at the wall angry.

Nessie stayed and held Nathan for about an hour, calming him down. He eventually fell asleep, so Nessie rested him on his bed and tucked him in. Kevin and Kyle had fallen asleep as well, so she tucked them in, then closed to door behind her so she could go downstairs and read. The boys stayed in their room most of the day and Nessie stayed downstairs and read all day until Jacob finally came home. Nessie stayed on the couch reading. Jacob came into the living room where she was, holding flowers behind his back. He had a feeling Nessie was still annoyed with him. When he was right behind the couch, he bent down, kissed Nessie's neck, then brought the bouquet from behind his back and showed it to Nessie.

"Flowers? What for?" Jacob smiled.

"I had a feeling you were mad at me this morning, so I thought I'd try to make it up to you." Nessie smiled lightly and took the flowers in her hands and brought them to her face.

"Well, thank you, Jacob."

"So did Bella make sure the boys came straight home when they were done?" Nessie nodded.

"Yeah she did. They're upstairs right now." Jacob smiled a little, then walked around the couch and sat down next to Nessie.

"So should we punish them for today or leave it be?" Nessie sighed.

"They're suffered enough. We'll let this go. Besides, it was mostly Kevin's doing. Kyle and Nathan don't need to be in trouble for it."

"Alright then. We'll let this go. Should we still keep them grounded for the rest of the week?" Nessie nodded.

"Might as well. Besides, I don't want to reward them for what happened today either." Jacob chuckled and Nessie rolled her eyes. "Jacob."

"I'm sorry, Nessie. It's funny. And hey, the killer rodent's dead now. We can look back on this as funny now that there's nothing to worry about anymore." Nessie still didn't laugh. She just took her book back up and started reading again. Jacob sighed. "Mark my words, Nessie. You'll think this is funny one day."


	13. Peanut

**Peanut**

As promised, Emmett called the Denalis to tell them what happened with Kevin. As with them, the women didn't seem to see the humor in it. Garrett and Eleazar thought it was hilarious, though. Emmett then started calling all the former Volturi members, even Alec and Jane, and told them what happened. It was the same reaction, except with Jane and Alec. Alec was the one who didn't see the humor in the situation while Jane thought it was funny. Kevin begged Emmett to drop it, so once all their friends knew about what happened, especially Billy and Charlie, he agreed to drop it and stop tormenting Kevin about it.

At the end of that week, the boys were let off of their original punishment time for their France escapade. They all ran outside screaming with happiness to be out of the house and allowed to play. Kevin ran to a tree and hugged it, he was so happy. A few days later, the boys all went to the Cullen house to play. Even Natalie was there playing. Normally, she'd be at the theatre either practicing or sometimes performing, but since the theatre was being fumigated, she didn't have to go that day. It was one of the first time's she had ever really hung out with any of her cousins, but she ended up sticking with Jason. Maxi and Travis would sometimes tease Jason since he was the youngest, so he stuck with Natalie as well. They had a lot more in common than Jason did with his brothers and he was more comfortable with her.

Natalie didn't usually play with the other pack kids. Most of them were boys, so she had nothing in common with them and she thought they were gross. But Jason was a little more reserved and wasn't as brazenly boyish like his brothers were. While the others were in the woods in the Cullen back yard, Natalie and Jason were climbing up and down trees to see who was the fastest. Once noon rolled around, Esme called in all the kids so they could have some lunch. The moment the boys heard lunch, they were sitting at the kitchen table waiting for their food. Natalie sat next to Jason. Esme took out some wheat bread and peanut butter and some strawberry and grape jam.

"I have strawberry and grape. Who wants what?" Everyone announced what they wanted. Natalie asked for strawberry while Jason asked for grape. Natalie scrunched her nose.

"You like grape flavor?" Jason nodded, looking surprised.

"Who doesn't?"

"Not me. I hate grape flavored anything. It tastes really yucky. I don't like it."

"You're crazy. Grape's the best flavor of anything." Natalie scrunched her nose again.

"No it isn't. I've never had peanut butter and jelly before. Daddy always gets grape, so I never have it." Again, Jason looked surprised.

"Really? You're so deprived." Natalie giggled. Esme came around the table and gave everyone their sandwiches. Jason smiled teasingly and held up his sandwich. "Here's to your first PB and J." Natalie smiled and brought her sandwich to his and they tapped them together.

They all began eating their sandwiches, but after a few bites, Natalie began to not feel well. Her throat was starting to hurt really bad. Then it was starting to burn. Then, within a minute, she realized she couldn't breathe. She tried coughing, but that didn't help at all. Esme ran to Natalie and began patting her back. When the coughing wouldn't stop, she screamed for Carlisle. And Bella and Edward were out hunting, so Edward wasn't there to tell what was wrong. Kyle opened his mind, then he panicked.

"Grandma, grandma, she can't breathe!" Carlisle was there seconds later and grabbed Natalie into his arms and ran upstairs with her. Once they were in his office, Carlisle used a tube to open Natalie's airways so she wouldn't choke to death. Then he started looking for some epinephrine.

"Carlisle, what's wrong with her?" Esme asked.

"She's going into anaphylactic shock. At least now we know she's allergic to peanuts." Once Carlisle found the epinephrine, he gave Natalie the injection and kept the tube in until her throat was no longer swollen. "Call Nessie and Jacob."

Esme nodded and ran to Carlisle's desk where the nearest phone was. She called the shop where Jacob and Nessie were. They had a big order to fill that week and they were trying to get ahead on a few things. Esme was the one to answer the phone.

"_Black Repair, this is Renesmee Black, how may I help you?"_

"Honey, it's Esme. You and Jacob need to come over as soon as you can. Natalie's had a serious allergic reaction to peanut butter."

"_What? Is she okay?"_ Esme glanced at the table where Natalie was resting. She looked stabilized.

"She's stabilized now. But I doubt the swelling will go away any time soon."

"Alright. Jacob and I will be right over." Nessie hung up the phone and Esme went right back to the table to touch Natalie's head. She was running a fever now, but Carlisle assured her that would go away once the epinephrine took full effect. A minute or so later, Edward and Bella came in to check on her.

"Natalie, are you alright, honey?" Natalie shook her head at Bella and started crying. She was holding a pillow over her head to hide that her tongue was still swollen and she began sobbing. Bella sighed. "Poor thing. She probably got this from me." Edward looked at Bella confused.

"You were never allergic to peanuts." Bella shook her head.

"It wasn't me. It was my mom. She didn't have as serious a reaction, but she would get hives if peanuts even touched her skin. I think one of Jacob's sisters is allergic to peanuts too." Edward nodded.

"Rebecca is. But again, her allergic reaction isn't this serious. She just got hives." Edward pushed aside the pillow Natalie was holding over her face just enough so he could see her arms, which were covered in hives. "And so does Natalie." Bella began petting Natalie gently.

"Poor baby." Bella looked at Carlisle. "Should we give her an oatmeal bath?" Carlisle shook his head.

"That only works on chicken pox. And the minute Natalie gets chicken pox, let me know. None of the other kids have had them yet, so the moment one of them catches it, she wants all the kids together so they can all get it over with." Bella smiled a bit.

"A chicken pox party. How fun." Edward chuckled.

"Did you have to do that?" Bella nodded.

"Yeah. I was still living here when one of the kids in my pre-school class got sick. Renee suggested to the parents that we should all get together and boom, the next day, I was sitting in an oatmeal bath trying not to scratch myself."

"Grandma?" Natalie interrupted. "Please stop. The hives itch enough." Bella smiled. Despite Natalie's swollen tongue accent, she could understand what she was saying.

"Sorry, dear." A few minutes later, Nessie and Jacob came walking up the stairs where Emmett told them Natalie was. Jacob went straight to Carlisle, Nessie right to Natalie's side.

"How bad was the reaction?"

"Her throat swelled. She can breathe now, but her tongue's still swollen and she's got hives. She'll be better by tomorrow." Jacob smiled half-heartedly, then walked to Natalie's side.

"How're you feeling, Nat?" Natalie whined as an answer and held the pillow tighter to her face. Jacob sighed. "Don't be that way, Natalie. You have to come up for breath some time."

"No!" Natalie said, her voice muffled from her swollen tongue.

"Nat." Jacob said, his voice a little more commanding. "Let me see." Natalie whined again and lifted the pillow only enough to let Jacob see. Natalie's tongue was swollen to twice its size. Jacob was taken by surprise. "Whoa!" After Jacob's outburst, Natalie began crying again. Jacob jumped a little, but calmed down. "Oh God, Nat, stop…stop crying. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that." Nessie lifted Natalie into her arms, Natalie still holding the pillow over her face and crying, and began patting her back soothingly.

"It's alright, Natalie. Daddy didn't mean it and the swelling will be gone by tomorrow." Natalie kept crying for a few minutes and they all let her. Jacob eventually sighed.

"Nat, I'm sorry." Natalie hick-upped, then reached out her right hand, her left hand still holding the pillow over her face. Jacob walked around the table and took Natalie in his arms, hugging her tightly.

"How's peanut?" Jacob looked towards the door and saw all the boys standing there. Natalie started crying again and Jacob rolled his eyes.

"Kevin, don't tease your sister." Kevin frowned.

"Why can Maxi and Travis nickname Jason Toad, but we can't nickname Nat something as harmless as peanut?" Bella looked at Kevin surprised.

"Toad?" Jason glared at Kevin.

"I'll take that nickname from grandma, but not you!" Bella looked at Edward.

"How did he get Toad?" Edward sighed.

"When Paul's mother first saw him, she thought he looked like a toad. She said it in an affectionate way, but she kept calling him her Dearest Toad, and it stuck." Jacob smiled and patted Natalie's back.

"Peanut's better than Toad."


	14. Spain

**Spain**

Billy heard about Natalie's attack. He came to visit her with a flower and told her to get better by the next day. Charlie came to visit her with a tiny teddy bear that could fit in the palm of his hand. As it turns out, it was a miracle only one of the kids was allergic to peanuts. It seemed that Jacob's mother, Sarah, had been allergic to peanuts too. She had also been allergic to blueberries, oranges, pollen, cats, nuts in general, she couldn't wear polyester, and some cheap metals irritated her skin, hence why, according to Billy, she hardly ever wore jewelry except her wedding ring. Even the smell of cigarette smoke would make her sick, which is why Billy ended up quitting. That, and because Sarah told him either he quit the cigarettes and the pot (which had been a pass time for him and his brother, Bobby, when he was alive), or she was leaving, pregnant or not. So he quit. Billy used to tease that she couldn't walk a mile without getting the sniffles. And of course, Renee had a minor peanut allergy, but that was all for her.

The peanut nickname stuck among the cousins. Jason only ever called her Peanut when he was teasing her. The rest had replaced Nat, the nickname Jacob had given her, with Peanut altogether. Under the circumstances, Carlisle saw it necessary to check if there was anything else Natalie was allergic to so they wouldn't have to worry about being surprised by a serious reaction. Since it was usually a more serious allergy, Carlisle decided to test her tolerance to shell fish first. Esme bought some shrimp and Carlisle held it to her skin for five minutes. There wasn't a reaction, so Carlisle wasn't concerned about a seafood allergy.

Just to be safe, he also tested her tolerance for pet dander, such as cats and dogs. She didn't react to that, so she wasn't allergic to cats or dogs. Carlisle tried everything that he'd seen people have a reaction to. She only had a reaction to polyester and a slight reaction to oranges. Carlisle couldn't believe Natalie was the only one of the kids that had any allergies at all. Carlisle tested the three boys and nothing. Natalie wasn't too happy about that.

The school year went by without any other surprises as did the summer. Paul and Rachael decided they wanted to have some time to themselves and used some money they had saved up so they could go on an Alaskan cruise together. That meant that Maxi, Travis, and Jason were staying with Nessie and Jacob. Since Natalie's peanut allergy fiasco, she and Jason had started becoming closer and by that summer were close friends. Paul teased that maybe one day they would end up together. Nessie wasn't really thrilled with that idea because they're cousins. But the Quileute tribe being such a small size, everyone was technically related in one way or another.

Sadly, Valerie wouldn't be coming home for a long while. There were several complications with contractors and such coming up with the establishment and there was a huge problem about getting permits for an owner outside the country. They'd already been there for about a year and a half and it looked like they would be there a little longer than two years. Rosalie began begging Valerie to just come home and stay with the family while Tae Sook stayed in Japan, but she didn't want to be away from her husband. On the bright side, she had a good friend she could talk to. It was a woman that lived next door to her. She was a Japanese woman in her mid thirties who was a stay at home mom. She'd come to Valerie's apartment to welcome her to the complex and they'd been friends ever since. She didn't know anything about their vampire circumstances, which everyone was relieved about and when she saw that, in their wedding photos, Tae Sook had red eyes, she simply assumed it was from the glare of the camera; a misconception Valerie happily let slide by.

About half-way through July, Nessie received something in the mail from Brazil, which she found odd. Marcelo wasn't really one to send letters and Laura had never seemed the type to write letters either. Nessie went to the kitchen table with her letter and all the mail in hand with Jacob following and standing behind her when she sat in a chair at the kitchen table.

"You got a letter?" Nessie nodded.

"It looks like it. It's probably from Yaretzi. She's the only one I can think of that would ever write me a letter instead of just call me." Jacob smiled and kissed Nessie's neck. She opened the letter and pulled out what looked more like an invitation.

_Você está convidado:_

_o casamento de Laura Zuleta e Marcelo Escada_

"Marcelo and Laura are getting married." Nessie said with a big grin. Jacob looked surprised.

"Are you serious?" Nessie nodded.

"Yeah. Can you believe it? They're getting married in October and we're all invited to go."

"Where's the wedding being held?"

"Barcelona, Spain. My God, I've never been to Spain! Aunt Alice says it's a wonderful place to visit." Jacob sighed.

"I don't know if we can go, Nessie. That's a lot of time we'd have to take off work."

"You could always have Brian look after the shop couldn't you? And Steven is perfectly capable of managing the place in my absence."

"I'm not so sure about that, Nessie. He graduated a year ago and he's still working for us."

"There's nothing wrong with that. Maybe he just likes working for us." Jacob sighed.

"I guess." Then Nessie continued reading, and then bounced a little in her chair.

"Laura wants me to be a bride's maid. And she asked if Natalie and Nathan would be the flower girl and ring bearer." Jacob shrugged.

"I'm fine with it. But won't it be difficult to be bridesmaid when you're hours away?"

"Of course it would be, but I can always go there early or something. Besides, she knows my dress size, so she can always just buy the dress and I pay her back."

"I thought the bride paid for all the dresses of her bridal party." Nessie looked at Jacob wide eyed and with a smile.

"Of course not, Jacob. That would be too expensive. Truth be told, I'm assuming our dresses will be stolen." Jacob sighed.

"Whatever."

"Oh, and the invitation says we can bring as many visitors as we like. Should we invite the pack and families?" Jacob laughed a little to himself.

"We could ask, but I wouldn't count on them coming. I'm not even sure if any of them have passports anyway." Nessie sighed.

"If you say so. I just thought I should ask." Jacob smiled and kissed Nessie's neck again. "How long do you think the kids can get away with not being in school?"

"As long as we tell the school, I'm sure there won't be a problem."

Nathan and Natalie weren't too concerned about being a ring bearer and flower girl. Once Nathan knew what he would be doing, it sounded easy enough and, hey, he got cake out of it, so that was a plus. Natalie was excited that she would get to participate in a wedding ceremony. Nessie's family had already received their own invitations to the wedding, including one meant for Valerie and Tae Sook. Rosalie forwarded Valerie's invitation to her and sent Ryan and Lia their invitation. Ryan had finally moved into the condo he'd bought near the hospital and Lia moved in with him a few short months later. Felix came to visit Washington a lot more often these days.

Nessie asked the pack members if they wanted to join them for the wedding. As Jacob predicted, none of them really wanted to go. They didn't know the people getting married, the ones who actually knew Marcelo didn't like him very much, and hardly any of them had passports anyway. The only ones who had passports were Jared, Sam, Leah, and Paul, and that's just because they wanted to go to Canada to get beer for Sam's eighteenth birthday.

"Are you sure you don't want to go?" Nessie asked Leah while she was at the house. She'd managed to get a day to take care of Hailey and she wanted to bring him to Nessie and Jacob's house. Hailey was about twelve now. Leah rolled her eyes.

"Nessie, I don't even like what little I do know of Marcelo. I mean, if the wedding were nearby sure what the hell, it's free food and cake. But if I have to pay over $1000 just to go to the wedding of people I don't know that well to begin with, I'll stay here and pay $20 for dinner and cake." Leah looked over at Hailey. He was sitting really still and Nessie's children were staring at him intently, except Kyle. He'd already figured out what was wrong.

"How often does this happen to him?" Leah sighed at Nessie's question.

"Maybe two or three times a month. It's usually when he's sitting. It happened during a test he was taking one time. He was still for forty five minutes and he failed the test because he couldn't finish."

"Didn't the school let him retake the test?" Leah nodded.

"Yeah, they did. Hailey managed to get a B that time, so they accepted that grade without averaging out the two tests. Apparently, it's something the school usually does."

"How's he doing with his therapy?"

"He's getting better. He's still a little stubborn about his medicine at time, but I think that might diminish over some more time. But he's still not making many friends and he's still putting up a huge wall with the therapist his mother's sending him to. Usually, he just won't talk to him." Nessie sighed. They were silent a moment while watching Hailey, still not moving. Natalie finally ran over to Nessie concerned.

"Mommy, Hailey's hurt. We can't get him to move." Nessie smiled gently and lifted Natalie into her arms.

"It's alright, honey. He'll snap out of it in a minute."

"These episodes usually don't last longer than twenty minutes. At worst, he'll be this way for an hour, but that only happened once. I can't remember when that one happened. Just leave him be, alright, Natalie. He gets grumpy once he's out of it." Natalie looked confused.

"What's wrong with Hailey?"

"He's catatonic at the moment. It's common for schizophrenics." Leah decided then to take that opportunity to take Hailey, who hardly changed his position from the stiffness in his muscles, and brought him to the kitchen and sat him next to her at the table. Natalie shuddered a bit, then gently pushed Nessie's chest letting her know she wanted down. Once free, she ran to her room to play upstairs. Ten minutes later, Hailey snapped out of his catatonic state, looked around a moment, then groaned.

"How long was I out this time?"

"Just for fifteen minutes." Hailey sighed and rested his head on the table not saying another word. "What time did your mother want you home again, Hailey?" Hailey shrugged.

"I wasn't listening." Leah rolled her eyes fighting a little smile. She shouldn't find that funny.

"You did at least take your medicine this morning right?"

"Yes, Leah, I took my meds. And I practiced my instruments too."

"I picked you up at eight. When did you have time to do that?"

"I've been up since five o'clock." There was a moment of silence. Leah patted Hailey's head, in response to which he lifted his head and looked at her. "Can we leave? I don't feel like playing with the other kids." Leah sighed.

"Sure."

A few days later when Nessie dropped off Natalie at the Red Nigh Theatre, she found out that Gretchen would be going to the wedding. One of her friends that had been invited asked if she wanted to join her, so she accepted. She knew that a few other friends of that woman's would be going too. Apparently, this was a woman from Spain who'd changed Laura and she'd befriended most of the people she'd changed. Gretchen had met her in 1846 when she'd come to Guernica to visit Diego, who she was also very good friends with. Nessie was surprised Gretchen was so social, but somehow she wasn't too.

Gretchen seemed to know and be firm friends with everyone, even Alistair, despite him being the grump that he is. Nessie actually felt compelled to ask Gretchen if she had a facebook page, to which she replied, "Facebook? What the bloody hell is facebook?" which led to one of her employees taking twenty minutes to explain what it is. That gave Nessie a good laugh for the day at least. Even Edward had a facebook page. He never used it and had maybe two friends on it (one being Bella, the other being Alice), but point is he has one. And the only reason Bella had one was because Renee convinced her to get one.

Around that same time, Valerie called Rosalie letting her know that she would be able to come to the wedding, but Tae Sook would have to stay in Japan. Ryan was relieved with that turn, which Lia yelled at him for. Ryan was still mad about the cat incident. Valerie would bring it up every so often the few times they talked over the phone and it annoyed him. Since Lia had finally moved in with him, she'd made the place up to her liking and it reminded him a lot of how Valerie would decorate a place. That marginally irritated him too, but he didn't say anything about it. He had to admit, the condo looked nicer than it would have if he'd been left to decorate it. Needless to say, since Lia was living with Ryan now, Felix came to Washington to visit a lot more often.

Since Lia was going to the wedding, that meant Felix would be going to the wedding too. He'd also taken it upon himself to invite all the former Volturi guard as well as Marcus and Didyme, making sure to beg them they didn't bring along Euphemia. It was a wedding, not a roast. One day while Ryan was at work, Lia was at the Cullen house visiting Rosalie and Alice. Her father was also in town and was sitting with her in the living room with the rest of the family.

"They're going to bring Euphemia. There's no denying it. Just because the rest of us don't like Euphemia doesn't mean that Didyme does too." Felix shrugged.

"I know that. But at least I attempted. Besides, the invitations you guys received encouraged you to invite as many people as you like, so if Didyme chooses to bring her sister, she can. It's not like they have to worry about feeding any of us. Though I would hope they would go through the trouble of making sure there's blood there for us."

"I'm sure Gretchen could arrange it. If a normal wedding can have an open bar, so can theirs." Felix smiled and petted Lia's head.

"Exactly, Lia."

"I think that might be why Gretchen was invited." Rosalie laughed at Lia's comment.

"Oh, Lia, don't say that. She was invited because she's a close friend of another guest. I'm sure being able to provide blood for the guests is only a bonus." There was a collective laugh for a moment. "So besides you, who else is coming?"

"Demetri and Heidi might come. I don't think Dante or Amadora will. Chelsea might make Afton go with her. But I doubt he'll go. He doesn't know these people, so he doesn't see why he would need to go to their wedding. I'm only going because of Lia."

"The wedding's in Spain. I don't see why they wouldn't be able to go. Besides, Afton and Chelsea usually stay in Italy anyway. They wouldn't need to take a plane. They could just drive or something."

"I'm not sure they have a car, Lia." Lia shrugged.

"You've all got access to Aro's money. I don't thing buying a car would be a problem." Felix laughed and patted Lia's head again.

"I'll let them know, Lia."

Once October finally rolled around, Nessie made arrangements with the school so the kids would have all the homework they needed so they wouldn't be behind in their school work. Thankfully, being early grades anyway, they didn't get much homework. Just practice worksheets for some math. Nessie decided she wanted to go to Spain a week ahead of time. She and Jacob hadn't been on a vacation in a long time and she wanted to take advantage of the wedding to have a family vacation. That, and Nessie needed to be there for the rehearsal dinner anyway. The rest of the family was coming the night before the wedding. They took the early plane, so all the kids were still asleep when they left and they arrived in Barcelona around one in the afternoon. The kids slept through most of the flight, as did Jacob, and they were all extremely groggy when they finally got off the plan.

"I hate planes, daddy." Natalie said, hanging onto Jacob's leg while he retrieved the luggage.

"I do too, Nat. Here." Jacob put Natalie's suitcase next to her. Natalie then rested her weight on her suitcase instead of Jacob's leg. The other kid's suitcases arrived shortly after that. After they finally left the airport and arrived at the hotel, Jacob got the keys to their rooms. Jacob gave the kids their own room again. As soon as Jacob and Nessie helped the kids with their luggage and were in their room alone, Jacob plopped onto the bed and groaned. "I'm so tired."

"I know, Jacob." Nessie walked over to Jacob and sat down next to him. He rested his hand on Nessie's knee and smiled a bit.

"At least the kids are in their own rooms." Nessie giggled and rested her hand on Jacob's. "So where should we go for dinner?" Nessie shrugged.

"I don't know. I don't know my way around. I can call Alice and ask her what restaurants are around this hotel." Jacob shook his head.

"Don't bother. What would she know about what restaurants are good? She doesn't eat. We can just ask someone at the front desk or something."

"Or," seeing a large book on the night stand that, in big, bold letters, said, _Ven a Ver a Barcelona,_ "we could look in here and see what restaurants the hotel recommends." Jacob looked at the book Nessie was holding.

"I knew that." Nessie giggled and bent her head down to give Jacob a kiss.

"Of course you did, Jacob." Jacob took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"We'll look at that later. I'm tired." Ten minutes later, Jacob was sound asleep. Nessie followed suit and fell asleep herself. Nessie woke up when she heard someone knocking on the door saying, 'mom, we're hungry'.

Nessie woke up Jacob and went to let the children into their room, then Jacob began looking through the book for what restaurants seemed good and weren't too expensive. He still needed to visit a bank or currency converter. He only had around forty Euros that Edward gave him from the last time he and Bella had gone to Europe together.

"What's a Tapa stand?"

"Tapas are these little snacks sold in restaurants and by vendors. They're really vast, so there's a Tapa for every taste. I remember a restaurant in Chicago that had salmon cream cheese tapas with cappers. My roommate assures me they were delicious."

"Okay. Not for dinner then."

"Didn't you learn about this stuff in Spanish class? I mean, yes we learned Spanish, but in any Spanish class above level two; it's mostly about the culture and less about the language. It's annoying, frankly. If I want to know anything about Spain, I'll visit or look on the internet. I'm in the class for the language, not the culture."

"I never took Spanish, Nessie. The only other language besides English is Quileute, and frankly, that serves me a lot better than Spanish."

"Whatever." Jacob smiled and continued looking through the guide until he found a restaurant that looked promising. It was more of a café than a restaurant, but they had food. That was good enough. They got ready, Nessie asked for directions from the front desk, and they left for the little café that was right around the corner from their hotel. Once they arrived at the café, the waiter told them to take a seat and someone would get to them shortly.

"Nessie, could you order for us?"

"Sure, Jacob. Is there anything in particular that you're in the mood for?" Jacob shrugged.

"I don't really care. You know what I like. I'm still tired." Nessie nodded and looked at the kids.

"Do you all want me to order for you too?" Kyle shook his head.

"I'm fine, mommy. Grandpa taught us enough Spanish to order food." Jacob looked at Kyle.

"When did Edward start teaching you guys Spanish?"

"He's been teaching us different languages for years." Said Kevin. "It's just most recently he's been having us focus on Spanish. And he's been such a hard ass about the whole vosotros thing." Jacob looked confused.

"The what?" Nessie explained.

"Vosotros. It's a type of conjugation in the Spanish language that is more often used in Spain. In Mexico and other Hispanic countries, they usually just use Usted. In a nut shell it means, 'you all'. So if I want to say, 'You all are eating', the Usted form would be, 'Está comiendo'. But in Spain, I would say, 'Estais comiendo'. It's technically more proper is all. South American and Mexican Spanish use heavy slaying compared to Spain Spanish. It's the same with American and Australian English when compared to Great Britain English."

"Ah. What's the big deal about using Vosotros, though?"

"It's just a little more difficult to conjugate is all, especially for people who aren't used to using Spanish. Ustedes is just a little simpler." Jacob shrugged.

"I'll take your word for it. At least the kids are more bilingual than I am."

"Not many people can say they speak Quileute Jacob."

"True, but outside the village, how many people speak it either?"

"I do."

"Because I taught you. And hell, you learned for me. Now Edward speaks it, but I've gotten used to that." Nessie giggled and patted Jacob's arm. The waiter came eventually and they all ordered what they wanted. Once the waiter was gone, Jacob rested his face in his hand to rest a little more. Nessie kept the children occupied so he could nap easier. As they were waiting for their dinner to come, another person walked up to them that Nessie had never seen before, but for some reason, he looked really familiar. Jacob was up to attention the moment the sweet smell filled his nose. But the man didn't look threatening. He looked intrigued.

"Forgive me, but can we help you?" The man smiled kindly. He was a tall man; maybe pushing 6' 1". He was also muscular, but still more slender, even then the average Calvin Klein model. His face was chiseled and his hair was a dark brown. His left eye was also closed. He never opened it, even to blink. Then Nessie remembered why she thought he looked so familiar. "Are you by chance Caesar Ángel Franco, the Tango dancer from the forties?" The man chuckled and nodded his head.

"As a matter of fact, yes I am." Caesar said with a heavy Spanish accent. "But don't tell anyone. People who notice think I'm merely a grandchild. Are any of the Cullens fans of me?" Nessie looked surprised.

"How did you know I was a Cullen?"

"Gretchen told me and she showed me a few photos of you. Though I must admit, I've seen you with the Cullens before. I recall, the Volturi gathered a large number of vampires together to witness them making an example of wrong-doers. I was one of the vampires in the crowd. I admit, I had never seen an immortal child and I was curious."

"Oh," Nessie said. "Well isn't it just a small world?" Caesar chuckled.

"Indeed it is." Then Caesar looked at Natalie, who blushed. "And Gretchen's told me much about you as well, Natalie. She has very high hopes for you in the acting business." Natalie smiled and blushed more. Caesar then turned his attention back to Nessie. "I was invited to Raphael's son's wedding. I'm friends with the woman who changed the bride and I've known Gretchen for years. As I'm sure you've guessed, Gretchen is a bit of a socialite in her own way."

"Yes, I noticed. Please, sit down. It's a pleasure to meet someone in the city." Caesar nodded.

"Indeed it is." Caesar looked at Natalie again. "Your teacher has been begging me to come and give you dance lessons since you joined her little theatre group. I fear she won't stop pestering me until I oblige." Natalie started blushing and smiling.

"Are you still a tango dancer here?" Caesar shook his head, returning his attention to Nessie to answer her question.

"No, not at all. I haven't performed since I faked my death in 1958. I teach now. I own my own dance company, so I train dancers and set them up with different theatre companies. It's a little like a leasing company, just with dancers. I have some of the best in my school, so companies pay me large sums of money to hire my dancers. My dancers get a cut of the pay I'm given as well as the offered wage by the theatre company and my business has been booming since I came back to Spain and started."

"When did you start this?"

"I returned….1980 it was. I left Spain almost immediately after I was changed in 1938, and I've been all over South America. The woman who changed Laura is the same woman who changed me."

"Wow. It really is a small world. What was her name? I don't think anyone ever told me."

"Estela."

"Does she have a last name?"

"I'm sure, but I don't know it. She only ever told me her name and the name of the bastard ex-fiancé she always said she hoped was burning in hell." Nessie's eyes widened a little.

"Is that ex-fiancé's name by any chance Rafael?" Caesar began smirking and nodded his head. "Does she know she's about to attend his son's wedding?" Caesar nodded.

"Oh yes, she's well aware. She plans to avoid the man by any means necessary. I asked her why they dislike each other so much. All she ever told me was that they were arranged to be married and hence were forced to spend every waking moment they could together, but the downfall was that they hated each other. My guess is they were simply together and disliking each other for so long, it eventually escalated into something more passionate. But I've never seen them together, so I wouldn't know." Nessie sighed.

"That's a shame." Caesar shrugged.

"I suppose. Estela doesn't seemed to be too bothered by it. I don't imagine Rafael is either." Nessie shook her head.

"Not from what I can tell. But I hardly see the man. And even when I do, I prefer spending time with his mate Yaretzi."

"I hear she's lovely. I look forward to meeting everyone." Interrupting, Natalie worked up the courage to ask for Caesar's attention by gently tugging on the arm of his dress shirt. Once Caesar was looking at Natalie, he smiled gently. "Yes, Natalie?"

"I was wondering. What happened to your eye?"

"Natalie!" Nessie said in a low hiss to her daughter. But Caesar continued to smile and held up his hand.

"It's perfectly alright, Nessie. I'm not offended. She's free to ask if she wishes." Then he looked back at Natalie. "I grew up in Guernica, where my family raised horses. When I was twelve years old, my father asked me to clean the stables. We had one horse in particular who was still a free spirit and would get antsy at every turn. So when I went in to clean his stable, he became spooked and his front hoof hit me right in the eye. When I finally got to the doctor, there was nothing they could do. They removed my eye and gave me a glass one which I had for the rest of my life until I was changed. When I changed, a new eye replaced the one I'd lost, but I can't use it practically." Then, Caesar opened his left eye, and Natalie was blind. But she stayed calm.

"It gave you Alec's power?" Caesar shook his head.

"No. What happens is when I open my left eye, I see from the eyes of the one I'm staring at. In my right eye, I see normally, and in my left eye, I'm currently seeing myself." Then Caesar closed his eye and Natalie could see again. "As I said, it's a tad inconvenient, but it serves a great purpose when the opportunity arises. It's especially helpful when teaching little kids." Caesar chuckled. Again, interrupting, Natalie asked another question.

"How were you changed? What's your story?" This time, Caesar took a deep breath and Nessie stepped in.

"You don't have to talk about it if it's uncomfortable. I'm really sorry. Natalie's not usually this talkative with strangers." Caesar shook his head and smiled.

"No, not at all. She could use to learn a little history." Caesar looked at Natalie. "As I said, I grew up in Guernica. Around 1938 was when the war started in Spain. Guernica was being bombed and I was running from my home trying to avoid the bombs. I wondered into the city and while I was trying to get to a train to escape from the assault. But a bomb was dropped onto a building I was near and I was hit with rubble. All I remember was there was blood everywhere and I had a huge gash on the side of my body. Estela found me and changed me before I could die from my injuries. I left the country immediately after that and went to South America. I've lived in every one of their countries and I've despised them all. Political turmoil almost permanent, dictator after dictator after infuriating dictator, that bullshit during the seventies in Argentina, all that. It was enough to make my head constantly hurt. It wasn't any better in Spain, of course. So I was choosing between set in stone fascism, or about seven different dictators. But once Franco was no longer in power, I was finally able to come back to Spain and be happy."

"Why not live in America?" Jacob asked. Caesar shook his head.

"Americans are dreadfully close-minded. At least, they were at the time I escaped Spain. Now, Americans tend to be a little too open-minded, depending on where you live, to the point of moral depravity and yet are somehow still able to be hypocrites at the same time. Of course, this could apply to the entire world."

"You're not one of those Europeans that hates Americans or something are you?" Caesar chuckled and shook his head.

"Of course not. Hate is far too strong a word to apply to such a matter as preference for countries. To use such a strong word for such a trivial thing, the person must either be stupid or French." Jacob finally smiled and laughed a little. Natalie was confused.

"What's wrong with French people?" Caesar smiled and petted Natalie's head.

"Don't worry yourself over such unimportant things. You're too young to have your view of the world ruined by racism." Natalie blushed even more and looked intently at the table. The waiter then came by with the food. Once in front of her, Natalie stared at her food intently and poked at it with her fork. "Anyway, Jacob, my point is no country is perfect. Some are simply more enjoyable than others." Jacob shrugged.

"That's true." Caesar then looked at Kevin with a big smirk.

"So, boys, how did you like France, speaking of which?" Jacob chuckled while the boys kept eating, embarrassed.

"So you heard about that?"

"Everyone's heard about that, Jacob. Everyone involved in one way or another told their friends and so on. I wouldn't be surprised if every vampire you meet knows about that little story. And don't worry boys. France can be daunting." Kevin rolled his eyes.

"I don't think daunting is the word. They were rude. They knew enough English to insult us, but the moment we asked for directions, they didn't speak English. So when we finally found a phone, we were near the Eiffel Tower. By the time we found a phone, I was so angry, I started doing the goose step with my right arm in the air yelling in German, just to get back at them." Caesar's laugh was loud and strong. Jacob was laughing too, but Nessie was looking at him sternly, telling him not to laugh about that.

"Genius, my boy." Caesar said through his laugh. Kevin smiled.

"I think one group laughed. Everyone else was angry."

"Naturally. The French don't take kindly to such things. No one would, I imagine. But bravo to you." Nessie sighed.

"You're lucky you weren't arrested, Kevin."

"Since when do you know German?" Jacob asked Kevin.

"Grandpa taught me. We all know German, Spanish, and Portuguese. Natalie knows French." Jacob shrugged.

"That's Edward for you." Caesar smiled.

"It's good to know many languages. It makes life easier at times," looking at Kevin now, "or entertaining." Kevin and Caesar laughed a bit together, then Caesar looked at his watch and sighed. "I fear I need to get going. I have dancers to train for _Evita_. The director I'm working with had the idea that the play's dancing should be done entirely by tango because it's based in Argentina. He wanted to make the whole play a tango, but I've managed to convince him otherwise."

"Evita?" Jacob asked.

"It's a play about an Argentinean Dictator's wife. She went from rages to riches, was an actress, and the Argentinean people loved her; which is ironic, because she did next to nothing for them. I should know. I lived in Argentina for years during and after World War II. I've even met the woman a few times when she was still Eva Duarte and just an actress. A bad one I might add, but that's beyond the point."

"Why make a play for her if she was so bad?"

"She wasn't bad. She spoke for the people and did a lot of tours and related to the people, which is what they needed at the time. That's what matters." Jacob shrugged and went back to his food.

"Well, it was nice talking to you, Mr. Franco." Caesar shook his head and held up his hand.

"Caesar. Please." Then Caesar reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. Jacob looked at him, slightly irritated and confused, and Nessie sat up a little straighter.

"What are you doing?" Caesar smiled.

"I thought I'd make your first night here as pleasant as possible. Please allow me to buy your dinner as a thank you for your company." Then Caesar glanced at Natalie and smiled. Natalie looked at him briefly, but immediately looked away again blushing. "And you pick out some dessert for yourself, Natalie. Just don't tell Gretchen." Caesar pulled out fifty euro and placed it on the table. Smiling, Caesar stands from his chair. "It was a pleasure to finally meet you formally, Nessie. I look forward to seeing you and your family at the wedding." Nessie smiled and Jacob reluctantly stayed quiet.

"It was a pleasure to meet you too." Caesar shook Nessie's hand before walking away, leaving the family alone again. Once Jacob was comfortable with the man's distance, he sighed.

"I can't believe he did that." Nessie rested her hand on Jacob's arm.

"Don't let it bother you, Jacob. He meant well and it's one less thing to worry about. Besides, we don't have much European money anyway." Jacob rolled his eyes and didn't respond. Natalie looked at Jacob pleadingly.

"Daddy, can I have some….tiramisu?" Jacob looked at the money on the table, sighed, and nodded.

"Sure, honey. You boys want anything else?" Kyle shook his head. Nathan and Kevin nodded.

"I'll have what Nat's having." Kevin said.

"Me too." Nathan said. When the waiter came back, Nessie ordered three tiramisu for the kids. Once the kids were done, they returned to the hotel and Jacob fell back into bed. Nessie walked up behind Jacob and laid down right next to Jacob on the bed.

"How was your dinner?" Jacob smiled, his eyes still closed.

"It was good. I'm started to get used to that guy buying dinner for us." Nessie giggled and kissed Jacob's cheek.

"Don't worry about it. If you're really upset about that, before the wedding, buy Caesar some dinner." Jacob started laughing and turned onto his back.

"I should." Nessie grinned and scooted closer to Jacob and cuddled him resting her head on his chest. Jacob looked at Nessie and reached for her forehead to kiss it. "I'm sorry about being so grumpy."

"It's alright. You're just tired, I know." Jacob hugged Nessie tightly. Then he pulled her up on top of him and kissed her nose.

"I just needed to eat something. Are you tired?" Nessie nodded.

"A little." Jacob smiled.

"I'm not, if you can believe it." Nessie smiled and kissed Jacob.

"That's new." Jacob chuckled and rolled Nessie onto her back resting on top of her with their noses nearly touching.

"You could always tire me out, though." Nessie giggled and rolled her eyes lovingly. Instead of answering, she lifted her lips to Jacobs and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Nessie opened her mouth to let Jacob in. Then Jacob pushed his tongue into her mouth and licked the contours of her mouth. Nessie followed Jacob's lead and lifted her legs up so she was cradling his hips. Jacob moved his hands down her legs lovingly and held her so he could move further onto the bed and be more comfortable. Once Nessie and Jacob were completely on the bed, Jacob lifted his head so he could pull Nessie's shirt off. After her shirt was off, Nessie began pulling at Jacob's shirt. He helped her get his shirt off and began unclipping Nessie's bra. When Nessie's bra was removed, Jacob took it and tossed it off to the side before coming back to Nessie and kissing her passionately. As they kissed, Jacob's hands moved to Nessie's breasts and he began to massage them tenderly.

Nessie's hands reached around Jacob's shoulders and begins rubbing his back as they kissed. Eventually, Jacob began kissing Nessie's ear and neck, licking up and down to make Nessie shudder with pleasure. She then copied Jacob's touches and picked a spot on Jacob's chest to begin sucking and licking tenderly. They did this for several minutes, ever hickey formed disappearing within a few seconds. Once Jacob had worked his way to Nessie's chest, he brought his lips to Nessie's right breast and sucked her nipple while pinching her other nipple. Nessie whimpered and sighed, saying Jacob's name softly to encourage him. Jacob switched to Nessie's left breast, pinching her right breast, and breathing heavily.

Once he'd placed enough attention on Nessie's breasts, Jacob began kissing down her midriff. Nessie laced her fingers through Jacob's hair and laid her head back onto the bed with her eyes closed. The tips of Jacob's fingers were lightly brushing her midriff, which made Nessie giggle a little from the tickling sensation. Jacob smiled against her skin as he continued to kiss his way down her body. When he reached the top of her pants, Jacob unbuttoned them and pulled them down with her panties and socks and shoes. When Nessie was completely naked, Jacob brought his right hand to Nessie's core and inserted his middle finger inside her. Nessie whimpered and wrapped her arms back around Jacob's shoulders when their faces were close to each other's again.

With his middle finger inside her, moving in and out and occasionally lifting his finger to hit her favorite spot, Jacob and Nessie made out a little longer. Nessie was on the brink of coming when Jacob took his fingers away and began kissing her neck so she could sigh with disappointment. Jacob chuckled a little while still kissing Nessie's neck and lifting her legs up around his hips. Now that Nessie could reach him, she reached for the top of Jacob's pants and unbuttoned them. Once unbuttoned, Jacob pushed his pants and underwear down and kicked them off, taking a moment to toe off his socks as well. Once Jacob was naked as well, he entered Nessie and took a moment to savor the feeling of being inside her before he began moving. Nessie tightened her grip on Jacob, digging her nails into his skin and wrapping her legs around his hips with her ankles locked.

After their current position became boring, Jacob held onto Nessie tightly so they'd stay together and sat up. Nessie unlocked her ankles to rest her knees on the bed so she could lift herself up and down. Jacob held his hands on Nessie's hips to help her up and down. Jacob wasn't sitting up for long. He couldn't help falling onto his back with his eyes closed, just feeling. Jacob kept his hands on Nessie's hips to keep her balanced while she moved up and down, her hands gripping Jacob's chest. A few minutes go by, then Jacob decided he wanted the pace to speed up.

"Nessie." Jacob said. Nessie slowed and looked at him.

"Yeah?"

"Go on your hands and knees?" Nessie smiled, giggled a little, and did as Jacob asked, lifting herself from him and going on her hands and knees. Once Nessie was in the position Jacob wanted, he re-entered her and set the pace that he wanted.

A few minutes of this, Jacob wanted Nessie closer to him than she was. So he bent forward, wrapped his right arm around her chest, and brought her up with him so they were both on their knees on the bed. Now closer to him, Jacob went back to his previous pace, then went even faster. As fast as this new position would allow. Nessie continued to whimper while he moved faster and faster, until eventually Nessie couldn't take anymore and she finally came. Jacob followed soon after and fell backwards, taking Nessie with him. When they were both down, Nessie turned around and rested her head on Jacob's chest. Jacob wrapped his arms around her and brought her closer.

"Now I'm tired." Nessie giggled and nuzzled Jacob's chest a bit.

"Good. Good night, Jacob." Jacob reached down and kissed the top of Nessie's head.

"Good night, Nessie." Jacob and Nessie got themselves under the covers and fell asleep in each other's arms.

The next day, Jacob, Nessie, and the kids took the day to tour around Barcelona. Through the whole day, Natalie seemed to be looking for something specifically. By the time it was the late afternoon, Natalie seemed really disappointed. Hoping to cheer her up, Jacob bought her and her siblings some gelato and tapas. When the date of the wedding was coming closer and closer, family finally started to come. That gave Jacob and Nessie the opportunity to leave the kids with relatives and have some alone time with each other. When Valerie finally arrived, there was a joyous reunion of the family. She bared good news that the bar was almost finished with construction and Tae Sook was already looking for people to run it for Gretchen.

The day of the wedding, it was held at seven at night so as to avoid the sun giving away the bride, groom, and most of their guests. The wedding was a lovely ceremony. It was held at a Catholic church with gorgeous statues, stain glass windows, and plenty of open seating for the guests. The ceremony lasted about an hour and when it was over, the guests blew bubbles and rang the little bells given to them as they walked down the aisle together as husband and wife. And as a favor from Caesar, he sang them a song for Marcelo's and Laura's first dance. The reception was held in La Parque Güel, which was a next to impossible location to reserve.

As promised, Gretchen provided the blood for the guests and there was a really small cake for Jacob and the kids. When Natalie saw Caesar singing, she ran to the stage and watched him. Whenever he glanced in her direction, Natalie looked down and blushed. After his song, he walked down off the stage and went to Natalie, kneeling to her height. Natalie looked up and continued blushing heavily.

"How about I teach you a basic tango?" Still blushing, Natalie nodded and Caesar took her hands and led her as best he could in a basic tango that he often taught to little kids. They danced until Jacob came over and gave Natalie a small piece of cake. When Natalie walked away with Jacob, Gretchen took that opportunity to talk to Caesar.

"I told you she was a gem." Caesar shrugged.

"I never doubted you. You always have a good eye for these things. She's certainly a sweet little girl. Being easy on the eyes certainly helps. Judging by her parents, her beauty has nowhere to go but up." Gretchen chuckled.

"Absolutely. And I think she'll wind up being an alto and she's a very good dancer already. I'm planning to cast her as Chip when my theatre does _Beauty and the Beast_ this winter." Caesar laughed.

"She's your child actress."

"So, I hear you're choreographing _Evita_?" Caesar nodded.

"Yes, I am. I can get you free tickets if you want to come." Gretchen smiled.

"I might take you up on that offer, Caesar. Who's playing Juan Peron? That's always a determining agent for me. Remember the Evita movie with Madonna? My god, they couldn't have picked a worse person to play Peron. Great actor, but the man can't sing at all." Caesar laughed.

"I don't think I've ever seen it. I don't usually watch movies based on plays." Gretchen shrugged.

"Antonio Banderas was in it, so that's what sold it for me."

"A yes, him. I admit, he's an attractive man."

"And Antonio as Che was wonderful."

"I never understood why Che was in _Evita_. He's Cuban."

"It's up to the writers I suppose. So where's Estela?"

"She's somewhere, trying to keep her distance from Raphael. She seemed so determined to never encounter the man." Gretchen sighed.

"I shudder to think what would have happened if they'd actually gotten married." Caesar shuddered a little himself. Their conversation was then interrupted by Jacob yelling for Nessie and Carlisle. Caesar and Gretchen went to Jacob, then Gretchen realized Natalie was having an allergic reaction. "Natalie!" Nessie finally came and immediately pulled out the epinephrine she'd brought with her and Carlisle made a make shift tube to make sure Natalie could breath.

"What's wrong?" Caesar asked Gretchen. Gretchen smelled the cake and realized it had peanut extract.

"There's peanut extract in this cake." Laura, who had come to the scene having heard the commotion, gasp.

"She's allergic to peanuts? Oh my God, I'm sorry, I didn't know! It's supposed to be a vanilla cake. There shouldn't be any peanuts in it."

"It's alright, Laura." Carlisle said. "She's stabilized now. We just need to take her back to the hotel so she can rest." Laura still felt horrible and looked extremely sad. Marcelo kept a hold of her while Jacob, Nessie, and the rest of the Cullen family left for the hotel.

"This is my fault." Marcelo shook his head and kissed Laura's forehead.

"It's not your fault, mau encantadora. You asked for vanilla cake. If anyone's at fault, it's the bakery." Laura sighed.

"Still." Gretchen interrupted.

"Don't you worry, dear. By tomorrow, it'll be like nothing happened. She got her insulin, so she'll be fine. I'll see her later and let you know how she is." Caesar shook his head.

"I'll do it. You're the one providing blood. You need to be here. I'll check on her later." Laura smiled guiltily.

"When you go, could you give her something?" At the hotel, Natalie was in her hotel bed covering her face with the covers, sobbing. Nessie was at her bedside petting her trying to make her feel better.

"Don't feel bad, honey." Jacob said. Natalie didn't respond. She just sobbed a little more, keeping the covers over her face, hiding her swollen tongue and mouth. Edward suddenly went to the door and opened up, allowing Caesar in. He was holding a jade bouquet of flowers that Titus had made for her as a gift. Jacob was surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?"

"I just came to see if she feels better. And to give her this." Caesar held up the bouquet. "Laura felt awful about the cake, so she asked me to bring her this to make up for it, even if just a little bit." Caesar then walked over to the bed to see Natalie. She brought the sheet down only enough for her eyes to be visible. But the moment Caesar was there at her bedside, she hid her eyes under the covers again. Caesar smiled. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Natalie. I hope you feel better soon."

Caesar walked to the computer desk in the hotel room and rested the bouquet there before leaving, saying goodbye to everyone on his way out. When he was gone, Natalie brought the sheets down from her eyes again, and sighed. Then she brought the sheets back up and whined some more.


	15. One in a Million

One in a Million

After the wedding, everyone returned home feeling refreshed. Especially Valerie. It was so nice to be around people who spoke English for a change and she'd missed everyone so much. When she got to the Airport at Tokyo, Tae Sook was there to greet her and took her home, all the while apologizing that he couldn't make it to the wedding. When they got home, the friend Valerie was able to make, Tamaki, came to see her to welcome her back. When Tamaki left the apartment a few hours later, Tae Sook took her seat on the couch and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Finally, some time alone." Valerie smiled and cuddled close to Tae Sook.

"I've been meaning to ask, how's everything going with the bar? Do you think it'll be done soon?"

"As far as building it, we're essentially done. There are a few last minute details we need to work on, but other than that, it's built. We just need to start hiring people. That's what's going to be the hard part. I've been talking to vampires I meet and I managed to find a few interested in working there, but I don't think I've found anyone Gretchen or I could trust to manage the place." Valerie sighed. Tae Sook hugged her tighter and kissed her forehead. "Don't worry, we'll still move back soon. Gretchen and I will just have to make frequent trips here more likely."

"Okay." Tae Sook, noticing Valerie's pout, lifted her up so she was sitting on his lap and looking at him.

"I know this hasn't been easy for you and I appreciate you coming with me. And I know this feels like it's taking forever. But I promise, we'll be back in Washington before Christmas." Valerie smiled.

"Promise?" Tae Sook nodded.

"Promise."

"Thank you." Valerie hugged Tae Sook tightly and he reciprocated. "It's nice here and Tamaki was so nice to me while we were living here and seeing your parents is always nice, but it's not home."

"I know." They stayed quiet a moment just hugging. Eventually, Valerie looked up at Tae Sook.

"Do you miss it? Living in Japan?" Tae Sook shrugged.

"I do sometimes, but it usually reminds me of when I was younger and was usually in the hospital. Leaving Japan was the only time in my life I was really not bedridden. When I left, I was finally free in a sense." Valerie smiled.

"Even Tokyo makes you think of it?"

"Not as much. Here, it's a big city. It's different from Yokohama. And there's a reason we always had to walk the long way whenever we took my parents to dinner. I was trying to avoid the temple and the hospital." Still looking at Valerie, Tae Sook stopped talking a moment, somewhat losing his smile. A few seconds later, his smile returned and he brought his face closer to Valerie's. "Let's change the subject."

After that, they shared a loving kiss, and they spent several hours changing the subject. Meanwhile, at home, Natalie was still upset about the wedding. She was embarrassed that Señor Franco had seen her have a peanut allergy. Even at her young age, she had a huge crush on him. Jacob wasn't fond at all of how flirtatious he seemed. Nessie and her relatives assured Jacob that was just him being polite and Edward assured Jacob that Caesar had no inappropriate thoughts about Natalie, but Jacob was still a little irritated with Franco's manner. Though truth was he was more irritated with the night when he paid for dinner. Jacob thought that was extremely inappropriate, especially since they didn't know each other and it made him feel like Franco was implying something degrading, but again, Nessie assured him that Caesar was just being polite.

Gretchen was pleased that Caesar finally had a chance to meet Natalie. Gretchen had bragged about her so much that it was pleasant to "put her money where her mouth was", so to speak. Gretchen even started talking to Caesar about Natalie taking dance classes with him one day. Perhaps when she was of college age and could stand a trip to Europe by herself. Caesar simply told Gretchen that was Natalie's choice, not her employer's. He also took a moment to lecture her on employing someone as young as Natalie to begin with. In truth, Natalie, in Gretchen's plays, would play children parts and maybe really young boys since she was tall for her age, but she was paid a small amount compared to her other actors. She was given enough to buy herself a toy here and there if she really wanted; about $50 a week when a show was in production. A show was usually in production for about six weeks; two weeks devoted to practice, four weeks to the actual showings. That meant $300 for her work per show. They usually did a minimum of seven shows a year, yielding roughly $2100 a year. Most kids Natalie's age were lucky if they got a ten dollar a week allowance. At least, kids she knew were lucky.

Nessie wasn't sure how she felt about that. She thought it was wonderful that Gretchen gave Natalie money for the work she did, but she was still only six years old. It was the same way she felt about Kevin being so independent. It was like she was growing up too fast for her and she didn't like that aspect of it at all. Nessie would sometimes complain of this to her parents, who would listen intently, then tell her, "You were married at six years old, Nessie. How do you think we feel?"

Jacob wasn't as bothered by it as Nessie was. He thought it was good for the kids to be so independent. In his eyes, the more independent they were, the better off they would be later on in life. Besides, it wasn't like they were so independent because they were desperate to leave a bad situation or something like Billy when he'd been growing up. They were just naturally more independent children. He also liked that if Natalie wanted something, instead of asking, "Daddy, would you buy me this?" it was, "Can I buy this, Daddy?" He thought it was cute to be honest. He'd even convinced her to start putting some money away for college later on. He would even tease Nessie sometimes that she was the only woman in the world that gave birth to a fifteen year old. Nessie didn't think that was funny at all.

It was roughly eleven at night. Kevin and Kyle were practically sleep-walking up to their rooms for bed. Jacob was holding Nathan, who was already asleep, and Nessie held Natalie, who'd been dancing and singing all night and was exhausted. They'd just completed their opening night for Evita, which Gretchen had desperately wanted to do when she heard Caesar was choreographing the play in Spain. Natalie was just an extra, her biggest role in the play walking up to Bethani (who was playing Eva Peron) and singing "Gentle Eva" before Eva fell over from the cancer. Natalie was tired and already asleep, like her brother.

"I enjoyed that, I admit. I thought the ending was a bit anti-climactic though." Nessie nodded at Jacob's comment.

"I know. I asked daddy about that, but apparently that's just how it ends."

"It's an opera or something isn't it? Wouldn't they want to end it with a loud, sad, musical number instead of Eva standing on stage with Che singing remorsefully and quietly? Until the actors came out and bowed, I thought they were just transitioning."

"That's what I thought. It was still nice though, wasn't it?" Jacob shrugged.

"I preferred the movie with Madonna that my sisters made me watch when I was seven." Nessie giggled.

"You remember watching the movie?"

"Rachael made me watch it over when she heard Natalie was going to be in Evita."

"Are Paul and Rachael going?" Jacob nodded.

"They're going next weekend with the boys. Rachael loves that movie, so she's really excited about seeing the play. She'll probably sing along with Eva Peron." Nessie giggled.

"As long as it's under her breath." After Jacob locked the door, he and Nessie walked upstairs and tucked the kids in before going to their room and falling into bed together.

The next day, after the kids finished school for the day, Edward drove to their school to pick them up. Alice took Natalie downtown so she could show that night. Nessie and Jacob needed to stay at the shop late that night. Jacob was trying to expand the shop a little so he could accept more cars at a time. Since he'd opened the place and since his prices were a lot more reasonable, people just took their cars to him, even for the smallest thing. The other shop in Forks had closed down because of it and the previous owner wasn't happy with Jacob at all about it. The last Jacob knew, the guy had moved downtown in Seattle or something of that nature. He wasn't pleasant to him or Nessie, so he was glad to be rid of the guy. While Jacob continued to finish off the drywall, Nessie stayed below with the instruction manual in her arms.

"Why don't you just let Emmett and Jasper take care of this? They did a great job with the rooms in our house, why not have them do it here?"

"Because our house was a wedding gift, so if they make changes, that's fine. But this is my shop and any changes I make, I want to do myself. I'll feel a lot better about it if I take care of this myself. What's the next step?" Nessie shrugged and read off what the book said was the next step.

They finished work for that night at around two in the morning. Nessie's parents had said they were okay with taking care of the kids while they were away at the shop working. They anticipated being finished before the end of the next day. Edward took the kids to school the next day, leaving him and Bella alone again for the day in their cottage a few miles away from the Cullen house. They were lying in bed together, naked, enjoying each other's company.

"I'd actually forgotten how difficult alone time is when there're kids around." Edward smiled.

"That's why we only have one, love." Bella laughed a bit.

"We have the one by accident as it is."

"I'm not sure accident is the word considering all that happened." They were quiet a moment. "Enough about that. Jacob said he and Nessie would be able to take the kids home today, so we have the rest of the day alone." Bella smiled and hugged Edward close. They kissed and were about to get passionate, but then their phone ringed. "Let's just ignore it, Bella." Bella nodded and they continued to kiss until the answering machine came on.

"_I know you guys are there."_ Alice said, _"I just thought I'd call you two and let you know you've got a niece or nephew on the way."_ This got both Edward and Bella to pay attention and Bella reached over to pick up the phone.

"Wait, what do you mean we'll have a niece or nephew? Who's pregnant? Did Renee call about a cousin or something?"

"_Guess again, Bella."_

"Are you and Jasper planning to have a baby?" Bella said with some skepticism in her voice.

"_Of course Jasper and I aren't having a baby! For all we'd have to do to make that happen, it's not worth it. I never really wanted kids anyway. It's Valerie."_ Edward and Bella were silent momentarily.

"I thought Tae Sook couldn't get her pregnant."

"_That's what everyone thought. But by some miracle, it happened. She just called and let us know that the pregnancy test she took read positive."_

"So she's on her way here or is Carlisle going there?"

"_She said she was buying a plane ticket online now. Tae Sook said he'd follow her in a few days."_

"Does she even have that long before she gives birth?"

"_I guess we'll find out. She should arrive at the airport in sixteen or seventeen hours and Emmett and Rosalie will go get her. Unless you guys are coming over, we'll call you back when she's on her way home."_

"Does Ryan already know?"

"_No, we haven't called him yet. We started with you guys. After him, we'll call Jacob and Nessie. Carlisle really doesn't anticipate too much of a problem, but as always, he'd rather be over prepared than not at all. In other news, according to Valerie, the bar in Tokyo is coming along nicely and she and Tae Sook will be moving back by Christmas of this year."_

"That's good news."

However, in a short few days, Valerie's condition reflected that of a woman who'd been pregnant about six months. And by the time she'd gotten to the airport that night, she'd only grown more. By the time she got to the boarding dock, they refused to let her on the plane because she was too far along in her pregnancy. She called Tae Sook so he could talk to one of the stewards and try to talk them out of not letting her on the plane. But ultimately, the airport wouldn't budge and they wouldn't let her on the plane. They didn't want to risk Valerie giving birth on the plane and causing a panic for the other passengers. They then instructed Tae Sook to tell his wife that she immediately go to a hospital or go home and wait for her water to break. Valerie was terrified. She'd only realized her belly was growing two days ago. At that time, it only looked like she was getting a pooch and she feared she was getting fat, and Tae Sook insisted she was being silly. The next day, she'd grown far too much for her to be fat. She stayed in the bathroom waiting for Tae Sook to leave, then went next door to ask Tamaki to come with her to the convenience store and help her find a pregnancy test. Valerie made sure to wear a baggy sweatshirt so Tamaki wouldn't notice the bump she already had.

She was glad she had Tamaki with her, otherwise, she would've never been able to find the pregnancy tests or known how to read them. Luckily, they were pretty much the same as the ones shown in movies and what's sold in the US. She took the test at Tamaki's house and it came out positive. After she learned the results, she went right back to her apartment next door and waited for Tae Sook to get home. She wanted to call him and was about to, but she decided that she wanted to tell him in person. He had made it clear before they'd gotten married that the chances of Valerie getting pregnant were between 13 and 20% according to his doctors when he was human. Tae Sook had essentially abandoned the idea of having kids when he was told that. In a way, Valerie had too. She'd simply gotten used to the idea that they probably wouldn't have kids. Now that she was pregnant, she was happy, but she wasn't sure what to do.

When Tae Sook got home and Valerie told him the news, he was dumb struck. He was stiff for a minute, then he simply asked her if she was sure. When she nodded, Tae Sook looked at the ground a bit, then back up at her and smiled. He went to her side on the couch and hugged her tight. Valerie was so relieved he was happy that she started crying. She called the next day and got a plane ticket, but was sent home for being too pregnant. She called Emmett to let him know what was happening. Emmett, Rosalie, and Carlisle were on the next plane to Japan. When they finally got off the plane, it was one in the morning.

"I can honestly say that was the longest plan ride I've ever been on." Emmett said as they exited the plane.

"Let's just find our luggage and get to Valerie's apartment. With the way things have been going for her, she may pop at any moment."

They were able to retrieve all their luggage within an hour and hailed the first taxi they found. They got lucky that the driver they found spoke English. Once they found the apartment, Valerie pressed the buzzer to unlock the door and opened her front door waiting for them. They were at her door in three seconds. Rosalie grabbed a hold of Valerie and hugged her tightly.

"Oh, honey, I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, mom."

"I'm so happy for you! I can't believe you're pregnant. How do you feel?"

"I feel fine. The bump's just growing before my eyes. It looked like a small pooch just the other day, suddenly I'm so pregnant they won't let me get on a plane."

"Why wouldn't they let you on the plane?"

"Apparently, they've had women give birth on their planes and it always causes problems, so if a women is at a certain point in their pregnancy, then they're not allowed on planes that'll be in the air for over three hours."

"Huh. Makes sense I suppose. Is Tae Sook at work?" Valerie nodded. Emmett and Carlisle were already in the house and the door was closed, so Valerie led them with her to the couch in the living room. "How long does he usually work?"

"It depends. Once the construction portion of the project was done, he was home sooner, but there's still the issue of finding reliable vampires to hire. He's found a few, but there're still some managerial positions to fill."

"As long as you're home by Christmas like you promised."

"I will, mom, I promise. It's nice here, but I can't really get used to it."

"I know, honey. It's a whole other world."

"I hate to interrupt, but I think we need to take a look and see how you're coming along." Carlisle said.

Valerie and Rosalie let go of each other so Carlisle could examine Valerie for anything that might be worrisome. Once they were assured that Valerie was fine, they took the rest of the time to catch up. Tae Sook came home at seven and stayed up with Valerie's parents after she went to bed talking about Gretchen's bar. One of the questions that Rosalie asked was if Tae Sook and Valerie had thought of a baby name at all. Tae Sook said no, but the truth was, he wanted to talk to Valerie about his ideas before telling her family about them. He had a feeling they wouldn't appreciate Korean and Japanese names as much. The next morning, Valerie woke up with Tae Sook in their futon with her. He was looking at her and smiled when she woke up. Valerie smiled and hugged him tiredly.

"Morning, Valerie. How'd you sleep?"

"Great. Where's mom and dad?"

"They're site seeing with Carlisle. They said they'd be back by three this afternoon. I actually wanted to have some time alone to talk to you about something."

"What?" Tae Sook brought Valerie closer so her Belly was resting on his. He started petting it.

"We don't have much time to think about what to name the baby." Valerie groaned.

"That's right, we haven't. Is it safe to assume that you're bringing this up because you have some names in mind?"

"I do. Promise you'll be open?" Valerie gave him a weird look.

"I guess?" Tae Sook chuckled.

"Alright. I want to name the kid after me in one way or another."

"Okay…" Valerie said nervously.

"So I was thinking if it's a boy, we name him Tae Sun, if it's a girl, Mi Sook. Both names are a combination of my name and my mom's name. What do you think?" Valerie was silent. After a minute of being quiet, Tae Sook groaned. "You hate those names that much?"

"They're really extreme names is all. Are there names that are little more….American-y?"

"Define American-y."

"I don't know. Koreans have American names sometimes don't they? That one singer you is named Jessica, for God's sake."

"I don't like the name Jessica."

"How about Brie?"

"That's a cheese." Valerie sighed.

"Nicole?"

"Too common. So is Brittany, Tiffany, and all variations of those names."

"Janet?"

"Hate it."

"Juliet?"

"Hated that play. And if you suggest Romeo, I'll yell at you." Valerie rolled her eyes.

"How about Jason, Tyler, Reggie?"

"Douche bag names. And I've never met a Karen that I liked."

"You won't accept any American names will you?"

"No."

"So you're pretty much set in the names you gave me?"

"I'm not budging. I'm sorry, Valerie, but I never thought I'd have kids. Now that I am, I want to have what I've always wanted: a child named after me." Valerie breathed out and looked at Tae Sook silently before smiling.

"Tae Sun or Mi Sook?" Tae Sook nodded. "Mi Sook's kind of cute." Tae Sook smiled.

"Let's hope we have a girl, then." Valerie and Tae Sook laughed a bit and Valerie hugged Tae Sook tightly. Tae Sook kissed Valerie and brought her closer to him. "And you're parents will be gone for a while. Let's take advantage." Valerie smiled and kissed him lovingly.

As far as the baby was concerned, the day went by with nothing happening. The baby wasn't even kicking, which had Carlisle feeling extremely concerned. He found a heartbeat when he listened for it, but that didn't rule out the idea that something could be wrong. The next day, Valerie finally started feeling contractions. For the first few hours, they weren't too bad and Carlisle just asked her to walk around so her water would break. She didn't want to get anything on the carpet, so Tae Sook went with her to the bathroom so she could get her water to break in there. After two hours of walking small circles around the bathroom, Valerie began getting extremely impatient.

"How long is this going to take."

"Carlisle said it just depends. Don't worry, it'll happen. You just need to be patient. Do the contractions hurt at all?"

"A little, I guess. I'm more concerned with why this is taking so damn long." Tae Sook sighed.

"Don't worry too much. Hell, you might not even deliver today. Maybe you're having those false contractions that some women get before they actually deliver."

"Don't even put that possibility in my head, Tae Sook. I've gained fifty pounds of baby and water in five days and my feet are killing me."

"Relax, Valerie. Complaining won't make the baby come any faster. Try to relax, alright. If you relax, it'll get going sooner. Just breath, Valerie." Valerie reluctantly did as Tae Sook said and took a deep breath and tried to relax. He then coaxed her into a rocking motion that he thought would help her relax a little more.

Another hour later, as Tae Sook was rocking Valerie gently back and forth, Valerie's water finally broke. But she hadn't anticipated the amount of pain that would come with her water breaking. As soon as it happened, the contractions seemed to be within seconds of each other and she was in so much pain, she started crying. Carlisle ran in and brought her to hers and Tae Sook's room where he'd set up a spot where she could lay down and not get blood on the floors. Carlisle checked how dilated Valerie was and was stunned that she was already five centimeters dilated. He checked twice more to make sure he was right. He checked again ten minutes later and that time she was already dilated eight centimeters.

"Looks like you'll be ready to start pushing in a few minutes. Just breath Valerie and hold Tae Sook's hand. It'll make you feel better." Hearing that, Valerie tightened her told on Tae Sook's hand that actually started cracking his stone like hand. But Tae Sook sucked it up and let her crush his hand.

As Carlisle promised, she was ready to begin pushing within five minutes. Once she was ready, Carlisle encouraged her to push when it hurt the most during a contraction. The baby was born in two pushes and instead of crying, the baby coughed a bit. Carlisle took a moment to clean off the baby first before looking at Valerie with a smile and announcing that she and Tae Sook had a daughter. When the baby was in Valerie's arms, Rosalie and Emmett came in to see their granddaughter. She had her father's black hair and his black eyes from his human years. She had chubby little cheeks and her eyes were shaped like her mother's and she had her mother's ears as well. Valerie smiled at her and brushed her chubby cheeks with her finger, then their daughter grabbed her finger and began squeezing it gently.

"She's so beautiful." Rosalie said, petting her granddaughter's soft tuft of black hair. "What's her name?" Valerie looked at her mother blushing a bit.

"Mi Sook." Rosalie looked at her oddly. So did Emmett.

"Mi Sook?" Valerie nodded.

"Yeah. Tae Sook wanted to name the baby after him and his mom. So it was either Tae Sun or Mi Sook." Emmett frowned a bit.

"Those names are a bit extreme don't you think? The kid's half white." Tae Sook shrugged at Emmett's comment.

"What's your point?" Emmett frowned at Tae Sook and Valerie came to his defense.

"Mi Sook's a cute name in my opinion. I can live with it." Rosalie looked at Valerie a minute.

"Are you sure?" Valerie smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. I like it. It suits her." Mi Sook. Mi Sook. The more the name went through her head, the more she actually started to like it. It was actually really cute. Mi Sook had the cutest little face too. Rosalie looked at Tae Sook a minute, then back at Valerie, and finally shrugged.

"She's your daughter."


	16. Eventful

Eventful

After Mi Sook was born, Rosalie and Emmett stayed in Japan with Valerie and Tae Sook while Carlisle went back home the day after Mi Sook was born. He brought back pictures and showed everyone Valerie's new baby and Emmett and Rosalie got to see Tae Sook's parents again after roughly two years. Mi Sun, Tae Sook's mother, practically monopolized Mi Sook and sang to her in Korean and dressed her up in a little baby sized Hanbok that was pink, red, and yellow. The times when she wasn't holding Mi Sook, Rosalie finally took the opportunity to hold her.

While Emmett and Rosalie were away, Lia and Ryan finally began planning their wedding. They'd done it in bits and pieces, but they hadn't done any of the big, more definite things like picking a venue and so on since they were worrying more about the Condo Ryan had just bought for them. Lia decorated the condo to perfection, with Esme's tasteful suggestions backing her up of course. Lia wanted to get married in a church, even if it meant lying to the priest about Ryan being Catholic. He'd already made it clear he wasn't converting just so Lia could have a Catholic Church wedding. Truth be told, she was only Catholic because Felix had learned later that her mother was Catholic and he felt it was only appropriate to get Lia baptized. Her mother was dead, but at least he did her one simple justice and gave their daughter her religion.

In any event, they found a church in Port Angeles that didn't ask too many questions of Ryan and they were easily convinced that he was Catholic. They picked a date that would be the following February and Alice worked her magic and found Lia the perfect dress, as was her talent. By January, Tae Sook found a reliable vampire to manage the bar, named Momaru Ikari, and he and Valerie came back to Washington with Rosalie and Emmett. Tae Sook would still need to go to Japan from time to time, as would Gretchen like she needed to visit all her locations, but never for too long. It was the first time the rest of the family finally got to see Mi Sook, and by then, she already looked like a seven year old and was speaking fluent Japanese, Korean (thanks to her grandmother), and English. Unfortunately, so far, she could only read Japanese since that was the only written language in the apartment and because of Tae Sook's old Final Fantasy video games. She was becoming as much of a nerd as her father, but Valerie didn't mind. It was a way that Mi Sook and Tae Sook could bond.

Once she was surrounded by English, she managed to pick up on that as well. The day they all arrived back to Washington, the whole family, including Jacob's pack, came to welcome Valerie and Tae Sook home and to meet the newest addition. Tae Sook gave everybody gifts from him and his parents. Emmett, from Tae Sook's mother, had received something in Japan, but she asked him to wait to open it until he came home. When Emmett opened his gift, it was a book called _Lady Chatterley's Lover_. According to Tae Sook, his mother thought Emmett would like it because it used to be burned and banned due to its explicit nature. Emmett just laughed and started reading. Everyone else got silks, Alice was given a kimono, and Tae Sook's father got a wooden sword for Jasper, and so on. Halfway through the book, Emmett laughed a bit and looked at Jacob, who was holding Natalie while she played with the silk sash Esme had received.

"Hey, Jacob." Jacob looked up and Edward rolled his eyes a bit.

"Yeah, Emmett?" Emmett chuckled a little more.

"This book reminded me of something. Did I ever tell you or the pack about my grandmother and how she left my grandfather for a Sioux Indian?" The whole pack stopped what they were doing and looked at Emmett. The Cullens didn't. They'd heard this story before.

"No, but you have my attention. I recall you saying your grandmother left with a man, but I don't think you ever brought up that last part." Emmett grinned.

"To my best recollection, it happened like this." Emmett stopped a moment and looked at Valerie. "Peaches, bring Mi Sook over. She could use to learn some history." Valerie rolled her eyes with a smile and gave Mi Sook over to Emmett, who rested her on his lap before beginning his story. "Anyway, when I was little and my grandpa still had the plantation, he had a Sioux stable hand. His real name, I think, was Blackbear or something like that, but we called him Ted. Whenever he did something wrong, his name was Bear Takes a Shit in the Woods, but you get the idea."

"Bear Takes a Shit in the Woods? Really?" Jacob said critically, but still somewhat amused. "I'm not sure you should bring up those parts in front of your granddaughter." Mi Sook shrugged and responded in perfect English.

"I've heard worse on the plane ride here. It's okay, grandpa." Emmett laughed and petted her head a bit before continuing on with his story.

"Anyway, he was a stable hand at the plantation. I suspect that's how he and my grandmother first got to talking to each other. One time, I was visiting the plantation. Grandpa was in the city on business, so it was just me and grandma that weekend. I was Grandma's favorite, so she had me over to visit all the time when she was around. I woke up one morning and went down to the kitchen and low and behold, I saw Ted in the kitchen, shirtless, eating an apple." Rosalie laughed under breath. "I said his name and he jumped like a jackrabbit. When he realized it was me, he looked at me angrily and told me I didn't see him there. Then he left the kitchen with his apple. I went to Grandma later that day and told her about what happened that morning. She just giggled and said, 'Oh, Emmett, pay him no mind.'

"I did as she said and paid him no mind. But sure enough, the next morning, I went down to the kitchen and there he was again. In my kitchen, shirtless, eating a piece of fruit. I said his name again, but this time he just glared at me and said, 'Why are you down here, boy? It's damn near still dawn!' I just told him I practically lived at the plantation and he just rolled his eyes and walked out. I told grandma again and she still told me to pay him no mind. But this time, she also told me never to bring it up to grandpa. Reluctantly, I promised not to and I never said a word about it. That whole thing went on for two years I think. I always caught him in the kitchen shirtless eating breakfast. After a while, he would just look at me and say, 'good morning'. He started calling me Early Bird whenever he saw me. It didn't really hit me what they were doing until I was much older, but after those two years, she wrote grandpa a note saying she was leaving with Ted to go to Arizona and things went downhill for grandpa since then. I think grandpa was mostly kicking himself for allowing grandma to have her own separate room on the third floor of the manor."

"Was grandpa a mean man or something?" Mi Sook asked. Emmett shrugged.

"He wasn't mean. He just wasn't the most agreeable person in the world. He was a bit cynical and he had a harsh tone to his voice that came from all those years of whiskey and cigars. I think it also bugged grandma that he was a KKK member." This really got Jacob's attention.

"You're grandpa was involved with that?" Emmett shrugged.

"A lot of men were in the South. Hell, my dad was technically a member. I think he had more of a problem with Jews then black people, but he was a member. One of my brothers was too I think. I didn't get into it, though. I never saw the appeal in publicly humiliating people the way the KKK did. I'll admit, I was pretty damned close-minded back then too, but I preferred hunting over public execution and humiliation." Jacob stared at Emmett a little.

"That knowledge makes me a bit uncomfortable." Emmett rolled his eyes.

"Oh, get over it, you sissy. You got over me being a vampire, right?" Jacob shrugged.

Months later, at Ryan and Lia's wedding, Mi Sook was the flower girl and Nathan, since he was the youngest, was asked to be the ring bearer. It was a happy day for everyone, even Felix, who shocked everyone when he brought a date to the wedding! Her name was Jillian, which left Didyme stunned a moment before she was congratulating Jillian on finally finding Felix again. As it turned out, Jillian had been a whore Felix had bought after being a loyal customer for about two years. She stayed with him just over twenty four hours before Lia, Felix's sister, had caught Annabelle, Felix's wife, cheating with another man. She threatened to tell Felix and Annabelle pushed Lia off the side of the house and she died on impact to the ground. Jillian had seen the whole thing and stayed outside when Felix…."handled" his wife and her lover. Jillian last saw Felix after they'd burned Lia's body before he went back to dispose of the bodies when Aro found him and changed him. Jillian was changed seven years later by a vampire named Alexandra. She traveled with her and her companion (and occasional lover) Diti, and went off on her own around the eighteen hundreds.

In short, she'd been looking for Felix for a long time, knowing he was out there. According to her, a psychic had told her she'd find him one day. When they'd first met, Felix thought she was insane. But as with his daughter, the more time he spent with her, the more he remembered of her from his human life. Once he started remembering her, their relationship blossomed from there. He even tolerated meeting the two women she'd traveled with for all those centuries that had become good friends of hers. Felix wasn't fond of them in the least, but he kept that to himself until they were alone again and he felt comfortable venting. And as Felix had promised her many years ago, Jillian and Felix married. It was just between them, no one else.

Ryan and Lia's wedding, which happened in the fall of the next year, was a lovely, private affair. Only family was there and they kept the reception brief. Ryan and Lia spent their honeymoon in New York, a place that, amazingly, Lia had never been for longer than an hour. They were away for a week and a half before Ryan had to go back to work. A few months later, Lia was pregnant. Felix came as soon as he heard and Jillian took that time visiting to get to know Lia better. She'd loved Felix's sister, Lia, and knew she'd love his daughter all the more. They hit it off instantly. Her pregnancy lasted approximately two weeks, as most half breed pregnancies did, and they had a girl they named Amelia. She had her parent's brown hair, looked a lot like Ryan, and had the cutest little eyes. They were a mix between blue and green.

As they promised, the wedding consultant that Valerie had worked for took her back with open arms, leaving Lia happily looking after Mi Sook during most of the day. Mi Sook and Amelia were best friends immediately, even though by now Mi Sook looked about seven and Amelia looked about three. Despite the age difference, Mi Sook managed to get Amelia into video games as much as her. Within three years about, Mi Sook looked like an adult. Instead of putting her through high school, Tae Sook helped to arranged Mi Sook's citizenship, since she wasn't born in the US. Once she was a citizen, Mi Sook enrolled in college, transferring imaginary transcripts from some of the best prep schools, middle schools, and high schools in Tokyo. She was accepted to a junior college in Port Angeles to get some prerequisites out of the way before applying to the School of Visual concepts in Seattle. Around that time, Amelia began high school at Forks High, announcing herself as a transfer student, just like her family members before her. This time, she claimed to be from Oregon. Around this time, Dante and Amadora had a second child that Carlisle helped deliver. They named her Evalina. They didn't visit for too long, but it was long enough for everyone to catch up and get to know the new baby who wouldn't be a baby for very long.

By the time Amelia started high school in Forks, Kevin was officially beginning the ninth grade. Kyle started eighth, and Nathan and Natalie started sixth. Though Natalie still practiced at the Red Night, she didn't do as many shows anymore. Nessie was concerned about Natalie putting the theatre before school, so she asked Gretchen to lay off on giving her parts. Natalie was free to perform during the summer and winter, but during the school year, she only practiced. Then with all the free time available to her with just dance and acting classes, she was able to open up and become closer to her cousins and school mates. Natalie and Nathan remained close, but Natalie also got closer to her cousin, Travis, who was her age and in the same class as her. Before long, with more free time, Natalie and Travis had become the best of friends, spending most of their free time together.

All the kids were growing up too. None had awoken to their wolf, but more and more Kevin and Kyle were beginning to look like their father. Just like Jacob had been when he was fourteen and thirteen, the boys, including Nathan, were really tall and slender, making them a little scrawny looking. Kevin was the tallest of his brothers and looked the most like Renesmee. His green eyes were still there and his hair got darker, but still a reddish brown. Most people would say his hair was pretty much black, but the family knew better. His true hair color was extremely apparent when the sunlight hit it. And he was beginning to blossom in his appearance everyone noticed. Kevin was becoming an extremely handsome boy. Kyle was blossoming too, but he was still as shy as could be. He wasn't charismatic and outgoing like Kevin, so he stuck with Max and Jason as his closer friends. Kevin tried helping Kyle make more friends at school, but he just never clicked with anyone on a friendly level. That and Kevin's idea of friends weren't the same as Kyle's idea of friends. Kyle loved Kevin, but their personalities where like oil and water. They simply didn't mix. Kyle was closer to Nathan since his personality was a lot mellower than Kevin's. Natalie was going through an awkward faze at the moment. Like her brothers, she was extremely tall and slender, especially for her age. She was taller than all the girls in her class with really long black hair and she still had her baby face look. At twelve years old, she was already 5' 1", taller than Alice. She also wasn't developing yet, so she was flat chested and it made her extremely self-conscious. The family and her 'co-workers/teachers' assured her she was perfect just the way she was, though. Nathan was taller, but he looked a little less awkward than his sister. But like Natalie, he was still growing into himself.

But one thing happened that Carlisle found really interesting. One day, Kevin had figured out that he could change from his normal state into that of a vampire. He fazed like Jacob would into a wolf, but as a vampire instead. Once Kevin figured it out, all his siblings figured it out. Carlisle still couldn't come to an understanding of how they did it. So far, all he could say was it was something they just did. And from what he could tell, it didn't affect their health and they didn't do it that often anyway, so he saw no problem with it as long as they never let it happen at school. Of course, seeing as Natalie had the more 'manipulative' power you might say, it didn't stop her and Nathan from having plenty of fun at school.

It was the period before lunch time. Since Nathan, Natalie, and Travis were in the sixth grade, they didn't go from class to class like grades seven through twelve did. But they did all have the same lunch period. Nathan, Natalie, and Travis were sitting together working on a homework assignment. They talked about other things while working and one thing that came up was a list of videos Natalie had showed Travis and Nathan on Youtube called College Musical. The videos were really old, from around 2009-ish or so, but they were still funny, even if, by now, they had no idea it was making fun of High School Musical or what High School Musical even was. As they were talking about it, Natalie had a thought that made her snicker, causing her siblings to ask what she was laughing at.

"You know what would be the funniest thing ever?" Natalie asked.

"What?" Nathan asked.

"Wouldn't it be hilarious if I could get Kevin and Kyle to break into song in the middle of class or something? I could make them sing the song from the second College Musical episode." Travis and Nathan grinned.

"Are you serious," said Travis, "They would kill you after they found out. Besides, that song has four people singing, two minor and two lead characters. Unless you're saying that you plan to get two of their friends involved." Then Travis's face lit up. "In fact, if you can get Max to do it too, I think I could get behind this idea."

"That still leaves one more person." Natalie shrugged at Nathan's statement of the obvious.

"One of Kevin's friends can be a victim. He hangs out with enough people at lunch; it'll just be a case of who would be the funniest."

"So we're actually doing this? At lunch?" Nathan asked. Natalie nodded.

"Yes I am. It's a rather harmless song and I think it would be funny to watch Kevin and Kyle sing in the middle of a crowded cafeteria." They all laughed a little to themselves and agreed that Natalie would force her brothers, Max, and one of Kevin's friends to sing during lunch hour. (*By the way, if you want to listen to this song, go to Youtube and type in College Musical 2 and the episode will come up. The whole video is about six minutes.*)

Once lunch rolled around and the kids had their lunch, Natalie watched for the tables where Kevin and Kyle usually sat. Kevin usually sat closest to the windows. He liked the view. Kyle sat on the other side of the room with Max, Jason, and a few other boys. Once everyone was in their usual place, Nathan began egging Natalie on to start their plans. Natalie told her brother she was getting to it and she took a few deep breaths before she focused on the people she wanted to manipulate and started playing the scene in her head. As planned, Kevin played the male singing lead while a guy sitting next to him played the friend while Kyle played the female singing lead and Max played the female lead's friend. (*Painfully cheesy scenario aside, this video is a really good song and you should totally look it up on Youtube*)

As Kevin started the song off, the whole cafeteria turned their attention to him. There were a few moments where people at the table asked what the hell they were doing, but Natalie made sure they kept singing and never broke character, even when a teacher tried to get Kevin and Kyle to stop. Natalie even made them move around the cafeteria to avoid any teachers trying to stop them. While Natalie worked her magic, Nathan and Travis were sitting on both sides of her laughing as hard as their lungs would allow. Travis even blurted his fears of vomiting from such laughter. Natalie made their big finish as over the top as she could think of and when the song was over and Kevin and Kyle were standing on a table. When Natalie released them from the trance, Kevin was already angry while Kyle remained a little reserved, though he was starring right at Natalie.

Now that they were standing still, Kyle, Kevin, Max, and Kevin's friend Kinley (which everyone teased was a very odd name for a boy) were taken to the principal's office, Mrs. Kovac was her name. The four of them sat in the office across from the main seat waiting for the principal to come into the room. Kyle and Kevin were the only ones who immediately knew what was going on. Max didn't know Natalie's power as well, so it took him a while to realize Natalie would even be at fault. Kinley on the other hand had no idea what the Black family could do, so he was freaking out wondering why he felt the need to sing in the middle of the cafeteria. Knowing this, Kevin decided it best to rant to Kyle inwardly. So he began pushing thoughts into his head.

"_I'm gonna kill that kid when we get home."_ Kyle sighed.

"Does anyone know when Mrs. Kovac will get here?" Kyle said, completely off subject. No one answered, so the silence that had formerly enveloped the room returned and the atmosphere remained tense. While they were waiting, a girl walked in with a file and went to the cabinet at the corner of the room. Kevin hadn't noticed her at first, but he did when she dropped a paper and had to kneel down, which caused her low-cut pants to ride down and show off a pair of white panties with small puppies on it. Kevin laughed a little to himself. Kyle rolled his eyes and swatted Kevin. The girl ignored them and got the filing done. As she turned to leave, she finally looked at them and then gave them weird looks.

"Are you the guys who started singing in the middle of the cafeteria?"

"We were dared to." Kevin blurted out, and the others nodded, eagerly accepting that for a reason. "So yeah, we're all about twenty bucks richer." The girl looked at them like they were crazy and nodded her head awkwardly.

"Well, good luck." The girl left without another word. When she was gone, Kinley finally relaxed a little and chuckled.

"Did you see her panties? They had puppies on them." Kevin and Max snickered a little too, but Kyle stayed quiet. "She was really cute, though." Kevin nodded.

"Especially her panties." The boys, except Kyle, snickered again and the principal chose then to walk into her office.

"I'm glad you see humor in being sent to my office, boys." They all stopped laughing as Mrs. Kovac took her seat behind her desk. "So you broke into song in the cafeteria?"

"We were dared to." Kevin blurted out again. Mrs. Kovac looked at Kevin a moment before shrugging.

"I'm sure, Kevin. But that doesn't change that you guys disturbed lunch hour and ignored the teachers when they told you to stop. This isn't the worst offense I've ever seen, but I still need to give you guys two days detention. So tomorrow, when you come to school, you come straight to my office for detention."

"But it wasn't even our fault!" Kyle said. There was a silence in the room for a moment until Kyle held his head down and sat back against the chair.

"You accepted a dare from what Kevin told me. If you accepted, then you're responsible. But I'll tell you what. I won't put this on your record. This really isn't the worst thing a student can do and no one got hurt, so I'll let you off a little. You're all still serving detention, but don't worry about it being permanent." Kyle sighed a little.

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Kovac." Mrs. Kovac smiled and took the hand Kyle offered.

"You're welcome, boys. Now go back to class and try to stay out of trouble from now on, okay." Kyle nodded eagerly and almost ran out of the office. Kevin, Max, and Kinley followed after. While they were walking out, Kevin glanced to his left and saw the girl from earlier. She was talking to someone on the phone at the moment. She looked in Kevin's direction for a second before looking back at some papers.

She seemed a lot younger than all the other people in the office. In fact, Kevin could swear she looked his age. She had long black hair, as was common amongst all the students except the fifteen white kids that went to the school, and a very small button nose and a small face. Her hair was hanging down in lazy wavy-ness, making seeing her face near impossible. She was wearing blue jeans and a pink printed t-shirt. In her current position, Kevin couldn't see what was written on the t-shirt and he hadn't been paying attention earlier. She was really scrawny looking, flat chested, extremely skinny and Kevin remembered her looking extremely short. She reminded him of Alice if she were Native American with long hair and a different face. Kevin looked at the clock. There was still a half hour before lunch hour was done, so he decided to go over and talk to this girl. She really was adorable despite the scrawny look she had and looking so young. The girl hung up the phone and started writing a few things down on a sheet of paper. She finally looked at him when Kevin was standing right in front of her.

"Hey."

"Hi." The girl said, looking at Kevin quizzically. "Did you need help with something?" Kevin fought a laugh. She even had a little girl voice. Kevin began feeling bad for even considering hitting on her.

"I was actually wondering how old you were."

"13, same age as you. Why?"

"I was just curious. If you're my age, how're you working in a school office? Even I can't get anyone to hire me at my age."

"My mom's the principle. I help out at the office during my free periods. It's only temporary until my mom finds another person."

"That's cool." There was a silence then. Awkward, menacing silence. "So what's your name, Miss Kovac?" The girl finally smiled a little.

"Megan. And your name?"

"Kevin. Black." To Kevin's relief, she seemed to recognize the name. 

"Your dad's Jacob Black right? My mom's the Quileute one, but my dad's Makka, so I don't live on the Quileute Reservation." Kevin nodded.

"Yeah, Jacob's my dad, making me the chief's son. Pretty impressive, huh?" Megan giggled a little.

"In a manner, I guess it's pretty cool. Though being a chief these days is more for show than anything wouldn't you say?"

"Not really. My dad's a powerful guy. He also owns that car shop in Forks."

"You mean Black Repairs right? Didn't your dad run another guy out of business? That's what my mom tells me anyway." Kevin shrugged.

"Dad's had that business for as far back as I could remember, so I don't know details of that. So does your mom know my dad?"

"Probably. She went to this school too."

"Megan." Kevin and Megan looked towards Mrs. Kovac's office where the woman in question was walking past. "Lunch period is almost over. You better get ready for class. You too, Kevin."

Megan immediately picked up all her school things and was out the door when Kevin was about to look at her and smile. Since she was gone, he just sighed a little and walked out of the office to go back to class. At the end of the day, Kevin and Kyle walked home with Nathan and Natalie like usually and the walk home was silent. But when they arrived home and Kevin closed the door behind them, Kyle chose then to begin speaking.

"What was that about? Making me and Kevin sing in the middle of the cafeteria like that? Are you out of your mind, Natalie?" Nathan and Natalie laughed a bit while Natalie tried to explain.

"It was for fun, Kyle."

"Fun? We have to serve detention tomorrow because of you!" Natalie and Nathan stared at Kyle for a moment before bursting into laughter. Kyle growled a little and looked at Kevin. "A little back up here, Kevin?" Kevin shrugged.

"It's not going on our record. Besides, it's one day of detention. How bad could it be?" Kyle sighed heavily.

"You got a date with that panties girl didn't you?"

"Wait, what about a panties girl?" Nathan said, ending his laughter immediately after hearing Kyle's odd comment. Kevin shook his head.

"Sadly, no. I didn't get a chance to talk to her for long before her mom made us go back to class. She's Mrs. Kovac's daughter. Can you believe that?" Kyle glared at Kevin a moment. In the past years, Kevin had developed a bit of a Casanova personality in the sense that he flirted with anything in a skirt (it seemed like). He'd never dated anyone yet, but Kyle found the developing flirtatiousness to be extremely annoying, especially at times like this.

"You're an asshole, Kevin. When dad brings this up tonight, because I know Mrs. Kovac called our parents, I'm making you explain this to him."

"It's Natalie's fault, not ours." Natalie smiled.

"Yes, but you know daddy could never stay mad at me." Nathan grinned and nodded.

"It's true. Those puppy dog eyes really do work magic on the beast." Kevin looked at Natalie.

"You've gotten in trouble plenty of times, kid. I've seen dad ground your smug little ass before."

"Yes, but he never stays mad at me, because I'm his little girl. Besides, as long as daddy knows this isn't going on permanent records and as long as the song wasn't too obscene, I'm sure daddy won't get too upset. I'll tell you what, I'll admit to daddy that I'm at fault and wanted to have some fun. Then no one will get in trouble." Kyle rolled his eyes.

"Whatever." Having had enough, Kyle went right to his room to start his homework. Kevin followed after. Kyle plopped on his bed and began working. Kevin took a seat on his bed and stared at Kyle a moment.

"Kyle? Can I ask you something?" Kyle sighed.

"You came off to her as arrogant, but she thought you were good looking. Her locker is L104 across from the gym; her last class is Earth Science in science room B; her mom drives her home every day after school, and her favorite flower is orchids. I recommend that you at least get to know her before you consider asking her out. Women usually like to be listened to." Kevin smiled.

"That's all I needed. You want any help with your homework?"

"No thanks. You have your own homework to do."

"Didn't your English class start reading Romeo and Juliet? I know all the answers on the homework packets. You're teacher's Mr. Lovejoy right?"

"It's alright Kevin. It doesn't take much to know what's going on in that play. You focus on that worksheet you need to fill out for Great Expectations. How's that going for you?" Kevin and Kyle finally smiled at each other and laughed a little.

"Shut up." They kept laughing a little before getting to their homework. Jacob and Renesmee arrived home around seven that night. The boys had come back downstairs to watch TV until their parents got home, prepared to defend themselves. As Jacob and Renesmee came in through the garage, Jacob looked right at the boys, his face a little angry.

"So you're both serving detention tomorrow?" Kyle nodded.

"Yes, dad."

"Because you sang during lunch hour?" Kyle nodded again. He was prepared to defend himself and Kevin, but Jacob interrupted while looked at Natalie. "Do you know anything about this, honey?" Natalie was a little surprised at first, but she sighed and nodded.

"I thought it would be funny to make them do that. I didn't think they would get in that much trouble. But on the bright side, I heard Kevin got a date out of it."

"What?" Renesmee said, surprised.

"I didn't get a date." Kevin said. "I just talked to the principle's daughter for a while." Jacob sighed.

"Whatever, that's not what's important. The principle told us that this wouldn't stay on your records. So I'm not that mad." Then Jacob looked back at Natalie. "Honey, you got your brothers in trouble, and you should know better. I'm calling Gretchen tomorrow and letting her know you won't be attending classes for a while." Natalie's eyes shot open.

"But daddy! That's not fair!"

"Don't argue with me, Natalie. And I already called Paul and Rachael, letting them know Max wasn't at fault. And I suspect, Nathan, that you were an accomplice. Am I right?" Natalie and Nathan were quiet for a while. Jacob sighed when they didn't answer. "Nathan, don't make any plans with friends. For as long as Natalie isn't going to class, that's how long you're grounded."

"Dad!"

"Don't raise your voice at me. Now both of you go to your rooms and go to bed." Reluctantly, Nathan and Natalie went straight upstairs to their rooms and went to bed like Jacob told them to. Jacob then tossed his keys into the little bowl on the small table to his right. "Did you all eat already?" Kevin nodded.

"We had some leftovers." Jacob nodded in acknowledgement and began walking upstairs. Nessie stayed downstairs with the boys and Kevin looked at her when he heard his parents' bedroom door close. "What's wrong with dad? Was he really that mad?" Nessie sighed and shook her head.

"No, he's not too upset with you guys. It's just been a hard day for him."

"What happened?"

"Someone came in to get their car's oil changed. Their kid wandered into the garage and no one saw him."

"Dad has a million people working in that garage. How did no one see that kid?"

"A lot of people were out at lunch. Steven wasn't at his desk because he was in the bathroom, I was in my office, Jacob was talking to the parents in his office, the only one who could've seen the kid was Brian and he was focusing on the oil change. By the time the parents noticed the child was gone, he was already fooling around with tools he shouldn't have been. Brian finally noticed the little boy and went to him to get him away from the power tools, he didn't see the kid holding the cord, so it fell on Brian's foot and near cut off his foot, and Brian dropped the kid, understandably so. Anyway, the child hit his head, the parents are upset, and Jacob's concerned this might turn into something really bad."

"Why weren't the parents watching him? How old is the kid?"

"He's four. According to Jacob, the parents were concerned about a few things they thought might be wrong with the car and they weren't paying attention to their son. They're upset that no one noticed the boy wondering where he shouldn't and Jacob's upset because they're blaming him for their negligence. Jacob's worried that they might tell people he's a bad place to take their cars or something. That shop's done nothing but good for most everyone in town, so I doubt that'll happen, but he's still upset about it."

"Will dad be okay?" Nessie nodded with a pout.

"He will. Just try to stay out of trouble for a while. I don't want your father worrying about anymore than he should have to. Did you boys finish your homework?" Kyle nodded.

"Yeah, we did."

"Good. I'm going to bed early too. I'll see you both in the morning."

Nessie went upstairs to be with Jacob, who had already plopped into bed. It wasn't like Jacob to go straight to bed without eating something. Knowing he needed it, Nessie went to the bed, sat by his side, and began massaging his back. Jacob groaned a little and finally smiled just a little until the massage sent him to sleep. Kevin and Kyle stayed downstairs and watched bad TV together, not speaking too much during. They finally went to bed at ten and woke up same time as usually and walked to school with their siblings like always. Brian was in work the next day with a temporary gaze bandage on his foot. No bones were broken, so his foot was already almost fully healed. The mother of the boy from yesterday came in that day and went straight to Renesmee's office and apologized for what happened to Brian. She assured her that her and her husband wouldn't press charges since no one person was at fault and that they wouldn't bring their son to the shop again. Jacob was extremely relieved when Nessie told him later that day.

The boys spent the whole day in detention. They were not allowed to leave the room, except to use the bathroom. The room was cramped and uncomfortable and a teacher was in the room with them to make sure that no conversing occurred. One girl that was in detention for punching a student tried listening to her IPod. The teacher confiscated it and sent her to another, even more secluded room. When lunch rolled around, they all gave a teacher four dollars so she could buy them some cheap lunch. To their collective relief, it was cheesy potato soup day so they didn't have to worry about anything bad. Most of them used the time to finish up some homework and they weren't let out until the final bell. Kevin decided to go back to his locker and drop off a few things, so the others started walking home on their own. As Kevin was walking to his locker, he noticed he was walking past the gym and remembered Kyle said Megan's locker was L104. Kevin smiled and decided to wait for Megan so he could talk to her a little. Kevin walked to her locker and leaned against it, making sure he wasn't blocking anyone else's locker. He waited about a minute before he saw Megan walking over. She was surprised to see him standing next to her locker and said so when she got to her locker. Kevin got his weight off and stood to the side so Megan could look inside.

"I promise I'm not stalking you. We just didn't get to talk that much yesterday."

"How did you know this was my locker?"

"A friend told me." Kevin said innocently. Megan looked at Kevin a little suspiciously a moment. She wasn't sure if she should be creeped out that this guy she didn't know asked someone something like that or if she should be flattered that he was interested. She admitted that she found Kevin attractive, but that didn't mean they would come to like each other. "I promise I'm not stalking you." Kevin said hurriedly.

"You said that already. I didn't know you were so eager to keep talking to me. Did you want something?"

"If you want the truth; I liked you and wanted to get to know you better. Or is that creepy?" Megan finally smiled and shrugged.

"A little creepy, yes. But then, you're not a crazy person, so I don't mind." Megan looked back up at Kevin with a suspicious smile. "You're not a crazy person right?" Kevin laughed.

"No, I'm not a crazy person, I promise. I'm just a very, very nice guy." Megan giggled and responded a tad sarcastically.

"Sure you are." Megan put a few more books in her locker and closed it after her English and Spanish books were in her backpack. Before she could walked away, Kevin spoke.

"I know you're busy, so I'll keep this quick. Do you want to each lunch with me tomorrow? I only had to serve detention the one day."

"I eat lunch in the principal's office. I work there right now, remember?"

"Oh." Kevin felt really stupid in that moment. "I thought you ate in the cafeteria and went to the office when you were done." Megan shook her head.

"Nope. I buy my lunch and go straight to my mom's office. Speaking of which, I need to get to her office now. Until she finds another receptionist, I'm working there, like I said. It was nice talking to you, Kevin." Megan waved goodbye to Kevin before turning to go to the principal's office. Kevin waved back a bit dumbly and sighed before leaving to walk back home. He went straight to his room where Kyle was, working on his homework.

"That didn't go as I'd expected." Kyle didn't know what Kevin meant at first, but once he read Kevin's thoughts and grinned a little.

"I could've told you that wouldn't go well. Waiting for her at her locker when she doesn't even know you is a little creepy, Kevin. You probably freaked her out." Kyle chuckled. "She thinks you're hot at least."

"That's all I've got going for me, isn't it?" Kevin asked solemnly. Kyle chuckled.

"Yeah, just about." Kevin sighed. "I say, if you still want to get to know her, you be a little less creepy about it. She said she goes to the cafeteria to get lunch. Walk behind her in line and use that time. It's not much, but it's better than nothing. Than at the very least, you can pass this off as a coincidence and she might be a little less freaked out." Kevin was impressed.

"I never thought you'd give me advice on how to talk to a girl. Does that mean you've been trying it yourself recently?" Kyle sighed and shook his head.

"Of course not. I don't want to."

"Or you're so damn shy, you don't have the balls to. Hmmm…I wonder which it could be."

"Shut up. I'm trying to help you and you're making fun of me."

"I'm just saying what I see." Kevin sat on his bed. "You said she likes orchids right?" Kyle sighed.

"Yes, she likes orchids. And I would recommend against what you're planning. It's still creepy." Kevin smiled.

"Maybe, but it's also charming."

"It's charming when people are already dating. You two aren't dating. You're still trying to win her over. I don't know why. You saw her panties on accident and spoke to her for two seconds. You even thought she looked and sounded like a kid. I don't know why you're so determined." Kevin shrugged.

"I just am. Who knows, maybe I'll imprint on her when I faze for the first time." Kyle rolled his eyes.

"I wouldn't count on it, Kevin."

Despite Kyle's cautions against it, Kevin went through with his little plan. Kevin left early that morning and went to the florist in Forks and bought an Orchid. Then he went to school and tapped the flower to Megan's locker. Later that day at lunch, Kevin watched for Megan to get into line for lunch. He took the moment to power-walk into line behind Megan, while making sure he didn't look suspicious. Once he was behind her, he said hi. Megan turned and looked at Kevin, then smiled a little.

"Nice to see you again." Kevin smiled.

"You too. Did you get that flower?" Megan giggled and rolled her eyes a little.

"Yes, I did. I had a feeling that was you. How did you know I like Orchids?"

"A little birdy told me."

"Is it the same birdy that told you which locker I used?" Kevin smiled guiltily.

"Yeah, it is. I know you said you need to go to the principal's office once you buy your lunch, but we can still talk in line, right?"

"I guess we could. For starters, who's this birdy that's feeding you all this information about me? Is it someone in the main office?"

"Yes," Kevin lied, "but I promised her I wouldn't reveal who she is."

"Was it Margret?" Kevin shook his head.

"I can't say."

"How Janet? I'll bet it was Janet. She's such a busy-body."

"I've sworn to secrecy."

"Do you know any of my friends? Did one of them tell you?" Kevin shrugged.

"I promised not to say." Megan sighed.

"Fine, then. So did I really make such a grand impression the first time we spoke?" Kevin grinned.

"Honestly, I noticed your panties first when you bent down to pick up some papers." Megan lost her smile and blushed heavily.

"It was laundry day, okay. I was out of good panties, so I was wearing an older pair. And shame on you for staring at my exposed panties." Kevin fought a grin.

"In my defense, I didn't stare long before you got back up and started making fun of me."

"Well, honestly, who accepts a dare to break into songs in the cafeteria?"

"Me, my brother, my cousin, and my friend. That's who." Megan finally smiled again and laughed.

"What did you get out of it, then?"

"Money and satisfaction." Megan smiled and congratulated Kevin for his win.

Kevin and Megan were able to talk for about five minutes while they were waiting in line for their lunch. Once they'd both paid for it, Megan waved goodbye to Kevin and went to the main office to help out her mom.


	17. Change

Change

"Hey, Megan, can I ask you something?" Kevin asked Megan. They'd been friends a few months now. Her mom had found a new receptionist, making them able to have lunch together. It was almost the end of lunch hour, and Kevin finally worked up the courage to get to what he wanted to ask her.

"Sure. What?"

"What are your plans for Valentine's Day? It's this Friday." Megan looked at Kevin a moment, not really surprised that Kevin seemed to be asking her on a date. She was actually more surprised he'd waited this long. She'd decided she liked him a month after they'd become friends.

"I don't have any plans. Did you want to go on a Valentine's Date?" Kevin smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I did. How about we go to the movies or something?"

"Are there any good movies out?" Kevin shrugged.

"I haven't really checked. I can look once I get home, though." Megan shook her head and took out her IPhone.

"We can do that now." Megan went online and looked up what movies were showing at the movie theatre in Forks. After looking at a few, she sighed. "Nothing looks good, honestly. Unless you're up for seeing a crappy remake of _The Color Purple_."

"Is that really the best option?"

"There's a Spy Kids movie. How many of those have there been?"

"Oh God, that's even worse. You know what, there's a Burger place in Forks we can go to instead if that's okay. I can pick you up by six and after we eat, we can do something else." Megan smiled.

"I'll leave it in your hands. I'll be ready by six. Just warn me first if you're planning anything fancy, otherwise I'll just wear my usual clothes."

"That's fine. I don't know how fancy I can get. I can't drive."

"We could always get one of our parents to drive us?" Kevin shook his head.

"Maybe, but I just want to go on a date with you, not you and my dad or something." Megan smiled.

"I guess that's true. Should I bring my bathing suit?" Kevin looked at her confused.

"Not that I'm discouraging that, but why would you want your suit?" Megan smiled a little.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted to hang out at the beach too."

"Oh. Sure, we can do that if you want. I know a few spots on the beach that people don't usually hang around."

"Where is it?"

"It's way right beach where there's this white decaying log. It's always really private." Megan gave him a weird look.

"Isn't it because there's usually a couple making out or having sex there?"

"Is it? I mean, my parents told….." When Kevin had his realization, he shuddered a little. "Never mind. We'll stay clear of that spot." Megan noticed Kevin get uncomfortable, but decided against asking him about it and instead changed the subject.

"Do you want to hang out at my house after? We can play cards or something. Are you good at poker?" Kevin smiled.

"No, I can't say I am. I've never played before. I've played War, though. That's a good long game." Megan giggled.

"No kidding. One time, I played that with my cousin, our game lasted three hours."

"I've heard of that happening. With my brothers, it hardly ever exceeds an hour." Megan grinned.

"You haven't played the game if you never exceed an hour." Around then, the bell rang, so they went to their classes and said their goodbyes to each other for the day. Later on while changing for gym, Kevin was grinning and bragging to Kyle.

"Guess who has a date for Valentine's Day."

"From that cocky grin on your face, I'm guessing you?"

"Yep. We're having dinner and going to the beach, then back to her house for some card games."

"Card games….sure. Joking aside, keep in mind her dad keeps a gun mounted above his TV in the living room. It's functional and it's not just for show." Kevin chuckled.

"We aren't going to do anything like that, Kyle…..I would imagine she'd want to wait until the third date before we do it." Kyle rolled his eyes.

"I know you're kidding, Kevin, but come on, show some decency. What if you end up imprinting on her later on? I bet you'll feel like a total douche for thinking that later." Kevin shrugged.

"If that's the case, I'll deal with it then. Besides, I'm sixteen. What imprinting?" Kyle didn't respond. He was a little annoyed with Kevin's flippant attitude. Kevin sighed. "You know, Kyle," Kevin said as they walked to the gym together, "I think you have our grandma's problem. You're a thirty year old man stuck in a teenager's body."

"I think what you mean is I'm a rational teenager, a rare creature that astounds the masses." Once they were in their designated line for gym, they took their seats and started stretching a little for good measure. This act was made rather difficult for Kevin and Kyle recently. As was common for a lot of Quileute boys, they were growing at a virtually abnormal rate and were all leg and arm, not much else.

"So does this mean you and Megan are a couple now, or are you still just friends?" After that question, Kevin lost a little of his confidant grin.

"Thanks for the buzz kill, Kyle. I guess we're not technically dating yet, but I'm working on it. But just because you asked that, I'm screwed. Questions like that are bad juju you know."

"Only if you let yourself believe it is. As long as you're a perfect gentlemen the whole date, you should be fine." Kevin laughed.

"The socially awkward kid's giving me dating advice. Super."

"I'm not socially awkward. I'm selective about the people I hang around."

"You know, some people would consider that pompous."

"Well, I consider it not befriending people just because their dad got a new dirt bike recently that I'm dying to try." Kevin, still grinning, rolled his eyes.

"I didn't befriend Joey _just_ for that."

"Yeah you did. Before the dirt bike, you thought he was weird and you never talked to him. Then you heard his dad got a new dirt bike, now suddenly a million guys are swarming around him asking to go to his house after school. You're included in that crowd."

"So are you! You're friends with him too."

"I was friends with him before the dirt bike because we share a science class and after talking to him, I decided he was nice. Yes, he's a little eccentric, but once you know him and get used to it, it becomes a pretty endearing character trait. You probably didn't even listen to him when he talked about his collection of _Gears of War_ figurines."

"What figurines?" Kyle sighed.

"My point exactly. I hope you listen to Megan more than Joey."

"I listen, Kyle. He just never brought up a figurine collection. Believe me, if he'd ever brought up something like that, I would remember because it's so stupid."

Kyle decided he was fighting a losing battle and stopped talking. Gym started around then anyway. Kevin was in a good mood for the rest of the day and bragged about his date with Megan to his siblings on their walk home from school. Natalie wasn't walking with them. One of Gretchen's employees picked her up to take her to dance/acting practice. Once the punishment had lifted, Gretchen had Natalie practicing diligently again. In fact, Natalie had spent almost every waking moment at Red Night practicing and preparing for the upcoming play at the time, _Oklahoma_. Gretchen cooled down once school started up again, but she made a point to have Natalie at the theatre when she could. Travis wasn't too thrilled. Without Natalie, his list of friends to hang out with went way down.

Once the boys got home, Kyle went to do his homework right away while Kevin and Nathan decided to go outside and climb trees so Nathan could ask what Kevin was planning. Nathan appreciated this stuff a lot more than Kyle did, but then, as Kevin said, Kyle suffered their grandma's "thirty-year-old-in-a-teenager's-body-syndrome". Once Jacob and Renesmee got home, Kevin eagerly told Jacob that he had a date for Valentine's Day, to which Jacob said, "I take it you need money?". Kevin just smiled at that and Jacob pulled a fifty from his wallet and told Kevin he better buy her dessert too.

Once Valentine 's Day rolled around, Kevin left home early and ran by the flower shop in Forks and got an orchid corsage for Megan. He knew it was a little corny, but he also knew that Megan would love it all the same. It also seemed a little more original to get her an orchid corsage than to get her a teddy bear, chocolates, and flowers. To him, this seemed a little more….personalized. He just hoped she wouldn't mind them sharing a dessert during dinner. When he got to school, he went straight to Megan's locker to wait for her, but since he'd left home so early, he ended up waiting thirty minutes before students started showing up. When Megan finally came to her locker and saw Kevin there, she smiled and stood before him, waiting for Kevin to stand up. Once he was standing, he presented the orchid corsage to Megan, which left her smiling from ear to ear.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Megan." Megan took the corsage Kevin offered and allowed Kevin to take it out and put it on her left wrist.

"Oh, Kevin, this is so nice! I love it."

"I hoped you would. I know you like orchids, but I thought getting you a bouquet of flowers would be a little cliché, so I got you a corsage instead. I thought it seemed a little more original." Megan admired the corsage on her wrist, then looked up at Kevin with a smile.

"Thank you, Kevin. This was very sweet of you." Megan walked closer to Kevin and wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a hug. Kevin smiled to himself as he wrapped his arms around her waist. It was the first time they'd hugged like this. When the hug ended, Megan turned her attention back to the orchid on her wrist. "I'm surprised you're giving it to me now. I thought our date wasn't starting until six." Kevin shrugged.

"Unless you wanted sooner, I wasn't planning for us to have dinner before then. I just wanted to make sure your day started off well." Megan looked up at Kevin with a smile.

"That's so sweet of you, Kevin." Megan's smile was bright. It made Kevin feel extremely proud. Megan made Kevin's day and went on her tip toes and kissed the tip of Kevin's nose. The first bell rang then, and Megan hurriedly grabbed the rest of the books from her locker, hugged Kevin, and rushed off to class.

Kevin followed suit and went straight to his first class, feeling extremely proud of himself. Since Maxi was in his class, he took the opportunity to brag to him about his date that night and his success with the corsage that morning. Maxi listened as long as he could before the bell rang, saving Maxi's poor ears. Later at lunch, Kevin went straight to the usual table he and Megan sat at and waited a minute before she came and sat next to him. She was still wearing her orchid corsage and was smiling.

"My friends all love the corsage."

"Do they?"

"Yeah, they do. And Joey gave everyone Valentine's cards and candy." Kevin shrugged.

"He did that in my class too. I already ate my chocolate." Megan smiled.

"Yeah, I did too. It was milk chocolate stuffed with peanut butter. I couldn't resist."

"You got peanut butter? All I got was plain milk chocolate. I feel cheated now." Megan giggled.

"Don't worry; he gave all the girls peanut butter filled chocolates. He gave milk chocolate to all the guys." Megan began eating her sandwich while Kevin started eating some left over macaroni and cheese from the night before. Nessie usually made a lot of food for dinner, so there are always plenty of leftovers for the next day. "You have mac-n-cheese? I'm jealous now. All I have for lunch is a dinky turkey sandwich."

"You want some?" Kevin asked, pushing the container closer to Megan. Megan took one bite, then handed Kevin back the fork.

"Wow, that's really good. For our next date, we need to have dinner at your house." Kevin smiled.

"Sure, if you want. Mom's wanted to meet you since I asked you out. Our parents have met, right?"

"Of course they have, my mom's a principle. I can't say the same about my dad, but your parents have met my mom. And your dad and my mom used to go to school together. I think my mom's older, but whatever."

"Wait, how long has your mom been the principle?"

"About four years. It's a recent thing, but she did speak to your parents after the whole cafeteria musical incident."

"Oh…..yeah, I guess that would be when they met." Megan smiled.

"So anyway, has anything about tonight changed or are we still doing dinner and my house?"

"It's still dinner and your house unless there's something else that you wanted to do." Megan thought a moment.

"I have Netflix at my house if you're up for seeing a movie. I know the theatre isn't an option right now, but maybe there's a movie that's been out for a while that you've wanted to see. Or we could even watch a foreign film." Kevin scrunched his nose a little.

"Define 'foreign'." Megan started giggling and she eventually shrugged when she'd had her fill.

"Something that isn't in English? I don't know."

"British films are in English, and yet they're considered foreign aren't they?"

"I don't know. _Bridget Jones's Diary_ isn't considered foreign."

"Sure it is. It's a British film, and please tell me you don't want to watch that. I never have been a huge fan of Renee Zellwegger." Megan looked surprised.

"What's wrong with Renee Zellwegger? She was good in _Cold Mountain_." Kevin shrugged.

"Not a fan. It's not my kind of story to be honest. I like movies like _Philadelphia, Hot Fuzz, Blazing Saddles, _The Hannibal Lector Series, _Airplane, Shrek, Pirates of the Caribbean,_ you know, those kinds of movies." Megan smiled.

"I love the first three Pirates movies. The forth one seemed so disjointed." Kevin shrugged.

"Penelope Cruz was in it. I don't know what she looks like now, but she was hot then, so I'm not complaining." Megan giggled.

"Figures you would like it for that reason."

"That's not the only reason. I thought the mermaids were pretty cool." Megan rolled her eyes.

"If you say so. Oh! If you like Penelope Cruz, I know a foreign film we can watch. My Spanish teacher is making us watch it anyway. It would be nice to watch the movie with subtitles and know what's going on."

"What movie is it?"

"It's called _Volver_. She even sings in it."

"And you have no idea what it's about?"

"Not at all. Something about a woman who killed someone, so now she's running a restaurant while the guy's being hidden in the freezer in the back." Kevin stared at Megan a moment with a straight face.

"Well…..you have my attention I guess."

"I thought I would. I don't really know what the other details are. Hell, I might be wrong about the restaurant thing. She spends a lot of time in a restaurant, hence the assumption. But whatever, we'll see what we find on Netflix."

"Sounds fine to me."

"Now, we're not going anywhere fancy, right? I can just wear something casual for dinner?"

"Yeah, nowhere fancy, just that burger joint in Forks." Megan smiled.

"Sounds fun. I've been craving French fries like nobody's business, so I'm looking forward to tonight. How much money should I bring?" Kevin shook his head.

"None, it's on me. Don't worry about it. I'll even buy us two bags of popcorn for the Netflix movie."

"That's okay, we have plenty at my house. My dad's even got some of that spray butter that tastes exactly like the popcorn butter at movie theatres. Don't worry, we're set on the popcorn."

"I have to say, it's disturbing to me that I actually find the idea of spray butter good." Megan laughed and nodded.

"I know right? It sounds horrible in theory, but it's actually great, like putting ketchup on macaroni and cheese. It sounds gross, but is actually really good." Kevin scrunched his nose.

"That kind of shit is blasphemy in my house. My mom's mac-n-cheese is perfect as it is, no need for additives."

"Well, my mom doesn't make homemade mac-n-cheese, so it does need a little extra here and there." Kevin shrugged.

"I've only ever added pepper to my mac-n-cheese, Kyle's the same way. Nathan and Natalie put salt on everything. Or I should say Natalie _used_ to put salt on everything. Her manager got on her case about it."

"Your sister has a manager?"

"Well, she's more her boss. Gretchen's the owner of the theatre Natalie performs for and she's got a very….." Kevin stopped a moment, "She's extremely opinionated. She told Natalie that if she overdoes it on the salt, then she'll gain water weight and it'll shame her figure. Natalie hasn't added salt to anything since then. She also won't eat Twinkies. Gretchen caught her nibbling on one and she told her it goes straight to her ass."

"That's horrible! Isn't your sister only twelve?"

"Indeed she is, and she just got her first period not a month ago." Kevin was quiet momentarily. "I'm sorry, you didn't need to know that."

"I didn't, but I know what it's like, but really? Telling a girl she can't eat Twinkies because they go straight to her ass? That the worst."

"Yeah, I know. Dad gets on Gretchen's case about it and made it clear that she isn't to say that sort of stuff to Natalie."

"I sure as hell hope so." Kevin grinned.

"Of course, Natalie's a complete daddy's girl. It's annoying most of the time, but she's a good girl. She just gets away with more than my brothers do. She says it's because she's a good girl and never gets in trouble, but that's a crock of shit if you ask me. I kid you not, one time, Natalie wanted something, so she sat on dad's lap, gave him puppy eyes, and called him daddy and he was her puppet. Our cousin, Travis, tried that on his dad and what followed was awkward silence, Uncle Paul pushing Travis off him, and Paul demanding he never does that again. Natalie insists it was because Travis didn't do it right, but it's because Travis is a boy."

"So boys can't call their fathers daddy?" Megan asked sarcastically.

"No, we can't. It's unnatural." Megan giggled.

"And here, I thought we were in an age where men were allowed to show their feminine side." Kevin laughed without humor.

"We are, but that doesn't mean men should. There's a line that you just don't cross and sitting in my dad's lap and calling him 'daddy' is one of those lines."

"You would know, I guess, though I should definitely give that a try myself. I've wanted to get a new pair of shoes for a while now." Kevin shook his head.

"I wouldn't. Keep in mind that Natalie's still twelve. If a girl keeps doing that after a certain age, it gets disturbing. Mom probably told her to stop doing that since her…..that thing you girls do every month…just started. It begins to take on an inappropriate connotation, you know what I mean." Megan laughed at Kevin's awkward description.

"Indeed." Megan and Kevin enjoyed the rest of their lunch period before the bell rang and they had to go to their next class.

"So, Maxi," Kevin said when Maxi sat down next to him in their biology class.

"You have a date tonight. I get it, Kevin. Bring it up again and I'll make sure you don't make it to that date." Kevin stuck his tongue out at Maxi and stayed quiet. After school was finally over, he went straight home, leaving before any of his siblings and started getting ready. He wasn't supposed to pick up Megan for another three hours, but he was nervous. As much as he'd spent the days bragging about it to his siblings, he really had no idea what to expect.

After his shower, Kevin put on a pair of shorts and did his homework while he let his hair dry, passing the time before the night to come. He had a dress shirt and a pair of khakis out and ready for tonight that Alice had picked for him. Kevin wasn't too keen on the fact that Alice picked his clothes, but she insisted he wear them so he would make a good first impression. It was by far the only pair of khakis he owned. While working on his homework, Nathan and Kyle came through the bedroom door with their backpacks in hand. Nathan glanced at the khakis and dress shirt that were hanging on their dresser and chuckled a little.

"Someone excited for their date?"

"Yes Nathan, very excited." Kyle was the first to put his backpack on his bed and get out his own homework. When he had out what he wanted to work on and was settled, he begged Nathan not to bring the matter up further. "What's the matter, Kyle? Are you jealous that you don't have a date for Valentine's Day?" Kyle smiled and threw the tennis ball on his night stand at Kevin, making all three of the boys laugh to themselves.

"You've done nothing but talk about your first date, and I've grown very sick of hearing it. Besides, Nathan and I have the house to ourselves tonight. That should be fun." Nathan looked surprised.

"We're on our own tonight?"

"Of course we are. Mom and dad are doing their own thing tonight for Valentine's Day. What makes you think they want to waste their time with us?" Nathan thought about what Kyle said for a second before shuddering a little and going to his bed. Kevin laughed.

Once Kevin was finished with his homework, he walked over to his parents' room so he could snag a few drops of the cologne his dad had. It was one of those fancy, expensive colognes that he only had because his mom got it for him as a gift one Christmas. He never wore it, so Kevin figured he wouldn't care if he borrowed a little. Going back to retrieve his clothes, Nathan laughed and pointed out the Kevin was wearing dad's cologne. Embarrassed, Kevin told Nathan to shut up and ran out with his clothes and went to the bathroom to change. By the time Kevin was ready, there was still plenty of time before he had to get going, so he went downstairs to watch TV for a while. About a half hour before he was planning to leave, Kevin felt his phone vibrate and took it out to see who was texting him. It was Jacob, telling him to go to the garage and look on the table for a note to him. Kevin did as his dad told him and went to the garage looking for an envelope addressed to him. When he found it, he opened it and pulled out a letter that felt like it had something in it. When Kevin unfolded the letter, out fell a condom, making Kevin blushing and wide eyed. Kevin looked at the letter that was from Jacob.

_Kevin,_

_ Your mother wanted us to have a talk about the birds and the bees, but to be honest; I'm not prepared to have that talk quite yet. We can talk about it another day. I know you've got a date tonight, so I'll give you one bit of advice; don't be stupid. I didn't tell your mom, but I'm giving you the condom just in case. Have fun, Kevin. Just don't be stupid._

_ Have Fun Tonight,_

_ Dad_

_P.S. if your mom asks, we had that talk already._

Kevin's face was beat red at the end of that letter. He put the condom in his wallet and crumpled up the letter, the envelope, and went inside to toss the note into the fire. Kevin stayed next to the fire and poked at the paper until he was sure it was completely burned. While Kevin was making sure to rid of the embarrassing letter, Nathan came downstairs and asked him what he was doing. Kevin told Nathan he was cold and just poking the fire. Kevin glanced at the clock and took a deep breath before leaving for Megan's house.

Megan lived on the Makka reservation, just barely within the confines of the Quileute School's district lines, so the walk was longer than usual. Most of his cousins lived two blocks from him tops. Megan was at least ten miles away. At least it wasn't raining. When Kevin made it to her house and knocked the door, a tall man (though not near as tall as his dad) answered the door.

"Who're you?" Kevin smiled politely, bowed his head down a little, and answered respectfully.

"Kevin Black, sir. I'm here to pick up Megan." The man stared at Kevin momentarily before he turned and yelled for Megan to come to the door. Megan came when called and was all dressed up. Some makeup, a very tight pair of jeans, and a pink scoop neck top. Megan grabbed Kevin's hand and dragged him into the house, introducing him to her father all the while. Megan's mother, the principle, walked over and greeted Kevin kindly and introduced her husband to Kevin.

Megan did the best she could to hurry her father along and not allow him to bombard Kevin with questions and taunting. It took fifteen minutes of talking before Megan's dad finally let them leave for their date. Thankfully, it wasn't raining, so they were able to walk all the way to the café in Forks without any trouble. It was a little crowded at the café when they got there and ended up having to wait about twenty minutes. While they were waiting, Kevin and Megan stayed further away from the door so they wouldn't get hit by people walking in.

"I'm sorry about this. It's not usually crowded here at all."

"It's fine, really. It's Valentine's Day, so it's bound to be really crowded. Imagine how packed restaurants are downtown." Kevin shrugged.

"Still, it never dawned on me that this café of all places would be packed."

"Well, Kevin, Forks isn't exactly known for its restaurants." Kevin smiled and stepped just a little closer to Megan. When they finally got a seat, they were put at a booth near the back of the restaurant. They sat across from each other and didn't end up saying much for the first few minutes. They were both unsure of how to start things off. Kevin was the first one to start talking.

"Do you know what you're getting?"

"The cheese burger sounds good. What about you?"

"Same thing." Megan smiled. "Do you want to get a shake or something to split too?"

"Sharing a shake on a first date? Aren't you bold?" Megan said with a smile. Kevin smiled at her and looked at all the shake options. They weren't extensive, so Kevin decided to go with a safe bet and asked if chocolate was alright. "Chocolate's fine with me. Oh! And would you be opposed to putting m&ms in it? I love m&ms."

"Sure, that's fine with me." When the waiter finally came over, he started with asking what they wanted to drink, then what they wanted for dinner. Kevin and Megan gave the waiter their order and started talking after the waiter was gone. "So how's your paper coming along?"

"Oh God, I haven't even started it. You would never know I'm the school principal's daughter. I put things off to the last minute like you wouldn't believe. I've done homework thirty minutes before I have to turn it in and put off a project until the night before it was due. Needless to say, my group members weren't too happy with me over that." Kevin chuckled.

"I wish I could get away with doing that. My mom's a bit of a prodigy student, so she makes sure my siblings and I are the same way. She asks if we need help with our homework, she asks about school all the time, she even asks to look at our homework so she can make sure we actually did our homework and see if there's anything we need help with or did wrong. My mom takes our schooling very seriously. And if mom and dad are working late, my grandparents take it seriously for her." Megan giggled.

"That's quite a ways to go to make sure your kids do their homework." Kevin shrugged.

"I guess. My mom just knows that my brothers and I can be pretty stupid, so she makes sure we're at least smart with school." Megan giggled.

"Is it true that you and your brothers got locked in a box and shipped to France then?" Kevin chuckled.

"It was me, my brothers, and my cousins to be exact. And yes, we got locked in a box and shipped to France. We were away from home for about of month and we survived off some packed lunches and water we had with us. We picked a corner to be our bathroom and avoided that spot like the plague. By the time we were finally free, we were all skinnier and really dirty. A few hours later, we were on a plan back to America where my dad was waiting to promptly kick our asses."

"Weren't your parents worried about you?"

"Of course they were. They were just less worried about me when they found out we weren't kind napped and I was just stupid. Besides, it makes for great stories later, as you can see." Megan giggled.

"That's true."

"So what stupid shit did you do when you were a little girl? I'm eager to hear what you've got that I can one up you with." Megan stared at Kevin a moment.

"I never did stupid things. I was a good little girl."

"You know, my sister tells people the same thing, but the truth is she's just a pampered princess that gets away with more, especially when she gives my dad puppy eyes and says, `daddy'."

"Most daughters have that privilege, Kevin. I don't know what to tell you." Kevin playfully sneered at Megan.

"Words spoken by a true single child daddy's girl." Megan smiled innocently until the waiter came by with their drinks and their shake. Then Kevin stood from his side of the booth and went to the other side to sit next to Megan. Then he brought the shake closer and started eating using one of the two long spoons.

"Can you hand me the other spoon, please?" Kevin took out the other spoon and tapped it a few times to make sure there wasn't any drops of melted ice cream and handed it to Megan. Megan took the spoon and scooted closer so she could have some of the milkshake too. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. You don't mind sharing a side do you?"

"Not at all. I actually like it." Kevin and Megan smiled at each other a moment, then Kevin gave Megan a small peck on the lips before taking another spoonful of ice cream. Megan helped herself as well. "So how about your paper? Have you started working on it yet?"

"I already finished it actually. Like I said, my mom always makes sure I get my homework done." Megan sighed.

"It's not even due for another two weeks."

"I know, but there's no harm in having it done in advance. I'm considering giving it to the teacher on Monday so he can pre-grade it and make sure it's what he wants. Who knows, maybe he'll be so impressed that he'll overlook any mistakes I might have made. Though I doubt there's anything wrong since mom took it upon herself to read through it before I printed it out." Megan giggled.

"I'm beginning to think your mom's the A student, not you."

"It's not too far from the truth. I'm an A- student to be honest. I'm still smart and all, but I just have to work a little harder to do well than my mom ever had to when she was going to school. Honestly, my mom could've gone to any school in the world, but she decided to major in business so she could help out my dad with his business. It all worked out, so that's always a good thing." Megan smiled.

"Yeah, that is. My dad's taken his car to Black Repair before and he was very happy with the results. He hasn't had any troubles with his car since he took it in three years ago for a leak. When dad took his car to that other guy that went out of business would fix my dad's car and it would be broken a few months later."

"Yeah, so I've heard from other people. Although I've heard more compliments about the fact that my dad doesn't charge as much as the other guy did."

"Well, that's certainly part of it too. To be frank, that other guy's prices were outlandish. Though ultimately, the quality of the work he provided was what led him to lose his business. Even when he put his prices below what you dad charged, he still didn't get back any customers. The ones that went back to him went right back to your dad because their car would be in worse shape after they left the shop."

"I've heard that too. I have to say, it's nice having a dad that's an experienced mechanic that can fix just about any car trouble that's imaginable. He still needs to take it to the shop from time to time if the damages are bad enough, but that happens so rarely that it's not a big deal anyway. And even if he has to take it to the shop, he's not going to charge himself for work on his own car at his shop. That's just silly." Megan giggled.

"Indeed it is." After that, the waiter came by with their food and refilled their water before walking away.

Meanwhile, in Seattle, Nessie and Jacob were at the Four Seasons hotel where they'd had their first night together as a married couple 19 years before. They'd even managed to get the same room from their wedding night, though that was probably Alice's doing somehow. They'd gone out for dinner together, but it became a little uncomfortable when the waiter kept asking Renesmee if she was sure she didn't want to eat anything. She'd never been so relieved to leave a restaurant and go to the hotel. When they got to their room, the first thing Nessie did was call the house and make sure everyone was okay and to ask if Kevin was back from his date yet.

"Calm down, Nessie. It's only nine o'clock."

"Jacob," Nessie sighed, "I can't help but worry." Nessie and Jacob looked at each other a moment before Nessie walked over to Jacob and wrapped her arms around his waist. Jacob did the same. "So how did you talk with Kevin go?"

"Let's not talk about that right now, Nessie. It'll ruin the mood." Jacob was about to kiss Nessie, but she put his fingers on his lips and stopped him.

"You didn't talk to him, did you?" Nessie said with certainty.

"I did." Jacob said a little defensively. Nessie kept looking at Jacob, not believing him. Eventually, Jacob sighed. "I didn't talk to him in the context your expected."

"And that means?"

"I gave him a note telling him to not be stupid and giving him a condom just in case." Nessie's eyes widened at that.

"You gave him a condom? Jacob, you're encouraging him to do something. For all we know, they might..."

"Nessie, relax, they won't do anything. The condom was a 'just in case' element." Nessie put her face in her hands and groaned.

"Jacob…"

"Come on, Nessie, I didn't want to talk about this with Kevin just yet. I'm not really prepared."

"What is there to be prepared for, Jacob? Natalie and I've already had our birds and bees discussion. Do you think it was easy for me to explain periods and sex to her?"

"Nessie, there's something you need to remember about my upbringing. My sex talk with my dad involved me asking him, then Billy throwing a playboy at me because he didn't want to talk about it. I don't want my talk with our sons to be that way, but at the same time, I don't really know what to say to them."

"Why is this so difficult, Jacob? You explain where babies come from and how to be safe. At least you didn't have to explain a woman's reproductive system. That's a difficult topic if there ever was one."

"Nessie, I know how to have sex, I don't know how to explain sex. Believe me, Nessie, I've had to force myself not to go to my dad's house and look through his old articles and just tell the boys to read that."

"And how did that go for you, Jacob?"

"I'm still waiting on my bus full of cheerleaders and the sexy nurse, that's how it's going for me." Nessie tried not to giggle. "I promise I'll at least talk to Kevin eventually. I just didn't want to ruin either his or my date." Nessie sighed.

"Jacob." Jacob tightened his hug and kissed Nessie's forehead. "You're lucky I love you so much, Jacob, or I'd never let you get away with so much." Jacob chuckled.

"I let you get away with a lot too, Nessie."

"Not as much as I let you get away with." Jacob smiled and kissed Nessie's nose.

"Can you believe it's been 19 years?"

"It doesn't feel like it, that's for sure. You know what's funny?"

"What's that?"

"It doesn't feel like it's been 19 years, but it feels like we've hand kids longer than sixteen." Jacob chuckled.

"It does, doesn't it? I guess it is more work for us to raise kids than it is to be married. I admit I really miss when we could have a special night together without four kids breathing down our necks."

"You're the one who wanted four kids, Jacob." Jacob smiled and lifted Nessie bridal style into his arms and carried her to the bed. When Nessie was resting on her back and Jacob was on top of her, he grinned.

"Keep talking, Nessie, and I might have to make it five." Nessie smiled back.

"You wouldn't dare." Jacob chuckled and started kissing Nessie's neck lovingly while lifting up the hem of her dress.

"Oh, I would." Nessie giggled and wrapped her legs around Jacob's waist while he continued to kiss her neck.

"You're so cruel." Jacob chuckled and reached around Nessie's back so he could start pulling down the zipper of Nessie's dress.

When the zipper was halfway down, Jacob kneeled up a little so he could pull her dress down as far as he could before encountering the rest of the zipper. Nessie took her arms out of the dress sleeves and wrapping her arms around Jacob's neck and lifting herself up to Jacob so she could kiss him. Jacob returned the kiss in full and started unbuttoning his dress shirt. When all the buttons were undone, Nessie pushed the shirt off and gave Jacob the opportunity to pull his arms from the sleeves. When they were both topless, Nessie pulled away from Jacob and crawled further onto the bed, never looking away from Jacob, and Jacob followed after her trying to get a hold of her again. No matter how many times he reached for her, though, Nessie kept eluding him, taking him around the room in a small chase before Nessie got behind him and pushed Jacob on his back and climbed on top. By then, they were both laughing and Jacob grabbed a hold of her so she wouldn't get away from him again.

"If you wanted to be on top, all you needed to do was say so."

"I know," Nessie said, "but this was more fun." They kept laughing until Nessie brought her lips to Jacob's. Jacob unhooked Nessie's strapless bra and tossed it in some direction. After that was gone, Jacob covered her breasts with his hands and they began to kiss passionately again. Several minutes went by with them just kissing and Nessie grinding against Jacob to add to the pleasure. A few minutes went by of Nessie grinding before Jacob took his hands from her breasts to her butt, guiding it while she was grinding.

Nessie had felt Jacob's erection long before hand and was teasing him relentlessly. Since they were completely alone with no one to bother them, Nessie wanted to drag the moment out as long as she could by prolonging moments. Jacob eventually unzipped the rest of the dress and pulled it off her, then virtually tossing Nessie off so she was on her back so he could have easier access to her panties. Jacob tossed those in the same direction as Nessie's other clothes and turned his attention to Nessie's neck and breasts while he slipped two fingers inside her, teasing Nessie the way she'd been teasing him. Jacob's other hand preoccupied itself with tickling Nessie's sides and wherever else she was ticklish as well as roaming around her body affectionately, sending pleasant shivers down her body. Nessie kept her fingers laced through Jacob's short hair while he pleasured her. Jacob eventually became extremely impatient. He gave Nessie's breasts one more tender kiss each, and then brings his lips to her ear.

Jacob nipped her ear and whispered to Nessie that he wanted her to undo his pants. Nessie did as Jacob asked and he pushed his pants down, along with forcing off his socks, and they both scooted a little further onto the bed before Jacob slipped inside Nessie and watched as her face contorted in pleasure. Jacob's movements started out slow. She was wet and warm and Jacob's mind went momentarily blank from the feeling of being inside Nessie. Nessie grabbed a hold of Jacob's arms, encouraging Jacob to begin moving. He started slow, wanting to make the coupling last as long as it could. Several minutes passed and Nessie tightened her grip on Jacob's forearms, indicating that she wanted more.

Nessie begged Jacob to make his stokes harder while she reached her right hand down between them so she could touch herself while Jacob did as she asked. Making sure not to obscure Nessie's right hand, Jacob continued to pound while tilting his back slightly so he could start kissing Nessie lovingly on the lips. Nessie brought her left hand further up Jacob's arm until it rested on his bicep, and then her gripped tightened again. This time, between kisses, Nessie begged Jacob to move faster and harder, claiming she needed him. Jacob did as Nessie demanded and his movements increased substantially and each stroke came harder and harder. Nessie's right hand continued to tease her small nub along with Jacob's strong movements, making her rise ever higher. Eventually, Nessie wrapped her left arm around Jacob's neck and dug her nails into Jacob's shoulder. Jacob ignored that pain and focused on the pleasures Nessie's hot body provided.

As Nessie drew closer and closer, she began to whimper at how good she felt. Jacob's hands changed position and clutched onto the blankets underneath so he could tighten his grip even more and release some tension. Nessie came ever closer, grinding her teeth, while Jacob kept his movements constant as best he could in the hopes that Nessie would climax with him. Jacob noticed that Nessie was starting to tear up slightly with a big grin on her face, indicating to him that she was almost there. Jacob kept his movements constant until Nessie's nails dug further, nearly drawing blood, and her core crushed around Jacob's member. Jacob continued until he was spent as well. Afterwards, he fell unto his back panting. Nessie curled up into her nook in Jacob's chest and nuzzled Jacob's neck with her nose.

"We should start doing this every year. Better yet, twice a year: Valentine's Day and our anniversary."

"I wouldn't argue. This time alone together was definitely worth it. And since the kids can pretty much take care of themselves, we could even do this more often than just special occasions." Jacob chuckled.

"That might be stretching it, Nessie. Those kids are hopeless without you."

"A trait they got from their father I'm afraid." Jacob's chuckle grew a little louder.

"At least I never have to grow out of it."

Jacob and Nessie smiled and kissed each other. Nessie then rested her head back on Jacob's chest and they cuddled together until they fell asleep later that night. Meanwhile, back in Forks, Kevin and Megan had just finished their dinner and were walking back towards the reservation. Since the beginning of the date, things had continued to move smoother and smoother. They found several things to talk about. While walking back to Megan's house, Kevin took a hold of Megan's hand. When he did, Megan laced her fingers through his and she started a swinging motion. Megan even allowed Kevin to steal a few kisses on their way back. When they reached the front door to Megan's house, Megan turned to face Kevin with a smile and took his other hand in hers.

"I had a lot of fun." Kevin smiled.

"I did too. Does that mean you'd want to do this again sometime?"

"Absolutely." Megan then let go of Kevin, turned to the door, and took out her keys so she could unlock her door. "Although, we still have a Netflix movie to watch together. My parents are probably in bed by now so the TV's all ours."

"Okay." Kevin said. Megan opened the door then and Kevin followed her into her house. After the door was closed, Megan indicated a shoe pad for Kevin to put his shoes, and then asked if he wanted anything to eat or drink. "Since we're watching a movie, why don't we just have some popcorn and soda? What do you have?"

"Pepsi." Kevin scrunched his nose a little.

"I prefer coke."

"You and all the other Quileute Rez kids. You're the reason the cafeteria doesn't sell Pepsi. Coke doesn't sit well with my stomach. Pepsi's a lot lighter."

"It's like drinking carbonated water. If I wanted that, I'd buy seltzer."

"It's not like carbonated water, Kevin. It's lighter Cola, that's all. I do have root beer if you'd prefer."

"I would. What about popcorn?"

"It's Orville Redenbacher. I can add butter to it, don't worry."

"It's alright, I like that stuff. I don't mind just adding salt."

"Good, good. I like just adding salt. Except when I'm at the theatre. I have to put that butter on my popcorn or it ruins my movie going experience."

"Amen to that. So what movie are we watching?"

"I don't know yet. It depends on what we can watch that isn't DVD only. My dad got cheat and only got the minimum package for Netflix." Kevin chuckled.

"I guess it's not the end of the world. I'm sure there're plenty of movies to choose from."

"The question is what good movies are available." Megan started the microwave up for the popcorn and took out a Pepsi for herself and a root beer for Kevin. After that, Megan turned the TV on and got Netflix up and began looking through the options. Kevin stopped her as she looked.

"How about _Jackass_? My dad says it's good. It's pretty old, so I never got a chance to watch it."

"It is good. It's one of the few movies that Nicolas Cage didn't ruin."

"Who's Nicolas Cage again?"

"He's the guy that's in the _National Treasure_ movies." Since Kevin didn't show any acknowledgement that he knew what she was talking about, she thought a moment. "He was also in _Knowing_." Still nothing. Megan sighed. "Um….what else? He was in _The Sorcerer's Apprentice_, _Drive Angry_, _Ghost Rider_….any of those ring a bell?"

"My uncles banned shitty movies from their home, so I never saw any of those movies. The only shitty movie I've ever watched with my uncles' approval was _The Birth of a Nation_." Megan gave Kevin a weird look. It was only then Kevin realized Megan wouldn't get why something like that would be slightly humorous.

"Isn't that the racist movie?"

"Well, yeah, it's just….my uncles are all movie buffs, so the make a point to watch anything that has any motion picture value. The only reason this movie has any value to them is because it's one of the first movies ever made and they like laughing at it."

"What is there to laugh at about a movie where the Ku Klux Klan is presented as heroes?"

"The fact that everything in the movie was wrong. The lighting was atrocious; the makeup was a disaster, especially with the 'black people' in the movie. Honestly, every black person was played by a white man or woman and their faces were covered in coal. Most of them didn't even bother to cover their lips with coal, so most of them just looked like clowns. Then there's the fact that most of the story is extremely vague unless you read about it ahead of time. It's also excruciatingly boring. Normally, silent films were only about thirty minutes, but this one was three hours. The acting was a joke, to be frank. I've seen three year olds do better. Since it's a silent film, everything needed to be exaggerated to express any emotion at all and it took away any seriousness I suspect the movie was supposed to have. My uncles just like tearing it apart, that's all. Also, the Ku Klux Klan doesn't make an appearance in the movie until the last seventeen minutes of the film. It's sad, really. They portray the black people so cruelly and so irrationally that by the time the movie was almost over you're actually begging the Ku Klux Klan to come in and do something about it. When the movie was finally over, I realized the movie turned me racist. It took a while for that affect to wear off."

"Sounds bad."

"Like I said, my uncles make a hobby of tearing old movies apart. They used to watch Adam Sandler movies religiously just to make fun of them. But according to my Uncle Emmett, after _Jack and Jill_, it stopped being funny. It was just sad."

"I never watched any Adam Sandler movies."

"Me either. When my uncles tell me I'm not missing anything, I don't usually argue with them. I argued once when I said I wanted to watch _Psycho_ the remake with Vince Vaughn."

"Ew."

"Yeah. I learned my lesson. I've also never watched another Vince Vaughn movie after that. He ruined Psycho, so I'll never be able to forgive him."

"Don't worry, you're not missing anything. Stewie from Family Guy explained it best, 'Oh, I'm incapable of loving another person. Oh wait, no I'm not. The End.'" Kevin chuckled.

"Yeah, that about sums it up." Megan and Kevin laughed together and Megan ordered Jackass so they could watch that. The popcorn was ready several minutes ago, so Megan finally went to get it and poured the contents into a bowl and salted it before joining Kevin on the couch. Megan made sure the volume was at a reasonable point before putting the remote on the coffee table and scooting closer to Kevin to cuddle closer.

Kevin smiled at her before wrapping his left arm around her shoulders with the popcorn resting in his lap. Every time Megan reached into the bowl for some popcorn, Kevin blushed. He blushed even more when she reached into the bottom of the bowl to finish off the rest of the popcorn. Kevin licked his lips a little before bringing his hand to Megan's hair and stroking it sweetly. In response, Megan put her hand on Kevin's knee, but never took her eyes away from the movie. She was sincerely enjoying it. They made comments about the movie here and there while they were watching, and when it was done, Megan looked at the clock on the Comcast box and realized it was almost eleven at night.

"Looks like it's getting pretty late."

"Yeah," Kevin said, "I guess I should get going. When do you want to do something again?" Kevin asked as they stood from the couch and walked to the door.

"How about we do a study date after school later? We can get some work done and spend time together all at once."

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Before opening the front door for Kevin after he got his shoes back on, Megan hugged Kevin and gave him a kiss. Kevin hugged her back and kissed her back. When the kiss ended, they smiled at each other as Megan opened the door for Kevin.

"I'll see you Monday."

"See you Monday." After Kevin left Megan's house and she'd closed the door, Kevin grinned wider and made his way back home with a strut to his step.


	18. The Beast Within

**The Beast Within**

After Valentine's Day was over, Jacob and Nessie reluctantly left the hotel and went straight to work with their things in the car ready to take home with them after work. One thing Nessie ensured happened when Jacob and Nessie got home from work was get Kevin and Jacob alone to talk; whether they liked it or not. At the last minute, seeing as Kevin and Kyle were so close in age, she decided to send Kyle in on the conversation. That day, sitting on their beds with their dad sitting on Nathan's bed, there was a ten minute silence. No one started talking initially and no one wanted to be the first to say anything. The silence really bugged Jacob, so he started with _something_. Maybe he could crawl to the subject from there.

"So, Kevin, how'd your date go?" Just as relieved with the change of the anticipated topic as Jacob was, Kevin smiled and nodded his head.

"It was great. We got dinner together, we split a milkshake, and then we got back to her house late and watched Kickass together." (_Author's Note: Sorry for the mistake, I totally meant Kickass, not Jackass in the previous chapter. I spaced and that was my bad_.) There was a moment of silence.

"You get my note?" Jacob asked. Kevin breathed a little and nodded.

"Yes, sir." Kevin blushed.

"Did you use the…thing?"

"No sir."

"No sir as in we never got to that or no sir; I was stupid and didn't use it when the time came?"

"No sir, we never got to that." Jacob sighed.

"Good. If she puts out on the first date, she's probably not worth anything." Jacob laughed awkwardly. Neither Kevin nor Kyle laughed in return or even grinned, so Jacob stopped. "Fuck it; let's just get this over with. Before I start anything, what has Sex Ed already taught you?"

"I know what a vagina and a penis is," Kevin responded. Kyle nodded, saying he also knew what those were.

"Okay," Jacob said, "That's a start." They were quiet again for a few minutes. "Do you know…how babies are made?"

"Sex?" Kyle responded.

"Yes, Kyle, but do you guys know what goes into it?"

"I'm a mind reader, dad," Kyle responded, "I know more about sex than I ever wanted to."

Jacob sighed, "Fine, Kyle, point taken."

"Can I leave please?" Kyle asked. Kevin elbowed him.

"You aren't going anywhere, Kyle. If I have to sit here and talk about sex with dad, you're suffering with me."

"Enough, Kevin." Jacob rubbed his face. "Okay, do you both know what a condom is?" Both boys nodded. "Do you know how to use a condom?" Both boys nodded their heads again. "Do you also know it's not fool proof so it's a better idea to use both a condom and birth control?"

"I thought the point of birth control was to not need to use a condom." Kevin said.

"That's what I thought, Kevin. But when your mom was in college and on the pill, she got pregnant with you. Thank God it was her last semester, so no harm done, but still, neither are fool proof. Honestly, even both isn't completely fool proof, but if you still get a girl pregnant after birth control and a condom…I don't know what to tell you if that happens. That's just bad luck at its finest."

"So use both and hope for the best is what you're saying?" Kevin blurted out. Kyle rolled his eyes at his brother a little but otherwise did not respond. Jacob smiled, but knew that wasn't exactly what he was trying to say.

"That's not necessarily what I'm saying, Kevin. What I'm saying is that I want you to stay safe and don't be stupid. I realize that if you want to have sex, you'll have sex, and there's really nothing I can do to stop you from doing that. All I ask is that when you do, be safe about it, use a condom and birth control, and don't be stupid."

"Why am I even here? I don't have a girlfriend."

"You're here, Kyle, because you're around Kevin's age and you might have a girlfriend in the near future. Even if you don't, it'll happen eventually." They were all silent again. Jacob started biting his lip because this wasn't going well at all. "Look, can you both just promise me that you'll be careful? If you promise that, I'll let that be the end of this discussion."

Both boys hurriedly nodded their heads and answered, "Yes, sir."

"Good." Then Jacob stood from Nathan's bed and went to the door. Before leaving, he looked back at them. "And one more thing."

"What's that, dad?" Kevin asked.

"I mean it when I tell you guys I don't want you being stupid. When your grandpa got your grandma pregnant with your aunts, he took care of it without any help from anyone. If I'd ever gotten a woman pregnant in high school, he would've expected the same from me. So I'm expecting the same from you."

"So if one of us accidentally gets someone pregnant, we're on our own?" Kevin asked. Jacob sighed.

"I expect you to take responsibility. But yes, Kevin, in a nutshell, you'll be mostly on your own. I won't turn my back on you, but I will expect you to step up and be a man. That's all I want to make clear." Both boys nodded their heads again.

"Yes, sir." They both replied.

"Good. That's all I wanted to hear." Then Jacob finally left the room, leaving Kevin and Kyle to sit there together awkwardly. They went right to homework; not wanting to talk to each other fearing sex might somehow come up.

Since Valentine's Day, the months went on, as did Kevin and Megan's relationship. They started having a date at least twice a week. This only changed in April when Kevin managed to get a job at the convenience store on the reservation. It was rare for there to ever be a job opening at that convenience store, so Kevin was lucky to snatch it after the last cashier started going to college in Hoquiam. The pay wasn't great, but it was better than having to ask his parents for money, or worse yet his little sister. Natalie had her own little bank in her dresser. Natalie had enough saved up that she could probably buy a car for herself if she wanted to. He'd burrowed money from her once and felt so ashamed for even asking that he never asked again no matter what.

Natalie was getting taller, even though she was only thirteen. She was beginning to fill out and Gretchen was thrilled to death about it. She'd started giving Natalie bigger roles in the theatre, her first being Nina in _The Seagull_. Play goers, both human and vampire, raved about her performance and she received rave reviews in the papers as well. Gretchen bragged endlessly about Natalie to all her friends, especially Caesar. Theatre goers were in love with Natalie and Gretchen was making a fortune from that love. When summer came around, Natalie started in her next big role, playing Florence Unger in the female rendition of _The Odd Couple_. Natalie's dancing/acting instructor, Bethani, played Olive Madison. Jacob and Nessie were extremely proud. Natalie enjoyed acting and being on stage and Gretchen learned to never speak or act out of line regarding Natalie. One good threat to pull Natalie out and make her go to local theatres to act and practice was usually enough to shut Gretchen up good.

When Natalie was free, which was a lot more often per Jacob's conditions of allowing Natalie to continue to work for Gretchen, she spent most of her time with Travis. They'd become very close, much closer than Natalie was with her other friends from school and in the family. She always seemed to know things about Travis that others didn't pick up on. They told each other everything and were essentially each other's confidants. One thing that Natalie noticed was that the girls at their school adored him and thought he was cute. He, however, did not share that sentiment.

By the time it was summer, Kevin had been working at the convenience store for no more than two months. Kyle, though fifteen and technically needing parent permission, went to Forks looking for a job of his own. He managed to get a job at the movie theatre that had emerged in Forks not too long ago. Billy teased Kyle, saying he was extremely proud that his grandson seemed to be following his footsteps, working in a movie theatre just as he'd done in his teenage years. Kyle didn't mind the teasing. It was a good paying job and he didn't have payments to worry about for the time being. Nathan, admittedly, felt really left out in the job respect. He was the only one of his siblings that wasn't employed. He'd made that complaint to Charlie early on. That's when Charlie offered to allow him to work at the police station as a secretary. Since he was a grandson to one of the officers, the station wouldn't put up an argument to allowing a thirteen year old to work there. The only condition, required by law technically, was that his hours not exceed two or three days a week. Nathan didn't mind. He was only happy to have a job, just like his other siblings, and was happy to have some of his own spending money. Charlie would even slip Nathan ten dollars occasionally, letting him know he was doing a good job.

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this, Jacob." Nessie said to Jacob, getting ready to go into the shower. She'd been planning to bring this up at dinner with Nathan, but he had such a glow from his day that she didn't have the heart to. So she decided to bring it up with Jacob. "It's enough I've let Natalie work for Gretchen for so long, but Nathan working at a police station at thirteen? That's illegal isn't it?"

"Nessie, you're worrying too much. Your grandpa would never give Nathan more work than he could handle. And besides, I think it's a good thing he's starting out now. He's learning to be responsible in one of the best ways he can; holding down a job."

"Says the man that didn't start working until after I was born."

"It wasn't without trying, Nessie. This is a small town in the middle of East Jesus nowhere and getting a job within the town limits is virtually impossible, especially when you're under the age of eighteen. Your mom only got a job working for the Stanleys because Mike had a crush on her and was hoping Bella would like him. That's why I'm glad all three of them have been able to find jobs. It's good for them and they get to have pocket money of their own. I know you don't like it that the kids are so independent, but it's a good thing they're becoming that way so soon."

Nessie sighed heavily. "Jacob, you're encouraging my babies to grow too fast and I don't like it." Jacob shrugged.

"Well, Nessie, how do you think your parents felt? You were married and out of the house by the time you were six. You'd had your first period when you were….shit…you were two when that happened right?"

"I believe so, but that's still not the point. I'm a half breed that ages quickly then hits a standstill at six. Our kids, they're closer to human and being normal."

"Regardless, they're still a third vampire, so they grow a little faster too. I hate saying this to you, Nessie, but you just need to get used to the fact that they're all growing up."

"You just don't get it, Jacob."

"I do get it, Nessie. I love them too, don't I?" Nessie stayed quiet, standing in the closet staring at her clothes. Jacob walked in and saw her, then walked over to her and proceeded to huge her in a comforting way. "Don't worry so much Nessie. I know it's hard, but there's nothing wrong with them growing up."

"Jacob, there's laws against children under 16 working."

"And to my knowledge, that law is children under 16 can't work without parental consent on a written document, which we've done. Besides, Nathan's working for Charlie and he'd never make Nathan do too much."

Nessie groaned. "I suppose." Jacob smiled and tightened his hug and kissed Nessie on the neck. Nessie finally smiled and rested her back against Jacob's chest. "Though I still think you treat them more like adults than you should, even Natalie. You used to baby her so much, and now you treat her like she's older than thirteen."

"That's how I was treated. Billy never really treated me like a kid he treated me like an adult. I turned out fine, didn't I? I can't baby Natalie forever or she'll turn into a brat."

"Isn't she already?"

"Well, if she is, don't you think it best I start treating her like an adult?"

"If you say so." Jacob smiled and continued to kiss Nessie's neck.

"Let's take a shower together. We haven't done that in a while." Before Nessie answered, Jacob picked her up in his arms and carried her with him to their shower. He turned on the shower and allowed the water to get hot while he and Nessie undressed together. When both were naked, Jacob wrapped his arms around Nessie and lifted her up so he could kiss her.

Several minutes of kissing passed before Jacob walked into the shower, Nessie still in his arms, and never let go of her, not even to let Nessie lather every part of him with soap. Losing herself in the kiss, she dropped Jacob's soap and used what was still in her hands to lather his hair.

"Jacob, the soap's on the floor so be careful." Jacob lifted his face from Nessie's breasts and looked where the soap was on the shower floor. Jacob finally let go of Nessie so he could bend down and pick up the soap. Once in his hand, he put it back on its shelf in the corner before returning to Nessie, continuing what was started. Jacob rubbed his soapy hand on Nessie's back, sliding around with no effort.

"Let's get out of the shower." Jacob said as he turned off the shower, having cleaned off all the soap from their bodies, and walked out of the bathroom with Nessie still in his arms and made his way to their bed. Having learned years ago from a previous oversight, the curtains to the glass French doors to their balcony were drawn and no one could look in accidently.

Jacob rested Nessie on the bed and made her release her hold on him so he could begin kissing every inch of her body, including her most sensitive areas. Nessie's toes curled as Jacob took great care to pleasuring her. Nessie's fingers laced through Jacob's short hair and her head fell back against the pillow in pleasure, causing her to moan Jacob's name. Jacob brought Nessie close to her breaking point before taking his lips away from her core and beginning a trail up her body, making his way back to her neck and kissing her affectionately. As Jacob prepared to enter her, Nessie pushed him off her and climbed on top of his, smiling mischievously. Nessie took that time to return the favor to Jacob, kissing him all over and bringing him close to climax before stopping her torment and coming back to kiss him. When Nessie and Jacob's lips met, he took that opportunity to slip inside her and begin thrusting vigorously. Both reached their climax before too long and Nessie fell atop Jacob, panting from their exertion. After giving each other a chaste kiss and "I love you", they fell asleep contentedly in each other's arms.

The next day, all the kids were out of the house and at work as were Jacob and Renesmee. The convenience store was slow today, so Kevin was sitting behind the counter reading a magazine. He'd called Megan to let her know the day was slow and asked her if she wanted to spend time with him. She'd said yes and was on her way. That was a half hour ago. Kevin wasn't surprised, though. She was probably taking a shower, doing her hair, putting on makeup and so on. She probably would take at least an hour, so Kevin just read his magazine and waited, serving customers when they did come in. Another half hour later, Megan finally came and went right behind the counter with Kevin to give him a kiss.

"I'm really sorry I took so long." Megan said.

Kevin smiled. "Don't worry about it. I already knew you'd take forever." Kevin was running his fingers through her hair as he spoke. Megan looked at him a moment with a straight face before walking back around the counter to take a pack of gum. Then she opened it and took a piece.

"Buy me gum?" Kevin chuckled, rolled his eyes, and pulled out his wallet and put two dollars into the register.

"What would you have done if I didn't have cash with me?" Megan just smiled and walked back around the counter and sat on the spare stool.

"So did you just ask me over for company?"

"What else would I call you over for? Honestly, it hasn't gotten any faster here since I called you earlier. If I have to sit around doing nothing, I'd rather sit around doing nothing while I'm talking to you."

"That's so sweet, Kevin. So aside from doing nothing, how has your day been?"

"I sold some snacks this morning, someone came in and bought coffee around the same time, about an hour or so later, some under-aged kid came in with a few friends and tried buying cigarettes and the last activity I had was a newly turned eighteen year old that came in to buy a playboy."

"You're allowed to sell these things?"

"My employer won't talk if I don't. He doesn't care as long as things get sold." Megan giggled.

"Isn't your grandpa a cop or something? Nathan works for him now, right?"

"Yes to both. Of course, Charlie doesn't know the shop owner leaves me to sell cigarettes, beer, and porn. Like I said, he won't talk if I don't and if that means I keep this job, then that's fine by me. Now, Megan, I'm trusting you with this information, so if you talk, I'll have to kill you." Megan snickered.

"Yes, boss." Kevin joined in laughing with her and then grabbed a stick of the mint gum Megan grabbed. Megan stayed with Kevin for the rest of his work day and left with him when his boss's son came to take over the late afternoon and night shift. After Kevin's shift, they walked down to Forks together to get some dinner at the diner. Megan had announced she had coupons for the play and Kevin didn't want to spend too much on dinner.

They talked about school during dinner and Megan chose then to bring up that she needed some help with her chemistry homework. Kevin, like his mother, was a scholarly wiz. So were both his brothers and Natalie. Jacob was proud and profoundly relieved that the kids didn't inherit his 'idiocy' as he called it. Kevin had already decided that he wanted to go to law school. Proving he's half Native American wouldn't be a problem (seeing as the lineage documentation needed to come mostly from the chief aka: dad & Grandpa Billy), so he was guaranteed a free ride through college, but he still wanted to earn plenty of money from the school so he could pay for books. He worked his ass off, asked for help from his mom whenever he needed it, and managed to get straight A's since he started sixth grade. If he kept up the good work, he'd be able to make valedictorian of his class and have law school practically paying him to go to their schools. Kevin had also been studying for the LSAT test since eighth grade.

Kevin agreed to go back to Megan's house after dinner so they could go over the chemistry homework that had been assigned. Megan's parents were really fond of Kevin (it also helped that Kevin was a straight A student and planning to go to law school) and always pleased to have him over, so going to Megan's house at about eight wouldn't be a big deal. Megan's house has become a home away from home in the past few months. When they arrived, Kevin made pleasantries with her parents before going with Megan to her room to help her with her homework. Thankfully, what Megan was having trouble with was the math problems, so Kevin helped her breeze through the work after explaining the formulas again from class. All in all, Kevin managed to get Megan through the chemistry homework in a half hour.

"I can't believe we got through that so fast." Megan said as she went to her bed and put her books back in her bag and put it back against the wall. They both moved to her bed to sit, Megan sitting on Kevin's lap while they both caught up on reading _Animal Farm_ for school. "I'm also eager to see how this ends. I can't believe Napoleon had the audacity to sell Boxer to a glue factory after everything he did for the farm."

"Napoleon's the equivalent to Stalin, so it's no surprise. Boxer lost his value, so he rid the farm of him. That's what Stalin did all the time."

"I know, but it's still really sad. Boxer was my favorite character."

"He's everyone's favorite character."

"Is it safe to assume you've read this before seeing as you seem to know so much?"

"My grandpa read it to me and my brothers and sister when we were kids."

"You mean Billy? Why on earth would he read this to you when you're a kid?" Kevin had meant Grandpa Edward, but the less Megan knew about his real family tree the better.

"Truth be told, he wanted us to realize that life isn't all gumdrops and ice cream." In reality, Kevin had been curious about the book so Edward read it to them, but the actual comment seemed more like something Grandpa Billy would say.

"I didn't even know your grandpa read that much. He seems more like a beer and sports guy to me."

"What? My grandpa can't be a book fancier?"

"I didn't say that, I'm just saying Billy doesn't seem the type that reads very much. I'm just surprised is all."

"I know, he doesn't look it, but Billy does read a lot." Again, big fat lie. According to his grandpa Billy, he hadn't picked up a book since the beginning of his senior year in high school when he pretended to read _The Great Gatsby_. Jacob was even less of a reader. He did read car magazines from time to time, but that was about it. It was his Nessie and her side of the family that were the book worms.

By the time it was nine, they'd gotten through the rest of the book and Megan was thoroughly disappointed. The pigs essentially became the humans, the very thing the animals had fought against, and they weren't overrun by the rest of the animals like what had happened in the animated movie they'd seen in class. She also found it a little eerie how close to the truth the book ended up being. With finishing Animal Farm, their homework was pretty much done, so they started cuddling a little before making out. After twenty minutes, Kevin began to reach over to Megan's night stand drawer, but he heard Megan's mom coming, so he shot up from his laying position, gently tossed Megan off him letting her know her mom was on her way, and Megan grabbed Animal Farm and pretended to be reading with Kevin. There was a knock on the door from her mom asking if she could come in then she opened the door.

"Megan, honey, it's getting late. We better send Kevin home."

Kevin smiled politely and stood from Megan's bed. "Okay, Mrs. Kovac. I'll get going." Mrs. Kovac thanked Kevin and finally left the kids alone a moment. When Kevin began getting his stuff ready, Megan walked over to him and hugged him tightly. Kevin hugged her back and gave her a kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow okay?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow. Do you have to work after school?"

"Yeah, but if you want me to come over after so we can do homework, that's alright with me."

"I'd like that. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you helping me with my Chemistry and math homework." Then she kissed Kevin's nose. "The breaks we take are fun too." Kevin grinned.

"We'll get through our homework faster tomorrow so we can get to that sooner, not get interrupted by your mom and all." Kevin and Megan started walking towards the front door, not saying anything else since her dad was sitting on the couch in front of the TV. Megan opened the door for Kevin and kissed him before he left to go home. When he got back and let himself, his mom was sitting at the piano and stopped when she heard Kevin come in.

"That you Kevin?" Kevin walked into the living room and smiled.

"Yeah, mom, it's me. I texted you earlier about where I was."

"I know. I admit, I didn't think you'd be home yet. You normally stay over there a lot longer."

"Mrs. Kovac wanted me to get home since there's school tomorrow. Do you mind if I go to her house after school again? She's still having trouble with her homework."

"I don't mind. But Mrs. Kovac is right; you should get home at a reasonable time when you have school the next day."

"I know, mom. We were just finishing up on _Animal Farm_." Nessie smiled.

"How'd she like it?"

"She was disappointed that Boxer was sent to the glue factory and there wasn't a rebellion led by Benjamin like there had been in the movie we saw."

Nessie giggled. "That would be too satisfying an ending, that's why it wasn't the ending. The point isn't supposed to be happy it's supposed to be a warning."

"I know; that's what I said. I told her grandpa read it to me without thinking, and she assumed I meant Billy."

Nessie started laughing. "Billy reading Animal Farm; I don't think so."

"Exactly but she doesn't know about your side of the family, so I had to make something up on the spot."

"Let's keep it that way for now. If you end up imprinting on her, then by all means start filling her in on the family. But until then, I don't want you saying anything about us."

"Yeah, mom, I know. It'll wait." Kevin said good night to Nessie and went to his room where his brothers were talking and enjoying some recreational time.

"Look who's finally home." Nathan said when Kevin walked in. Kyle didn't respond. "So how's Megan doing?"

"She's fine. How was the police station, Nathan?"

"Great. Grandpa took me with him on patrol and I got to see him pull over a drunk driver that we took back to the station. He even showed me how to right up a ticket when he pulled someone over for speeding."

"Sweet." Kevin then looked at Kyle. "You had to work today too right? How was the movie theatre?" Kyle shrugged.

"Same ole, same ole. I think we started showing a new movie today but I can't remember what it was."

"Was it that new Disney movie? The PG-13 rendition of Hercules or whatever it was?"

"It might have been, but not many movies catch my attention these days, so I don't always know what's new. You'd think I would since I work in the theatre, but apparently not." Kevin smiled a little and sat down on his bed. "Are you done with your homework then, getting back to your night?"

"Yeah, my homework's been done for a while. Megan just has a habit of putting off her math and chemistry homework until the last minute."

"You're enabling her if you ask me." Nathan said. "This has been a bad habit of hers for a while now."

Kevin shrugged. "I don't mind. It's an excuse for us to spend time together and that's good enough for me."

"Any excuse to bone your girlfriend, am I right?" Nathan said with a snicker. Kevin laughed a little too while Kyle sighed heavily.

"You're both children, you know that? You both act like children."

"Sorry, mom," Nathan said sarcastically. Kevin laughed harder, as did Nathan, and Kyle decided to not respond and ignore them for the rest of the night. As the days wore on and the end of the year was getting closer and closer, Megan's habit of putting off homework continued, meaning Kevin going to her house after work every Sunday afternoon to help her. Sunday wasn't the only time they ever got together of course, but it just became a bit of a ritual for them. Around early May, school was let out for all but the freshman, sophomores, and juniors for standardized testing. All the kids had to go to school for testing on their designated days, which for Megan and Kevin was that Wednesday, giving the rest of their week completely free.

On all those days, both Megan's parents were out of the house at work, leaving the two of them with plenty of alone time in those four days. They went through several Netflix movies in that time. When a movie turned out sucking, they made out or had sex in Megan's room, but most of their time was spent watching movies in the living room eating popcorn, going out to get Chinese food or pizza, and just spending time together. When it was Friday, the last day of testing, Kevin found himself sad that the week had drawn to a close so swiftly. Kevin took a shower, got dressed, and went right to Megan's house as he'd done for their entire break. When Kevin got to Megan's house, he saw her still in her pajamas and eating some cereal. Kevin let himself in as Megan had told him to do and went to the table where she was still eating. They talked a little while she finished and Kevin convinced Megan to stay in her pajamas, seeing as she wasn't wearing pants or a bra under her nightshirt. When Megan finished her breakfast, they walked over to the couch to see if there were any other movies they might want to watch. But when they sat down together and Megan began cuddling into Kevin, she pulled back abruptly and looked concerned.

"What? What's the matter?" Kevin asked. Megan brought her hand to Kevin's forehead.

"Kevin, you're burning up. Are you alright? I think you might be catching something." The moment she said it, Kevin knew what was probably wrong, but he couldn't very well bring that up to her. There would be time for that when they imprinted, as Kevin was sure they would. Instead, he pulled the first answer he could out of thin air.

"Don't worry about it, Megan, I feel fine." Kevin brought his face closer and kissed her nose. "I promise there's nothing wrong with me. Now let's watch a movie."

Megan looked skeptical initially, but did eventually take Kevin's word and started looking through the Netflix list of movies they might want to watch. The rest of the day went on normally aside from Megan practically forcing some flu medicine down Kevin's throat as prevention of Kevin getting sicker. Regardless, Kevin took the meds without arguing too much even if only to appease Megan's incessant begging. Kevin didn't finally leave Megan's house that day until about ten at night when Mrs. Kovac told him it was late and he'd better be getting home. When Kevin got back home, Nathan and Natalie were both dead asleep from testing that day. Kyle had finished his testing the day before and was sitting in the living room (so that he wouldn't keep Nathan awake) catching up on some required reading or school. Kyle was alone in the living room and Kevin glanced around the rooms before looking back at Kevin.

"Where're mom and dad?"

"They're upstairs. Why?"

"No reason." Kevin walked over to the couch and sat on the other side of the couch and glanced at what he was reading: _Julius Caesar_. "That was a decent play. Not my favorite, but it had its moments."

"I preferred _Othello_."

"You guys read_ Othello_?"

"Not in school." Kevin shrugged and slouched down and started taking a deep breath. "It's just the increase in body heat. That doesn't mean it'll happen tomorrow or something. From what we've heard from the other wolves, the actual change happens randomly."

"Yeah, I know. It's just Megan noticed it and she made me take flu medicine." Kyle chuckled.

"Yeah, I know. You did the best thing for the circumstance, so let it go for now. She'll probably get used to it before you know it."

Not long after that, they finally went upstairs and went to bed, sleeping in the next morning. Kevin told Jacob about the change the next day, who told Kevin to make sure when it happened that he wasn't anywhere public and if he felt like he was about to change to run into the woods so nothing got damaged. But as the hours went to days then days to a few weeks, Kevin never felt himself need to change and he was beginning to wonder if it wouldn't actually happen. Initially, Megan had persisted that Kevin was running a fever and she wanted him to take more flu medication and go to the nurse so he could go home and sleep the fever off. But after two weeks, Megan stopped nagging Kevin about his overheated body. Instead, she seemed to become occupied with something else. Kevin didn't notice this change initially. He only noticed when Megan started looking spacey during lunch and when her comments or answers were extremely brief. During lunch, one of her friends finally asked if there was something bothering her and she just said she wasn't feeling too well and teased that Kevin might have given her the flu. Just to make sure, Kevin asked Megan at the end of the day if she was sure that she was alright. She insisted she was fine, but did say she was coming to work with Kevin. It was only when Kevin and Megan got to the convenience store that she made a bee line for a section of the store.

"There's money in my wallet. I'll pay for this when I'm done."

"Pay for what? What are you grabbing?" Then Kevin walked around and saw her grab a First Response and his throat went into his stomach and he felt himself get light headed. Megan stayed quiet and let Kevin come to terms with what he just realized was happening. After a minute of the most awkward silence imaginable, Megan ran went to the cooler in the store and grabbed a large sprite that she managed to chug in a few large gulps. When it was empty, she put it on the cashier counter and went right for the bathroom in the back, leaving Kevin standing dumbfounded in the aisle.

This couldn't be happening, there was just no way. He and Megan had been careful. They'd had sex without a condom maybe three times and none of those times were recent. The last time they'd gone without was six months ago. Kevin practically limped behind the counter and sat on his stool and started staring at the sprite bottle on the counter. What if she were? Jacob did say condoms alone weren't always enough, but Megan hadn't wanted to go on birth control at all. None of them had ever broken….at least Kevin didn't think any had…..what if it just slipped his mind or he didn't notice? Or maybe they'd had sex without protection more recently than he recalled and this was why…..she couldn't be….needed not to be. Kevin sat there thinking about all the trouble that would follow if she were…..free ride or not, he couldn't go to law school and support a family. He'd turn out like Grandpa Billy…..oh God. Kevin was taken from his deep thought when Megan walked over to him at last and put the First Response box with the test atop on the table.

"How long before we know?"

"The test said five minutes." Kevin looked at Megan's hands and noticed she was shaking viciously. Kevin realized he was shaking too, but nothing else was happening to him. Forcing himself to stay calm, Kevin took a hold of Megan's hands gently and told her to look at him.

"It'll okay, Megan. We'll figure this out."

"Kevin, this can't happen, you know that." Megan took her hands away and kept staring at the test. "We aren't ready to be parents, Kevin, you know that. I can' even remember to feed the dog when my parents are out late." Megan started crying a little. "If I'm pregnant we have to get rid of it."

"No!" Kevin said much louder than he'd intended to. Megan stepped back surprised by Kevin's tone. Realizing he acted violently, Kevin took a deep breath and sat back down, only now realizing he'd stood from his stool. "I know you're scared, but I won't have you do that. If you're pregnant, we have to deal with it."

"Kevin, I can't do it. Do you know what will happen if we keep this baby or if I go through the pregnancy and give it up for adoption? My mom could lose her job from community outrage and I'd be a laughing stock, 'The principle's daughter got knocked up, what a scandal.'"

"Okay, calm down. Let's just wait until the test finishes processing. We'll talk about it more when we know what we're dealing with for sure." They didn't talk again after that while waiting for the result. The awkward silence was excruciating, but neither of them said a thing. Kevin looked away and stared at the cash register. A minute went by before Kevin decided to speak. "Have you told anyone?"

"No, I haven't, don't worry."

Kevin nodded slightly. "Okay, good." Kevin was silent a little longer. "Is it done yet?"

Megan shook her head. "Not yet. I'm seeing some things, but it doesn't look like a distinctive symbol yet."

"Okay." There was silence again. Eventually, Kevin took a hold of Megan to hug her. She hugged him back. "I'm here for you no matter what, Megan. I just want you to know that." Megan didn't say anything. She just continued to hug Kevin and was trying not to get any more upset. They stayed that way until Megan pushed away from Kevin, seeing that it had finally been five minutes. Megan began shaking as she turned to look at the results, then she stopped and took in a deep breath. Kevin was panicking a moment and looked at the test himself. He saw a pink dash. "So what's the result?"

"I'm not pregnant." Megan said, tears of joy forcing their way past. "Oh my God, I'm so relieved."

Kevin smiled a little. "So it was just a false alarm?"

Megan nodded. "Yeah, it was just a false alarm." With a big relieved smile, Megan walked back to Kevin and started hugging him. Kevin hugged her back and made the hug tighter than his hugs had ever been. "I'm sorry to put you through that, but at least now we know I'm not pregnant."

"Yeah, and let's keep this to ourselves, okay. I don't want to turn this into anything bigger than what it already ended up being."

Megan nodded. "You don't need to tell me twice." They both smiled and smiled lightly, though Kevin wasn't as thrilled as he should have been. I was happy Megan wasn't pregnant, but it bothered him how relieved he really was and how relieved she was, like having a baby together would've been the worst thing in the world that could happen to either of them. Kevin didn't voice his thoughts and smiled when he and Megan stopped hugging. "I'll get rid of this, and how about I stay here with your for a while? After that, I think we could both use some time to deflate."

"Sure. Toss that out and take a seat when you get back."

On the other side of town at Black Repair, Nessie was sitting at her desk going through some paperwork. She'd just got through speaking with a police officer that had come in with a costumer who'd evidently been responsible for an accident earlier that day. Poor Jacob had been forced to ask the two gentlemen involved in the accident to leave because they were arguing over who was at fault and disturbing other customers. Once those two had left, things finally started to calm down and everyone could get right back to work. As Nessie was working, she heard the shop door open and glanced up, surprised to see Kyle and Nathan at the door. The boys walked into Nessie's office, both of whom looked extremely uncomfortable and disturbed by something. Nessie new the worst was to come when Kyle closed her office door before taking a seat across from her, Nathan taking the other seat.

"What's the matter with you both? What happened?" Nathan and Kyle exchanged a brief glance at one another as if asking each other who should speak, to which Kyle decided to speak.

"It's about Kevin…..and Megan."

"What happened to them? Are they all right?" Nessie asked her voice filled with concern.

"They're alright, mom, neither of them are hurt or anything."

"Then what's the problem?" Nessie pushed.

Kyle became even more uncomfortable and then took a deep breath. "Well, Megan went to work with Kevin after school and...um…..I'd heard her thinking that she needed to get a pregnancy test." Nessie sat up straighter and her eyes widened.

"A pregnancy test?" Kyle nodded.

"Yeah, Kevin didn't know when they left and Megan only suspected because she was late a few weeks."

Nessie felt her chest start to constrict and she rested her face in her hands so she could start breathing. Nathan walked around Nessie's desk and started rubbing her back, trying to calm her down. Hoping Kyle was in mind-reading mode, Nessie mentally asked Kyle to go get Jacob so they could tell him what they told her. Nathan kept rubbing Nessie's back as she breathed in and out. When Kyle came back with Jacob, Kyle closed the door behind them and answered Jacob when he asked what was wrong with Nessie.

"I'm just upset." Nessie responded to Jacob. Jacob rushed to her and took her hand. Nathan stepped back to let his dad take over comforting mom.

"Why? What's wrong?"

"It's about Kevin and Megan," Kyle said, "Megan went to work with Kevin after school and it turns out she went with him so she could buy a pregnancy test."

Jacob had the same reaction as Nessie did. Instead of burying his face in his hands though, he tells Kyle and Nathan to go back home and let him and Nessie take care of this. When the boys were gone, Jacob walked to the door and closed it again. He stood there a moment before looking at Nessie, who hadn't brought her face from her hands. Jacob walked over to Nessie and returned to trying to calm her down.

"Kyle did say she wasn't sure yet."

"Call Carlisle, please; I want to be sure that Megan is or is not pregnant." Jacob nodded.

"Alright," Jacob said as he grabbed the phone and called the hospital where Carlisle worked. Jacob was told Dr. Cullen was in surgery and could speak at the moment, so Jacob just told the nurses' aid to tell Carlisle that he needed to come home as soon as possible once he finished with the surgery. After he finished that call, Nessie asked Jacob to call Edward as well. Jacob got a hold of Edward and told him what was going on or what they feared was going on. "Should we call Kevin and tell him and Megan to go to the Cullen house when he's done with work?"

Nessie only nodded. She was still in a bad mood and wasn't sure how to face Kevin when they saw each other at the Cullen house. Jacob wasn't too pleased either. He wasn't sure how to feel. He was angry, yes, but he was more upset with the fact that he knew he'd have to make good on his threat he'd made a few short years ago. He didn't want to make good on that threat, but he knew he'd have to. Jacob finally dialed Kevin's cellphone number and waited for Kevin to finally pick up. When Kevin answered, he seemed normal, which was the last thing Jacob thought he would be.

"_Yeah, dad,"_ Kevin asked when he picked up the phone.

"Is Megan still with you?" There was silence at the other end of the line for a moment before Kevin finally answered, a little awkwardly.

"_Uh, yeah, why, what do you need with Megan?"_ Jacob took a deep breath.

"Kyle told us about the pregnancy." This time, when Kevin answered, he was extremely defensive.

"_Damn it, dad, there's nothing to worry about. Megan already took the test and it came out negative. There's nothing to worry about."_

"Your mom and I want to be certain, Kevin. So when you finish work, I want you and Megan to go straight to your grandparents' house so Carlisle can give Megan his own pregnancy test."

"_But dad, Megan's not pregnant! We already checked."_

"Don't argue with me Kevin. I want you and Megan at your grandparents' house right after you're done with work." Jacob hung up then. Nessie didn't say anything. She just went right back to work so she could get her mind off of what had just happened. Jacob did the same and went back to the garage, making sure no one knew anything was bothering him.

After getting off the phone with Jacob, Kevin was seething. He decided to call the owner's son, telling him there was a family emergency and he needed to leave. When he was off the phone, Kevin looked at Megan and told her to wait for him in his car. Megan did as Kevin instructed and waited in the car for him until the owner's son came in and took over for Kevin so he could leave. Kevin figured he had time, so he went straight to his house where he assumed Kyle and Nathan were. Kevin speeded to the house and screeched to a stop when they got to the house. Kevin told Megan to stay in the car while he went inside to find Kyle and Nathan. When in the house, Kevin stormed upstairs to his room and almost ripped the door off its hinges as he charged toward Kyle.

"I should kill you, Kyle! Why would you tell mom and dad? You just made a mountain out of a mole hill! Megan's not pregnant and now mom and dad think she is because you couldn't keep your fucking mouth shut!" Kevin tried closing the distance between himself and Kyle, but Nathan came between them and held Kevin back while Kyle stood from his bed getting on the defensive.

"Kevin, calm down, we thought we were doing the right thing!" Kevin looked at Nathan.

"You….."

"Kevin!" Kyle yelled, trying to get Kevin's attention. "Nathan didn't want to, so leave him be. It was my idea to tell mom and dad." Kevin pushed Nathan aside so he could get closer to Kyle, but Nathan never strayed far.

"And now you brought nothing to mom and dad's attention. Megan already took the test and it ended up negative. She wanted to keep the scare a secret if it wound up negative, and I was of the same mind, but you, Kyle, you had to stick your busy body brain where it doesn't belong."

"I did the right thing, Kevin. If Megan really isn't pregnant, than you have nothing to worry about." Kevin punched Kyle then.

"That's none of your business! Megan was panicky enough as it was, and just when things were fine again, I get a call from dad telling me that a little birdy told him about the scare! Now she's in the car near tears because she's scared her parents will find out! You've made this worse than it had to be!"

"I guess you'll be more careful from now on won't you."

This time, Kevin's rage had grown too great for words and what had been inevitable for several weeks finally happened as he fazed into his wolf for the first time. However, unexpectedly, Kyle and Nathan followed suit and fazed into wolves themselves and all three began roaring at each other. All three too in a huff to stop a moment, Nathan came between Kevin and Kyle and stopped them from fighting, though it had little effect. Ultimately, the two were biting and yelling telepathically and through roars that sounded through the house which only stopped when all three heard the front door open. Kevin realized Megan must have heard the commotion and was coming to see what was going on. Kevin stood in front of the door to be safe while all three tried with all their might to calm down and return to normal. However, when they all did finally change back, there was still the issue of their clothing (or lack thereof) so Kevin locked the door to the room and all three hurried to get dressed before Megan made it upstairs. All three managed to dress in time before Megan got to their room and Kevin unlocked the door and let her in.

"Kevin, what's going on? I swear I heard roaring!" Kevin shook his head and smiled awkwardly.

"It was just us arguing, that's all." Megan seemed unconvinced and became more so when she glanced down at Kevin's chest.

"Why did you change your clothes?" Then she saw all the shreds of fabric and looked at Kevin panicked. "What happened?"

"Just a fight that got really violent, but everything's alright now. Just go back in the car and we'll all meet you outside and leave, okay." Kevin almost shoved Megan out of his room and closed the door. Kevin waited until he heard Megan leave the house to go to his car before he turned back to Kyle and Nathan. "We'll continue this conversation later. For now, let's just go to Carlisle's house."

"Why do we need to go?" Nathan asked. Kevin almost growled at Nathan.

"Because it's yours and Kyle's fault mom and dad found out about this in the first place and I sure as fuck won't take the bulk of the punishment that will ensue from here when Megan isn't even pregnant."

Kevin finally opened the door and walked out of the room to make his way to the car. Begrudgingly, Kyle and Nathan followed after Kevin and got into his car to drive to their grandparents' house. No one said a word on the way there. Kevin was scared he'd faze again if he said anything and Kyle just didn't want to be yelled at anymore. Megan was upset that Kevin's brothers somehow found out about the pregnancy scare. She was especially concerned how they'd found out seeing as Kevin hadn't known until she'd said something and he'd never called anyone in the time they'd been together and the convenience store. She swore there had been no one in the store when she and Kevin were waiting for the results and she hadn't said anything to _anyone_, not even her best friends. It was really bugging her.

Megan had never seen the Cullen house, so when they were driving up to the house and she saw the almost entirely glass house, her eyes went impossibly wide. She'd known Mrs. Black's side of the family was well off, but she didn't know they were loaded. Kevin had always been vague about his mom's side of the family and for good reason. Kevin took a spot outside the garage which Megan was gawking into because of all the fancy cars that were in it. Kevin got her out of her trance and got her to come with him and his brothers to the house. They let themselves in and Megan started turning in circles looking at the house. Edward walked over and got Megan's attention and smiled kindly.

"Hello, Megan. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Kevin's Uncle Edward." Then he turned to all the other family members. "That's my wife, Bella," Bella waved and smiled, "Next to her are my sisters Rosalie and Alice and their husbands, Emmett and Jasper, and that lovely lady is Esme." Esme walked over and took Megan's hands. She jumped a little at the feel.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you. We're heard so much about you. I know it's not under the best of circumstances, but I assure you, my husband will be quick with the testing. He said he would be home by five thirty." Megan didn't say anything. She only stared at Esme's hands, so Esme took her hands away and looked at Kevin a little more seriously. "Your parents will be here soon, honey."

"Please don't tell my parents!" Megan suddenly blurted out. "I swear I already tested negative, so there's no reason to tell them." Edward walked closer and spoke calmly.

"Don't worry, Megan, we haven't told your parents. We know you want to keep this quiet assuming it really is negative, so no one knows but us."

"How do you even know? I didn't tell anyone about this, so how did Kyle find out?"

"I saw the note." Kyle said hurriedly, making something up from her thoughts. "The one you were planning to give to Kevin explaining all this, but you threw out. I admit, I thought it looked suspicious when I saw it and I looked at it."

Kevin knew Kyle was lying, but it didn't mean Megan knew that. So he came to her defense. "Why don't you keep your nose out of my girlfriend's business, Kyle? She doesn't look through your shit when she sees you throw something out."

"Kevin, watch your language." Edward interjected. "I realize you're both upset, but Kyle did the right thing telling us about Megan's pregnancy scare. This way, Carlisle can perform his own test that's more accurate and we'll know for sure if she is or is not pregnant. Esme," Edward said, turning to her, "look after Megan and make her feel comfortable, please. I need to talk to the boys alone for a bit."

Esme nodded her head and gently motioned Megan to come sit with her and the rest of the family on the couch so they could get to know her better. The boys followed Edward to the music room to which Edward closed and locked the doors behind them so Megan wouldn't hear what they would be discussing.

"All three of you, huh?" Knowing what he meant, they all nodded. "That's a surprise. Nathan wasn't even showing signs. Kyle's at least a little older, but this certainly is unexpected. Jacob will be surprised to hear about this."

"How mad is he?" Kevin asked, and Edward sighed.

"He's not happy. In fact, he and your mother are almost here." Kevin stiffened a little. "I'll have Jasper stay in here with you and your father so the conversation doesn't get too loud. But I think it's fair to warn you that your father is extremely disappointed in you…..as is your mother."

Kevin didn't say anything. No one did. Instead, Edward motioned for Nathan and Kyle to leave the room with him once the front door opened with Nessie and Jacob entering the house. Jasper walked into the music room and Edward let Jacob know that he and Kevin could talk in the music room alone. When Jacob was in, Jasper closed the doors and locked them and stayed between Jacob and Kevin, making sure that both were extremely calm. Jacob was really grateful for it at the moment. Kevin didn't speak or look at Jacob, so Jacob was the first to talk.

"Kevin…how did this happen? I told you I didn't mind as long as you were both safe about it and this is what happens. Do you realize what Megan getting pregnant means? It means you've not only ruined your life, but you've ruined hers too. Let's be honest Kevin, if you think you'll be able to support a baby, a wife, and law school all at once, you're out of your mind."

"She said she'd get rid of it," Kevin said almost with an acidic edge to it, seeing as he wasn't thrilled with that solution either, "She said that if she is pregnant, then she wants to get rid of it."

Jacob was silent a moment. Jasper noticed Jacob beginning to get angrier, so he needed to help him defuse a little before he spoke. "And that makes this alright, Kevin?" Jacob asked. "She plans to get rid of it, so there's no harm done, is that what you're saying?"

"She wouldn't let me convince her otherwise. Besides, if she is pregnant, it's just like you said. I've screwed us both over and I'm the scum of the universe. You don't need to rub my face in it." Jasper didn't hold back Jacob's anger then and allowed Jacob to hit Kevin right across the face. As far as he was concerned, that was no tone to take with a parent.

"Don't you speak to me like that, Kevin. You're already in deep shit as it is and I suggest you avoid digging yourself deeper." Because Jacob was starting to raise his voice, Jasper finally started calming Jacob down. When Jacob and Kevin were both calmer, he finally brought up another issue. "Bella tells me you fazed, as did Nathan and Kyle." Kevin nodded. "I guess I should've expected it under these circumstances."

"Kyle had no business telling you and mom about this. Megan already knows she's not pregnant, so Kyle's just blowing everything out of proportion."

"He didn't know that at the time. Besides, you honestly think you could've kept this from your mother and me for long? When you fazed, I would learn about it then or Edward would've hear it and told your mother and me. Regardless, I would've found out about this, so it's pointless to try and hide things from us."

"Megan didn't want to tell anyone and frankly, neither did I. The last thing she needs is to be a laughing stock over this and that's exactly what you're all doing. You're making her a laughing stock and I won't stand for it."

"You're in no position to tell me what you will or will not stand for, Kevin. You did exactly what I told you not to do and you're forcing me to do something I don't want to do." Nessie chose then to walk into the music room. Jasper unlocked the music room so she could come in and closed them again. Nessie looked at Kevin a little sad.

"We aren't trying to embarrass her, honey; we're just trying to be certain. Store bought pregnancy tests aren't the most reliable things in the world, but Carlisle will know for sure. He's already here and he's taken Megan up to get tested. If she's not pregnant like you say, then there's nothing to worry about."

"But if she is," Jacob interrupted, "You know what that means."

"So what, you're actually going to throw me on the streets to fend for myself and a kid at my age?"

"We don't want to, Kevin, but you're leaving us with few options." Nessie said, though she wasn't completely sold on this idea. "If she's pregnant, then you have to step up and take care of things. That means doing what you can to take care of a family and no one will help you in the real world."

"Just what I thought, leaving Megan and I to fend for ourselves. I guess helping out your son would be too much of an inconvenience for you." This time, Jacob was so angry, he was stiff. Nessie, on the other hand, was stiff, but shaky. Her eyes started filling with tears and she left the room running. All the vampires knew exactly what had happened and were staring at Kevin either with disappointed astonishment, or seething anger. Jacob stared at Kevin a moment shaking out of anger, but decided to run to Nessie and see to her. Kevin stood there not saying a word, but was surprised when Bella was in front of him in a mere instant and slapped him right across the face. Thankfully, Megan was still upstairs with Carlisle, so there was no need to shut the door.

"How dare you speak to your mother that way?" The venom in Bella's voice was almost unbearable. "You think she wants to send you off on your own? If it were up to her, you and Megan would live with them and everything would work itself out, but you know very well that can't happen, as does she. Do you know how much this hurts her? You're in trouble right now and it kills her that there's nothing she can do to help you. And then you say such a thing to her when she's trying to do the right thing and make you stand up and be a man! She has been the best mother for you that she can be and she doesn't deserve to have you speak to her like that." Bella almost slapped Kevin again, but Jasper calmed her down, realizing Kevin already regretted what he'd said. "You go to the garage and apologize to her this instant. And you better hope your father doesn't want to have a few choice words with you when you get there."

Bella finally left the music room and went back to Edward so she would calm down more. Seeing as Bella had said what they were all thinking, no one stood to say anything else. That is, not until Kevin continued to stand there and not look up. Mere seconds passed before Emmett lost his patients, ran to Kevin, and virtually dragged him to the garage. In the garage while Bella was lecturing Kevin, Nessie was sitting on Alice's Porsche crying. Jacob was right by her side and rubbing her back as she cried.

"I'm a failure." Nessie finally muttered through her tears. Jacob hurriedly shook his head.

"You're not a failure, Nessie. He spoke out of turn; that doesn't make you a bad mother. You're the best mother that boy could hope for." Nessie didn't respond. She just kept crying, and Jacob was seeing red from pure anger. He knew Edward or one of the others would give Kevin a piece of their minds, but he still felt like he should be the one doing that. But seeing Nessie crying like this made Jacob ill and he had to comfort her.

The rest of the time, Jacob let Nessie just cry so she could get it out of her system. Eventually, Kevin came into the garage via Emmett express, and was placed before them and left alone with them. When Kevin was in the garage, he saw his mom crying and was ashamed of himself. He pushed Jacob aside gently and started hugging Nessie.

"I'm sorry, mommy. I didn't mean it, I promise."

Mommy. It was a simple word that Kevin rarely used anymore. Not since he'd reached his teen years. It reminded her of a time when Kevin was little, her first baby boy. Back when he still needed her. Now he was almost eighteen and a grown man, just a few inches shy of being as tall at his father. With his wolf finally kicking in, it wouldn't be too long before Kevin was as tall as Jacob, or dare she think taller. Nessie found herself longing for those days when Kevin was still her little boy. That little boy that used to throw a fit if she weren't with him, or that little boy that wanted her every waking moment, that little boy that kicked when anyone got too close, or that held her above anyone else. Thinking about it only made her more depressed. Now he was a young man that was in the biggest trouble he could be in and he was pushing her away. She cried a little more when a though crossed her mind,_ "You really don't need me anymore." _ That thought was pushed into Kevin's mind without her meaning it to and Kevin ended the long silence.

"Of course I still need you, mommy. Who else but you would still love me even after what I'd just said to you?"

"I don't to do that to you, honey, but it's what we have to do." Nessie said referring to the event that Megan is pregnant. Kevin nodded.

"I know mom. I already knew that and I'll do what I can if she is pregnant."

"Just please don't let her get rid of it. That's my first grandchild after all." Kevin finally smiled and hugged his mom tighter.

"Don't worry mom, I'll make sure of it. But we can talk more about that after Carlisle finishes testing."

Nessie looked up at Kevin with a smile and began wiping away the tears before they all went back into the house together. Megan was back, so Kevin sat next to her and let her know that he and his parents were just having a private conversation. But now that the roar of conflict was finally calmed down, Kevin finally realized something. There was no pull. No change, no forcing desire, nothing….Megan wasn't his imprint. It started to make sense now: the reason he'd been so relieved when their first test came out negative. He'd spent most of his teenage life assuming Megan was his imprint because they'd hit it off so well in the beginning. However, imprint or not, he still loved her. The only reason he'd been so relieved was because he knew now wasn't the time for them to start a family. That's all it was. There would be plenty of time for that later…..much later.

A few minutes later, Carlisle finally came downstairs with a serious look on his face. That serious look scared Kevin and he looked right at Edward to see if there was a change in his demeanor. There was none. Carlisle, walking at human pace, eventually made it to the couch and placed his hand on Kevin's shoulder.

"Please come to the music room with me, you two." Kevin started shaking then, but he took a deep breath and stood from his seat, taking Megan's hand in his and leading her with him. But he was stopped abruptly when Megan's shaking suddenly stopped and she began falling to the floor from lightheadedness. Edward caught her and placed her in Kevin's arms. He looked at her and saw that she was completely out. Seeing that this happened, Carlisle dropped the façade and spoke frankly with Kevin. "She's not pregnant, Kevin." Kevin released the breath he realized he'd been holding in. "But, that doesn't change the fact that she could have been. All I ask is that you be more cautious from now on. You know you're not ready and neither is she, and helping you two wouldn't make both of you grow up and be parents. What you said to your mother was inexcusable, but since you and your mother spoke, I'll let that go for now. Remember this experience Kevin. Hopefully it'll ensure you're more responsible."

Carlisle finished giving his two cents and went right back upstairs. Esme followed, realized Carlisle was in a bad mood now too. Kyle and Nathan went home with Jacob and Nessie, giving Kevin the opportunity to take Megan home. She didn't stir until they were outside the front of her house and Kevin started nudging her.

"Megan, we're back at your house. Wake up." Kevin said softly. Megan finally woke and looked first at Kevin, then at the car.

"What happened?"

"You passed out. Don't worry Carlisle said you're not pregnant. He just wanted to talk to us privately about being safer is all." Megan began to tear up then, but with sheer relief. She took a moment to take a deep breath before sighing.

"Oh, thank God. I don't what we'd do if I were." At that moment, Kevin took Megan into a hug and kissed her neck tenderly.

"I'm sorry I put you through all this. I promise we'll be more careful from now on." Megan hugged Kevin back.

"I'm just so relieved. Let's be sure not to tell anyone about this. This can be our little secret."

"Yeah, our little secret; there'll be time for starting a family later." Megan didn't answer. Kevin didn't notice at first, but when she still didn't say anything, it started bothering him. "Megan?"

"Yeah, later, definitely. Definitely later."


	19. Winter

Winter

After dropping Megan off home, Kevin went back to his house. When he got home, he saw his parents sitting in the living room together, Jacob's arm around Nessie. When Kevin walked in, Jacob looked at Kevin and waved for him to come to the living room. Fearing the worst, Kevin reluctantly went to the living room and took a seat in a free chair. But when Kevin began to sit, Nessie stopped him and asked him to sit next to her when she had Jacob scoot away with her. When Kevin was sitting with them, Jacob was the first to speak.

"Your mother and I need to talk to you about what happened today." Kevin looked at his knees, thinking he was about to get yelled at more, but then Jacob surprised him. "I realize I owe you an apology."

"Wait, what?" Kevin said as he looked up suddenly.

Jacob sighed. "We," Jacob started, then Nessie pinched him and he changed course, "okay fine, _I_ over reacted to the almost disaster. I should've been more understanding about this and I realize this was as much her fault as it was yours. I also realize that threatening to kick you out was not the best way to react and was out of line."

"Dad, if Megan had been pregnant, than it would've been my responsibility to take care of things. I understand why you and mom were prepared to leave me to my own devices and under the circumstances, I deserved every bit of yelling I got," Kevin looked at Nessie, "especially for what I said to you mom. No matter what you two were saying or doing, I should never accuse either of you of not caring about me or burdening yourselves. I just want you to know I'm sorry too."

Nessie smiled and scooted over to Kevin and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry too, Kevin. Your father and I love you so much and we want the best for you, you know that right?"

"I know, mom."

"Kevin." Without leaving the hug, Kevin looked up at Jacob. "You still have a life ahead of you. I did overreact, but I do want you to realize that you can't afford to risk getting Megan pregnant. You're too good for that, Kevin, and you have a bright future ahead of you. I just don't want you to end up losing out on what you want because you became a father too young."

"I know, dad. I don't either."

"There will be more than enough time for that, Kevin, but for now, focus on growing up a little more and getting independent." Nessie patted Kevin's back and they parted. "I mean more so than you already are."

Kevin chuckled. "Mom, if you want me to crawl and let you carry me everywhere, all you need to do is ask."

"Kevin, don't be silly." Nessie said, even though the thought of Kevin being her baby was really tempting.

After they finished their talk, they all went to bed for the night, but Kyle and Nathan were still awake. Kevin wasn't as angry as he'd been before, but he wasn't happy with them either. Kevin didn't say anything when he got into the room and went right to the hamper and started throwing his shirt and pants in until he was in his boxers.

"Kevin." Kyle said, but Kevin ignored him and turned off the lights and went under his covers trying to go to bed. As far as Kevin was concerned, now wasn't the time to talk. Kyle walked to the light switch and turned them on. "Kevin, don't ignore me."

"Turn off the lights. It's eleven and I have school tomorrow."

"We need to talk and I won't let you go to bed until we talk." Kevin lay up in bed looking at Kyle. Nathan decided to stay out of this one and kept reading _The Odyssey_ and filling out the reading guide.

"Kyle, I don't want to talk to you. Megan had to take two pregnancy tests, my brother rated me out, I turned into a wolf, Dad yelled and me and hit me, and I was slapped by a vampire all in one day. I just want to go to sleep and for this day to be over."

"Kevin, dad would've found out eventually, especially if Megan turned out to be pregnant after all. At least this way it's out in the open and has been taken care of in the open. It was either having dad yell now or have him yell later."

Kevin finally stood from his bed, staring down at Kyle, who was only a few inches shorter. "You know, Kyle, you have a habit of assuming you fucking know everything. Well, you don't know everything. You're just a busybody that thinks he's smarter than everyone else. There's been enough damage today, so I won't waste my time putting your smug pussy ass in your place. Instead, I'm going to tell you that if you ever poke your nose in my business like that again, I will shove my foot so far up your ass that it'll come out your mouth. Now either let me go to bed or I'll just do that now."

Nathan buried his nose in his copy so Kevin wouldn't look at him and Kevin continued to size Kyle up until Kyle finally backed down, turned out the lights and get himself ready for bed. Kevin woke up early and left for school early, wanting to avoid everyone that morning. Natalie still hadn't heard about what happened until lunch that day when Nathan told her everything.

"So why didn't Kyle just let Kevin handle it? It's not like he would've kept it from mom and dad for long. It's not really his place to bring it up nor was it yours."

"Don't lecture me, Natalie. I went along with Kyle because I thought it was the right thing to do. I still think it was the right thing to do even if there was an explosive outcome, no pun intended about the fazing."

"You're lucky our cousins are the only ones sitting at the table with us." Natalie said, glancing at Travis. Travis glanced up, but continued to look at his food. He'd seemed troubled a little and Natalie intended to find out soon enough. He'd just broken up with a girl he'd been dating for about four months, so she assumed he was just bummed about it….though she doubted it was as simple as that. But for now, she turned back to Nathan. "Anyway, how do you feel? This is such a sudden change for you. I mean, fazing into vampires didn't affect you the way fazing into a wolf did. You're already starting to sprout up, I notice, as if your body's trying to catch up with the sudden change. I mean, just yesterday morning, you looked the same age as me, but now you look like you could be Kyle's age. Even Kyle was a little more prepared to faze."

"It's just that, it's sudden. I'm suddenly really warm, my bones are throbbing, my muscle's ache, and I feel like a snake trying to peel away from a skin that's way too tight. I don't like this one bit."

"Did daddy say anything yet about you guys officially joining the pack?"

"Kyle said he's planning to save it for dinner tonight. He didn't want to bring it up after all the stress from yesterday."

"I imagine so, but just to be sure, Megan's not pregnant right? I won't become an aunt at thirteen?"

"No, Nat, she's not pregnant. It's for the best….Kyle says that Megan….you know what, forget it."

"What? What was Megan thinking that was so bad?"

Nathan sighed. "She was planning to get rid of it if she were pregnant and…according to what Kyle heard in her thoughts…she wasn't too happy with the thought of, 'being stuck with Kevin and his kid' as her thoughts put it. It turns out she doesn't love Kevin as much as he loves her."

"Well, at least he hasn't imprinted on her. That's a good thing, right? Kevin and Megan can call it quits after they graduate and Kevin can become a hot shot lawyer like he wants and find a nice woman to imprint on that appreciates him, seeing as Megan evidently doesn't appreciate a good thing. She'd be hard pressed to find a better boyfriend than Kevin, but if she doesn't want him, then she doesn't deserve him."

"You know how Kevin feels about her. This just isn't going to go well for sure."

"And seeing as you'll be in a pack together soon, how do you plan to make sure he doesn't find out about this? I'm assuming neither of you plan on telling him about this."

"I sure as hell won't tell him. I can't do that to him. Kyle doesn't intend to either. Why, do you think we should?"

"I say let nature take its course. If you tell him, then he'll probably take her side and it'll put a bigger wedge between you guys. There's a big enough one already considering that you two rated on him. If Megan doesn't love him, it'll come out eventually without damaging his relationship with you two. He'll be upset either way; at least keeping it from him will ensure he's only upset with her."

"I guess. I still feel bad, though."

"I know, but keep it under wraps. If we tell him now, he'll have to go through that awkward break period where he's constantly seeing her at school. At least if it happens later, that part can be avoided."

"You're being so cold about this, Nat. Don't you feel a little bad?"

"Of course I do. I love Kevin too, but I realize that we can't keep the world from being bad. Besides, Megan's not good enough for him. She's good for the touch and tickle game for now, but when push comes to shove, she's not good enough to be a part of the family as his wife. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it."

Nathan finally smiled. "And all this time, I thought you were a spoiled little brat."

"Just because I'm a daddy's girl doesn't mean I can't be a good sister too."

Nathan smiled. "I'm surprised to hear all this from you. I never knew you didn't like Megan."

"I don't dislike her. I just don't think she's good enough for him in the long run and if what Kyle's saying she was thinking is true, then that means I was right all along. That doesn't, however, mean I should be disrespectful and un-courteous with her."

"I guess." Nathan glanced back at Kevin and Megan, who were smiling together and laughing as if yesterday had never happened, though that might have been the goal in the first place. It was also plain that Kevin was refusing to talk to Kyle no matter how many times he'd asked for them to talk throughout the day. Not a moment ago, Kyle walked over while Kevin and Megan were talking and said they really did need to straighten this out. Normally through the day, Kevin had been quiet about saying no, but since it was just him and Megan sitting together, he was a little more hostile about how little he wanted to talk. Nathan sighed when Kyle finally walked away and went back to the table of cousins who he'd filled in on what the problem was. "It looks like Kevin's still mad."

"I can feel it radiating," Natalie joked. "Mom and dad will probably intervene as soon as they realize there's a problem, so just let it go for now. He's not as mad at you from what I can tell, so don't get yourself deeper in a hole." Natalie glanced back at Travis, who was just staring at his lunch now. Natalie chose to not comment on it. If she was right about what the problem was, now was certainly not the time or place to talk about it. Natalie and Travis shared the same science class at the end of the day, so Natalie followed after Travis once school was over. Travis didn't notice at first until they were halfway to his house and Natalie finally caught up to him.

"What're you doing? Don't you have work today?" Natalie shook her head.

"Not today. I told Gretchen to give me some time off because I thought you needed my attention more than rehearsal."

Travis looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

Natalie sighed and closed the distance by walking to his side and gently nudging his arm to let him know to keep walking. "You've been quiet and sad lately and I'm concerned. I also know that your brothers are going to be at school a while longer and your parents are still at work, so we'll have plenty of time alone for you to let me know what the problem is, because it's certainly not Carlie that you're upset about."

Travis shrugged. "I'm more upset about something she said."

"What did she say?" Travis blushed, becoming extremely embarrassed.

"I'd rather not say, at least not until we get to my house. It requires an explanation."

"Alright, Travis, I'll wait until then. How about we stop by the convenience store and get some pizza rolls or something? I'll even pay."

Travis thought a moment. "Make it pizza rolls and Ben and Jerry's ice cream, and you've got a deal."

"You've got it." Natalie and Travis went passed his house to the convenience store. Kevin was working that day, so Natalie made a solid effort to haggle her way into a family discount or something, but Kevin really wasn't in a mood to budge, so she paid the eighteen dollars and left with their snacks. With their snacks in hand, they went back to Travis's house and started pre-heating the oven for the pizza rolls. "Now that it's just the two of us, tell me about what Carlie said to you; nothing too awful I hope."

"Well…it's really embarrassing, actually…" Travis was really blushing now.

"You know you can tell me, and if it's that bad, I'll make sure not even Kyle finds out about it. Cross my heart and hope to die."

Travis smiled. "I know, I know, but it was awkward…remember how she walked over to me and asked me out first?"

"Sure do, I was there."

"Well…..the only reason I'd said yes was because Maxi was teasing me about how she'd been hitting on me before and I didn't really do anything about it. Anyway, in the time we'd dated, I don't think we even held hands."

"Certainly not at school, that's for sure." Travis nodded.

"Exactly, so she really surprised me last Saturday when she suggested….um…" Travis shuddered a little, "giving me a blowjob."

Natalie's eyes shot open. "What? Why would she suggest that?"

"I don't know. She just suggested it and I was so surprised that she assumed I wasn't opposed to it. So she went ahead and started, and all I could do was sit there rigidly. Ten minutes of this went by without me even realizing it. I only realized it had been that long because she finally stopped to tell me that I wasn't reacting and wasn't getting….aroused."

"Well, of course not!"

Travis sighed. "It gets worse, I promise. She asked me why I wasn't getting aroused and…I just told her she wasn't doing it for me."

"You really told her that?"

"Yeah, but I think I was trying to make her feel bad too. I wasn't lying though. I just wasn't attracted to her. Then when I told her that, she called me a faggot and told me to leave."

"She called you a what? How dare she?" Travis was oddly silent a moment. "So is that what's been bothering you? I have to admit, I had a feeling this was what was wrong? You really never showed any interest in the girls at school, so when you agreed to date Carlie, I was really surprised."

"After I got home," Travis finally said after a long silence, "I took my phone into the bathroom and started looking up obscene pictures of women." Natalie first noticed the choice of word, 'Obscene'. Boys don't normally refer to porn in that manner, but that's how Travis described it. Natalie kept this thought to herself and didn't interrupt Travis while he was half thinking to himself. "I looked at pictures for ten minutes, but no matter how many I looked at, I didn't so much as twitch."

"Well, duh." Natalie finally said. This took Travis by surprise.

"What do you mean, 'duh'?"

Natalie smiled. "Travis, you're my best friend. I know you better than most other people I hang out with. I've always known you weren't into girls."

"Always known? What have I done to ever make you think that about me? Yes, I don't hit on girls, but neither does Kyle and he's not gay."

"No, Travis, Kyle isn't gay; he's just a bit of a prude and socially awkward. You, on the other hand, are quite gay. I figured it out forever ago."

"Explain this to me, then. How have you known since, 'forever ago,' as you put it?"

"Well," Natalie began, using her fingers to count things off, "You're a boy that's friends with me for starters. Seriously, you're the only boy I'm friends with. The rest are either trying to date me or are partners for a school related thing. Aside from daddy, you're really the only guy who actually listens to me. To add to that, you contribute to what I'm saying about theatre. Even daddy won't do that. Secondly, you're the only guy I've known who knows who the girls from Sex and the City are, let alone know their personalities and give detailed reasons why you don't like Miranda. You're also the only man I know who watches Desperate Housewives reruns with me and you like that stupid show more than I do. Also, you're a lot cleaner than your brothers and you dress nicer. That doesn't necessarily mean you're gay, but it certainly doesn't help your case. You also take virtually no interest in sports at all. You're not flamboyant at all, but you're not especially manly either. You're more like the best of both worlds, but in a gay way. Also, let's not forget that you're a big RuPaul Drag Race fan and you're the one who told me how tucking works. Then there's your fascination with gay history, like California in the eighties and the AIDS epidemic. I'm not saying only gay people know this stuff, but it's more likely that a gay person would take such a strong interest in such things. I won't argue that it's not fascinating, but once again, you know far more on those matters than I do. I dare say you know more than gay men that actually lived through the epidemic, but considering the eighties was severely lacking in internet, that's not too strange. Also, when we went to your brother, Jason's, baseball game, you were gawking at the opposing team's pitcher the whole game. Not just looking at, but gawking. Frankly, I can't believe I'm the only one who noticed this, but it's a good thing I was. Also—"

"Okay, okay, I get it!" Travis said, stopping Natalie in her tracks. Travis took a deep breath and jumped when the oven suddenly beeped, letting them know the oven was done preheating. "Put in the pizza rolls. I'm depressed now."

"Travis," Natalie started as she put the pizza rolls in the oven, "you have nothing to be ashamed about. I've never thought any less of you for this and I promise no one else will either. I can't say they won't be surprised considering you keep your show choices and gawking habits extremely secret. In fact, you only watch that stuff when you're with me and just blame it on me."

"You never cared."

"Of course not, because I know watching Sex and the City as a guy is a little embarrassing, especially considering your brothers' 'teasing' ways. If they'd found out, they'd torment the hell out of you. I get that, so I never said anything. But Travis, there's nothing wrong with you being gay. This is 2034 in Washington State. No one's going to penalize you for being who you are. I mean, laws against gay marriage were labeled unconstitutional a good seven years ago."

"Nat, I'm going to be the only member of the family and pack that will be gay. When I do eventually faze for the first time, I'll be the only one. It was weird enough when Leah was the first girl to join the pack, but her issues between her and Sam were solved when she finally imprinted on Hailey. I won't have that option. The awkwardness won't go away that easily. I'll still be the only member of the pack that's gay."

"I know, but that doesn't mean there's something wrong with you. And the sooner you come clean about this, the better."

"No way."

"Travis," Natalie started, but Travis stopped her.

"Nat, I know you mean well, but this is something I have to handle. Besides, I can't just tell my parents this when I'm not even completely sure."

"Look, if you experiment, use a condom. But I'd recommend just joining the GLBT club at school. They can offer you support that maybe I'm not able to give you. It'll also be a great way to find a circle of friends that understand exactly…well mostly what you're going through. You can't tell them about our family's power, but you can tell them about this. I'll even go with you the first time you go. I won't say a word the whole time we're there and I'll be there if you need me."

Travis was quiet a moment. "And you'll make sure absolutely no one finds out about this?"

"Not a soul. No one will know this conversation ever happened and no one will find out about the GLBT club. You have my word that no one outside these walls will ever know until you decide otherwise."

Travis finally smiled. "Thanks, Nat. I really appreciate it. I just need time to think about all this without anyone breathing down my neck about it. The more people I can socialize with that understand me, the better."

"That's the spirit, Travis! Now let's cheer up and eat some pizza rolls over an episode of RuPaul Drag Race."

The two did just that once the pizza rolls were done until Travis's mom came home and Travis hurriedly changed the channel to sports center. Natalie smiled a little and didn't say anything. Natalie stayed a little longer until she knew her parents were on their way home and walked back to her house where her brothers were, none talking to each other. Jacob started dinner with a talk about the pack and about the boys joining, but only on weekend nights. But as he was talking and trying to get them to decide how they want to do this or if they don't want it at all, Jacob noticed the boys acting strangely with each other. Jacob finally intervened when Kevin started yelling at Kyle over potatoes.

"Okay, what's going on with you two?" Jacob asked, and then looked right at Kevin, "Are you still upset with him for telling us about the scare?"

Kevin kept his eyes on his food. "He's trying to tell me he was in the right and I don't appreciate my _younger_ brother treating me like a child."

"I'm not treating you like a child," Kyle said, "I'm trying to say I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Kevin finally looked at Kyle, but he was angrier than before. "You haven't said sorry once to me. It was always, 'I did what was best,' or, 'I did the right thing and it would come out eventually'. Not once did you actually tell me you were sorry."

"Fine, then, I'm sorry."

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Didn't feel it, dude."

"Kevin, Kyle," Nessie said, getting their attention, "please don't argue. I don't want you two arguing anymore."

"Mom, there's a reason Megan and I didn't tell anyone. She didn't tell anyone because she wanted to be certain and I didn't plan to say anything because the test was negative and I didn't want her or her mother getting in trouble over nothing. Kyle went behind my back when he knew I knew nothing about it at the time and told you guys instead of coming to me first and finding out it was taken care of. He betrayed my trust and I won't sit here and let him pretend to be sorry and to lecture me." Nessie was about to stop the arguing, but Jacob quietly stopped her and told her to let them talk it out.

"Kevin, I am sorry. I'm sorry for not coming to you first and asking what was going on before going to mom and dad."

"So you still would have rat me out? You're really no more than a busy body."

"If I'd known the whole story, I would've told them the whole story."

"Fine, but it's not your shit to talk about! I would've told mom and dad about this if and only if it had turned into a problem. It wasn't a problem until you made it one. And on top of that, you dragged Nathan into this because you didn't want to feel like the bad guy. Don't think I don't know exactly what you were thinking at the time, because I heard everything yesterday when we fazed. Never thought that would happen did you?"

"I didn't drag Nathan into anything. I told Nathan what I decided to do and he went along with me. I didn't force him to do anything."

"I'm full," Nathan blurted out and practically ran from the table to go upstairs. Natalie looked towards the direction Nathan ran off and didn't look back at the table until Kevin continued.

"Actions speak louder than words, Kyle, and if Nathan really wasn't dragged into this, he would've said so."

"I didn't drag Nathan into anything! He agreed that we needed to tell mom and dad about this!"

"Well, regardless, it doesn't matter because it was none of your fucking business!"

"Kevin!" Nessie snapped. "I understand that you're upset, but this needs to stop. I want the two of you to agree to disagree and just put this behind you. I won't have your relationship ruined over a misunderstanding."

"Mom," Kevin said, "There is no misunderstanding. Kyle made unfounded claims about Megan's condition and—"

"They were not unfounded!" Kyle interrupted.

"Do you honestly think that I would've kept this from them if Megan were pregnant? I only planned to keep it from them assuming she wasn't and she turned out not to be. No one needed to know we'd had a scare, but you had to stick your nose where it doesn't belong and made this a bigger problem than it already was."

"Enough!" Nessie yelled. Both Kevin and Kyle looked at Nessie while Natalie kept her eyes on her dinner not daring to utter a word. "What's done is done. Megan isn't pregnant, so all should be well. You've both decided to stay in the pack, so there will be no more secrets kept from your father and me. Now please, agree to forget about this and reconcile. You'll not leave this table until you've done so."

Initially, neither Kevin nor Kyle said a word. Kyle didn't want to apologize for doing the right thing and Kevin didn't want to forgive Kyle when he still thought he was in the right. But Nessie made good on her threat. Natalie left the table when she finished her dinner and ran upstairs to get away from the awkward silence. Jacob stayed at the table while Nessie cleared it. When she returned to the table, neither of the boys had said a word to each other or even looked at each other. Nessie and Jacob stayed just as quiet as their sons and several minutes went by in total silence. When Jacob lost his patience with the silence, he stared both of them down as he did with any of his wolves. They both trembled slightly and finally looked at each other.

"Fine….I was wrong. I should not have told mom and dad about this when it was clearly your responsibility to tell them if the necessity arose, and I'm sorry."

Kevin took a deep breath. "I'm sorry too. I know you meant well. All I want, though, is for you to never intrude on such matters again. We can't keep anything from each other, but I want you to let me handle my business without being rushed by someone who doesn't know the whole story. If you can agree to that, then we'll put this whole thing behind us."

Kyle nodded his head. "Alright, Kevin, I'll stay out of your business."

"That's all I ask."

Upon that agreement, Nessie finally let the boys leave the table and clean their dishes before going upstairs. Nessie was relieved that the boys at least seemed like they'd made up with one another and the arguing did stop after that. Two days later, as promised, Natalie went with Travis to the GLBT club and agreed to stay with him as long as he wanted her to. Travis had been feeling sick all day that day. He woke up nervous, he didn't talk much, and he was trembling for a while too. These were people he either didn't know at all or didn't know well and he was about to console in them about something very private, something he wasn't even telling his parents about. The club was very discreet, no signs on the walls or anything. Travis was made all the more nervous to find out about this great application to secrecy but at the same time was extremely relieved about that. The club itself was being held in a classroom normally used by the history teacher and was being supervised by the sex ed/gym teacher Mr. David Call, one of Embry's few cousins on his mother's side. He was also Makka, so he didn't have the wolf gene in him. The fact, however, that the teacher in charge of the club was a person really close to a pack member made Travis's nervousness increase tenfold. He was scared he'd tell Embry, who'd unintentionally tell everyone in the pack, and the rest of the tribe would know by tomorrow. Natalie had the same fear, but said nothing for the time being and looked at the two other kids that were there. One was a guy who looked older than them the other was a girl a little older than them who was also eyeing Natalie a little. She realized this girl thought she was a lesbian or bisexual and was attracted to her. Natalie couldn't help feeling very flattered. Finally, Mr. Call took a seat in a small circle. There were two other chairs that had yet to be filled and they waited until two other girls came into the room. Once they were there, the teacher spoke.

"Is everyone here?" He asked, looking at everyone once. When he noticed Natalie, he raised an eyebrow. "You, Natalie? I would've never thought."

Natalie shook her head. "Oh, no, I'm not a lesbian or anything. I'm just here with Travis as emotional support."

"Fuck, I knew it," the girl from earlier said.

"Don't swear, Cat, we're still in a school setting."

"I know Mr. Call, but there're no hot lesbians in this school of the few that are here."

The two other girls looked at her and the older one spoke. "What the hell's wrong with us, Cat? If all you're aiming for is a girlfriend from this school, we're all you've got."

"At least I'm bisexual," the other girl said more to herself than anything.

"Yup, you're a greedy girl, just like every bisexual out there."

"What can I say, I like both."

"Okay," said Mr. Call, "enough arguing. That's no way to welcome a new club member. Please," he looked at Travis, "introduce yourself and how you found out about us."

"Well," Travis started, "um...Natalie told me about this club, actually. I'm Travis Reis and I'm the youngest of three brothers."

The other guy chuckled a little. "You too, huh? I have six siblings and I'm the youngest of them all. There's a study out there that claims that the youngest boy is more likely to become homosexual because when the mom's pregnant so many times, her body starts fighting the fetus slightly and it fights the testosterone or something. That's what I found on Youtube, though."

"You don't say." Travis said.

"And what do they say about how Lesbians are made?" Cat asked the guy.

"They still don't know according to that video I saw. They did say that lesbians sometimes have bigger hands or something. But for all we know, you could just have an odd fascination with lady parts."

"Lady Parts are awesome, Mr. Gay Man." Cat said jokingly and they both laughed a little. Mr. Call interrupted.

"Alright, guys, Travis has introduced himself properly, so how about we do the same. Phil, why don't you start?"

Phil, the guy who'd been talking to Cat, cleared his throat. He had black hair and tan skin just like everyone else and had a really strong jaw and muscular. Natalie finally remembered that he was the linebacker for a football team in Forks. "Well, I'm Phillip Mason, I'm the linebacker for the Forks Falcons and I'm the youngest of seven kids." When he was done, Phil looked at Cat.

"Hey, I'm Catharina Higgins, and I'm a junior here like Phil. I'm not in any sports because I work like a responsible adult," Cat said teasingly, looking at Phil, "I work at the roller rink in Hoquiam and I've known I was a lesbian since I was thirteen." Cat looked at the older girl to her left.

"I'm Nora Greaves, and I'm one of Cat's many exes." All those who were in on the joke laughed, though sadly Natalie and Travis were not in on it. "Anyway, I'm a sophomore here and I work at the Animal Shelter in Forks and also do dog walking." Nora looked at the final girl.

"I'm the youngest here, but I'm a sophomore too. My name's Carrie Flint and I'm the only one here who's bisexual."

"And I'm Mr. David Call. I'm the teacher supervisor for this club and nothing we say here ever leaves these walls. This club is kept pretty secret because a lot of students who join the club are either unsure of their sexual orientation or haven't come out to their families yet. So, Travis, don't worry about me telling Embry and Embry telling your parents. What happens in this room stays in this room."

Travis finally relaxed a little and smiled. "Thanks Mr. Call."

Natalie stayed with Travis through the whole hour and a half that the group was together. She only left him when they exited the classroom and she finally checked her phone, realizing that one of the actors from Red Night was trying to contact her and find out where she is. Travis went to his locker after saying goodbye to Natalie and got rid of his books. He glanced towards the right of the hallway and realized that Phil was making his way in Travis's direction and wearing a welcoming smile.

"So how'd you like your first meeting with a bunch of hormonal gays?"

Travis smiled. "I had a lot of fun actually. I was terrified about doing this at first to be honest, but I feel a lot better now."

Since they were completely alone in the hallway, Phil decided it was safe to talk a little more. "Why were you terrified?"

"Well….I really only admitted I was gay a few days ago. I always knew I was different, but I didn't think that I was gay. When I finally admitted it to myself, I was scared of accepting it because of…..I wasn't sure how my family would react to it. But you guys really made me feel accepted and it made me feel better."

"Well, that's what we're here for. I admit, though, I thought you were dating that one girl. What was her name?"

"Carlie, and yeah we were dating for a bit but…admittedly, it was more about proving something than me actually liking her that way. My brothers had been getting on my case about not accepting advances from girls and I got a little defensive. Carlie asked me out a few days later and I accepted to prove my brothers wrong."

"I see that didn't last long. That was a few months ago wasn't it? Carlie is friends with my older sister, that's why I know what little I do."

"To be honest…it didn't last because we were never…romantic. When she tried being romantic I couldn't…"

"Enough said," Phil said, rescuing Travis from having to elaborate. "I figured it out when my brothers had a huge stack of playboys in our room and had me join them in looking through them. I was thirteen years old, had hit puberty, and I knew I could get one, but after looking through fourteen playboys and not feeling anything, I figured it out. I made a point to find a boyfriend after that to make sure I was really gay and it turns out I was."

"I haven't really had the chance. As it is, the pickings in Forks and the rez are so few and far between that it's hard to really find anyone."

"I know how you feel, Travis, believe me I know how you feel. It took me two months to find a boyfriend and he lived all the way in Hoquiam. It did make keeping our relationship a secret a little easier though, since no one in town knew him. But finding him was a bitch, let me tell you."

Travis smiled awkwardly and a little disheartened. "Yeah, I bet it was." There was a moment of silence between the two before Phil smiled and made Travis look at him.

"Hey, how about this? Let me treat you to dinner and we can get to know each other. I'll be your first date with a guy. And if things turn out well, we can keep seeing each other and see where it goes from there. What do you say?"

Travis thought about it a moment. As it was, he didn't have many other options. And it's not like Phil was ugly, he was actually really attractive. And how else would Travis ever be able to experiment than with a guy that's in the club and actually knows a thing or two already? Travis finally smiled and nodded. "I'd love to. When should we meet?"

"Well, since this is a first date, I'll bring two friends of mine that are also gay. That way, it won't look weird that we're going out and doing something. Being in a group is less suspicious and I promise they're really nice. I'm assuming you've still not told your parents you're gay right?"

"No, I haven't told them. Thanks for keeping this discreet. When should we do this?"

"How about Friday night? I don't have practice that day and Saturday's doesn't start until the mid afternoon. And I'll make sure to have you home at a reasonable hour. We'll all go to dinner and a movie, token date things."

"Okay, I'll make sure I have some money. Maybe I can get Natalie to lend me some. She's a shark when loaning money, but she's never really hard on me.

"You can if you want, but let me pay for you. I am the older of us and it is a date after all. Let me be a gentleman and treat you."

Travis chuckled. "Okay, if you want."

"I'll pick you up at five thirty so we can get to Hoquiam and pick up my friends. Is that okay?"

"That's great. I'll see you then."

"See you then." Phil walked away, leaving Travis in the hallway in front of his locker trying not to do a happy dance at his luck. The next morning, Travis, having kept it to himself for the whole night, finally told Natalie as they were walking to school alone together. Travis called Natalie and told him to come to school early with him just so he could tell her.

"So guess what."

"I don't know what?"

Travis grinned. "You remember Phil, the older guy from the meeting? Well, we started talking after you left and we related about how the gay community isn't that big here, and he ended up asking me out on a date."

Natalie was gawking at him. "Jesus Christ, Travis, you go to one GLBT meeting and you've already got a boyfriend? You work fast, don't you?"

"I wouldn't call him my boyfriend, Natalie. He asked me on a date, not to be his boyfriend. Besides, he's inviting two of his friends to come with us so it doesn't look suspicious or anything."

"It's still a date if he's treating you to dinner and a movie, which I assume is what he's doing."

"How'd you know he was treating me?"

"Because it's what a gentleman would do for his date." Travis chuckled and gently shoved Natalie aside. Later that day during lunch, Travis sat with Natalie and Nathan like always. He saw Phil walk past him and they said hi to each other, but no more than that.

"Travis," Nathan said after Phil was gone, "Since when are you friends with a junior?"

Travis shrugged. "We just bumped into each other and said hi. Nothing really."

"Whatever," Nathan said before taking another bite of his sandwich.

The day of the date, Travis and Phil didn't even glance at each other. They didn't bring up that they'd planned to go on a date during the next GLBT meeting, especially since Cat was a bit of a loud mouth. She wouldn't bring it up on purpose, of course, but she's let cats out of the bag without meaning to. Phil warned Travis beforehand about this before hand and when their date night finally came, Travis made sure to get ready before anyone was home from work or clubs. When Phil arrived to pick him up, Phil was courteous to Travis's parents and even teased that he would make sure their baby would be home by bedtime.

That Monday, Travis picked Natalie up for school early so he could tell her all about his date with Phil. His friends came with on the date, like Phil said they would, but his friends left him and Travis alone for the most part. Evidently, Phil had dated one of them at one point, so he teased Travis endlessly, assuring him that he could find someone much better than Phil, but that he liked being licked behind his ear and blah, blah, blah. Phil did eventually tell his friends to lay off, but it wasn't soon enough for Travis's liking. The first thing the group did was go to see a movie that Travis technically shouldn't be allowed to see. One of Phil's friends was eighteen, so he collected everyone's money and paid for the tickets. As Natalie predicted and as Phil promised, he paid for Travis's ticket and for the popcorn they shared through the movie.

Travis paid very little attention to the movie. Horror movies weren't his thing, so he focused more on the popcorn. And since Phil's hand touched his several times when Travis tried to grab some popcorn, it made for several awkward moments. It was obvious through the whole movie that Phil was a lot more comfortable than Travis was for the simple reason that he'd done all this before. Travis was still trying to get used to all this and also was trying not to do anything. Phil did at one point take Travis's hand in his and held it when Travis reached for a handful of popcorn. Phil noticed Travis shaking a little and he smiled. Phil glanced around a moment making sure he wouldn't bother anyone, then brought his face closer to Travis and whispered, "You alright?"

Travis nodded. "Yeah, I'm alright."

"Then why are you shaking? You nervous?" Travis bit his lip a little and finally nodded begrudgingly. Phil smiled a little more. "It's okay. I was too my first time with a guy. Don't think too much about all this, okay? Just enjoy yourself. And don't worry; I won't force anything on you."

"I appreciate that."

"You're welcome, Travis." Without warning then, Phil closed the distance with a very brief kiss, and then turned his attention back to the movie. This left Travis a little surprised and he didn't say or do anything for a bit. When he did do something, he licked his lips a little and smiled back at the screen. It was his first kiss with Phil and he was giddy from it. He'd kissed his 'girlfriend' before, but that never really felt like anything. It always felt forced and uncomfortable. When Phil had kissed him, it was a lot more natural and comfortable for him. He actually enjoyed it and realized he wanted to do it again. Hoping to initiate it, Travis kissed Phil's hand, getting his date's attention and smile, and then finally earning another kiss from Phil. When they both heard Phil's friends begin to snicker and tease them, Phil and Travis stopped and continued watching the movie, but they didn't let go of each other's hands.

When the movie was over, they all left the theatre and went to a local burger joint that was a few blocks away from the theatre. Again, Phil paid for Travis and the group sat at a table further from the window and Phil made sure that Travis was sitting on the inside of the booth so he wasn't immediately visible. They all finished their dinner and talked for a few hours until Travis realized he was late getting home. Phil drove him back home as fast as he could and managed to get Travis home before eleven. Thankfully, the next day was a weekend, so being a little late wasn't so bad. Phil asked if they could kiss, but Travis knew there was a chance one of the wolves would catch him, so he said it was best not to risk it and thank Phil for the date.

"Did you enjoy your first date with another guy?" Phil asked after Travis warned against the kiss.

"I had a lot of fun."

"Does that mean we'll be doing this again sometime soon?"

Travis nodded. "Definitely," Travis said with a smile. "Well, I'll see you Monday."

"See you Monday," Phil responded. Travis finally left the car and waved goodbye to Phil as he drove away. Travis took a deep breath before walking into the house, hoping it would make sure he didn't seem out of the ordinary. When he came inside, his mom was in the kitchen doing dishes.

"You're a little late, Travis. Is everything alright?" Travis nodded.

"Yeah, everything's fine. It was my fault. The movie I wanted to see was showing later than we were planning so we were set back a little. Sorry for not calling."

"It's alright, honey, just make sure you call me if you're ever going to be late coming home. It makes the worrying slightly less nerve wracking. So what movie did you see?"

"Nothing special, just one of those horror movies. It really wasn't that good actually. I'd thought it would be better, so I'm a little bummed about it."

"Well that's a shame. Did you have fun with the guys besides the bad movie?"

The memory of his intimate moment with Phil immediately flashed in his mind and he fought a light hearted smile. Instead, Travis smiled as he normally would and nodded. "Yeah, we all had a lot of fun. It was nice to be around some friends that weren't related to me."

Rachael smiled. "I guess in our little village, sometimes family really is all you have unless you go the next reservation or town over. Also, I've been meaning to ask, what grade is Phil in?"

"He's a junior at our school and he's on the Forks football team," and then Travis kept his mouth shut, realizing he was beginning to gloat.

"Okay, I figured he was about that age. Don't get me wrong, I adore Natalie, but I do think you should hang out with some male friends. I know I love my girl time, so I image a guy like his guy time, right?"

"Definitely," Travis said awkwardly. Thankfully, Rachael didn't seem to notice and Travis was able to tell his mom goodnight and run upstairs and go to bed. The next morning, Travis was still as excited as he'd been the night before and he desperately wanted to talk to someone about how much fun he'd had with Phil. Seeing as Natalie was the only one who knew about all this already, Travis called her and told her to meet him at first beach on the cliff.

"_Travis, I have to go to the theatre today. You know I practice on weekends. Can it wait until Monday?"_

"Natalie, I'm in a really good mood and I want to share my joy with someone I can actually talk to. Now get your ass to first beach cliff or I'll call Gretchen and tell her you're downing Twinkies or something. You know what she always says, 'They go straight to your ass.'" Natalie sighed heavily.

"_Not funny, Travis."_

"Sorry, but please? Just an hour."

"_Alright, just an hour."_

When Travis hung up his phone, he went back to his room from the bathroom and got dressed quickly, grabbing an energy bar and running out of the house and going straight to the cliff. Thankfully, the older high school kids on the reservation hadn't gotten there for cliff diving yet, so he had some time to brag to Natalie before they'd be shooed off. Travis was the first to get to the cliff and waited a few minutes before Natalie arrived.

"Alright, I'm here. So how was your first boy date?"

Travis grinned. "I had a lot of fun. We kissed."

Natalie went wide eyed and smiled. "Already? You two didn't waste any time did you?"

"Well, he kissed me first, and I was so excited about it that I kissed him the second time."

"You two didn't like…do anything else did you?"

"What? No! Of course not, it was the first date. Nothing else happened besides us kissing."

"I'm just making sure aren't working too fast. Just because pickings are slim doesn't mean you sleep with every gay guy you come upon."

"Nothing more than kissing happened, Peanut."

"Just making sure. So, getting to what you two did do; how was it?"

Travis smiled and blushed. "It was really nice. He kissed me after assuring me I didn't need to be nervous and that kiss definitely made me feel a lot better."

"So I take it you two are going out again?"

"Next chance we get, yes we're seeing each other again."

"What about school? Are you two planning to start hanging out at school?"

"No," Travis said, shaking his head. "I don't want mom and dad finding out and us hanging out at school might look suspicious, especially if we get a little carried away and blah, blah. I don't want to risk it and no one really knows he's gay either. It would be better if he and I didn't hang out at school."

"Well that sucks. You go to the same school as your boyfriend and you can't even make out with him in front of your locker."

Travis blushed. "Boyfriend." Travis sighed. "You haven't told anyone right?"

"No one. The only one who probably knows is Kyle, and frankly if he does, he knows to keep his trap shut. Don't worry, Travis. You're secret's safe with me."

Travis smiled. "Thanks a lot, Natalie."

"Think nothing of it. You'd do the same for me if I were in your shoes." Natalie stood from her sitting position next to Travis and turned to walk away. "I better be off. I told mom I wouldn't be too long."

"Alright. I'll see you later, Nat."

Natalie sighed. "I admit I'm a little jealous of you. You already have a boyfriend at our age and with an older guy to boot. I kind of wish I had one."

"You'll get one eventually. You're only fourteen so give it time. You're too young to be dating anyway."

"Says the guy who's only a few months older than me."

"I'm different, Natalie. I don't run the risk of getting pregnant and vice versa. As long as I use a condom and practice safe sex when that time comes, I should be alright."

Natalie giggled. "Fair enough. I'll see you later, Travis." Then Natalie began running for her house so she and her mother could make their way to Red Night.

Travis and Phil continued seeing each other, but keeping it secret from everyone, even the members of their club. Travis just didn't want to risk anyone finding out, especially not his parents. He knew his parents would never condemn him for this or anything, but he wasn't ready to tell them. He was scared that Paul would be disappointed or that he would look like a failure or any number of things his parents and brothers could possibly think about him. So he kept it a secret and Natalie did the same, because telling anyone about this wasn't her business and Travis would come out when and only when he was ready to.

The rest of the year went on without incident. Travis and Phil continued to see each other in as normal of circumstances as was possible. They rarely ever had a date alone, so when they did, the privacy was definitely taken advantage of. Though Kevin and Kyle did apologize to each and come to an agreement, it was still a while before they were back on speaking terms. Since they weren't actively fighting, Nessie didn't force them to bury the hatchet further and let them work it out naturally, even though it was the last thing she wanted to do. Kevin, Kyle and Nathan began going on patrol with Jacob, but Kyle and Nathan made sure they didn't have patrol nights the same nights as Kevin. Neither of them wanted to risk Kevin finding out about what Megan felt about the 'situation that shall never be brought up again' and they didn't want Jacob to find out either. If he found out, Nessie would find out, and that would lead to more trouble that they didn't want to get it. It was still bothering Nathan immensely though. Kyle was bothered, but he could update himself on Megan's thoughts about the relationship while Nathan couldn't.

Over the summer, Megan had been out of state for the last few weeks before school and she didn't come back until the Sunday before hers and Kevin's senior year started. On the first day, Kevin had come to her locker with a bouquet of flowers and they'd made out for the remainder of the break before school started. Nathan had thought nothing of the whole thing until he looked at Kyle and noticed he seemed to be seething.

"What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing," Kyle responded before closing his locker and walking to his first class. After school that day, Nathan didn't get a chance to talk to Kyle before he and one of his friends (who'd gotten his license not long before) left for Hoquiam for work. Kevin also went to work right after school, but it wasn't like Nathan could've talked to Kevin about the whole thing anyway. That would require telling him the other half, so Nathan just made the long walk to the Forks Police Station in the hopes grandpa Charlie would have some work for him to do so he could get some extra money. Charlie gave Nathan some filing work to do and let him watch the new cops get tasered.

"Do I really have to do this?" Nathan asked after the first newbie cop got tasered. Charlie chuckled.

"Sorry, kid, but it's a requirement. I had to be tasered, all my colleagues had to be tasered, and when you join the force, you'll have to be tasered too."

"Why?"

"Because we're authorized to carry tasers."

"You're authorized to carry a gun. Are you saying I need to be shot too?"

"No, no, no, that's different. A gun we are authorized to carry, but we're not allowed to use it unless under extreme circumstances, like if we're being shot at. Otherwise we use tasers to detain someone assuming they're being unruly and aren't cooperating. But unless you know what it feels like, a cop might go a little taser crazy. It's happened before hence why it's required."

Nathan groaned. "What's it like to be tasered?"

Charlie sighed. "I can honestly say, it's one of the most painful experiences of my life. I can honestly say I'd rather be shot. At least if you're shot, the pain's in one concentrated spot. When you're tasered, the pain is all over your body and it lasts longer."

"But aren't you more likely to be killed from being shot than tasered?"

"Not necessarily. A gunshot can always miss where as a taser never misses and if you're tasered too long, your heart could stop. But don't worry. The Force always makes sure to check an individual's health history before they do any of this. I don't have any heart related problems on my side and Billy doesn't, at least I don't think so. You'll be fine when this little test comes along. Don't worry."

Nathan groaned again, but didn't say anything else as the next newbie cop got tasered and fell to the ground grinding his teeth while the other cops started laughing. Nathan decided to go home after that. He was the first one home, so he went up the street to his Aunt Rachael's house to see if Travis was home. It was a tight-knit reservation, so whenever someone was home, the front door was left unlocked so the cousins could visit whenever they wanted. Nathan let himself into the house and went in the direction that he heard a TV on. Nathan followed the noise to his Aunt and Uncle's bedroom where he saw Travis watching sports center.

"Hey, Travis. Who's winning?"

"I don't know. These two announcers have been talking the whole time."

"When did you start watching?"

"I don't know, I wasn't paying attention. So what're you doing here? I thought you spent afternoons at the police station most of the time."

"Normally, but there was a training thing going on and there wasn't anything for me to file, so Charlie sent me home. I was bored, so I came over. You're free right?"

"Sure. I'm not doing anything important. What did you want to do?"

"Actually," Nathan began reluctantly, "I was hoping I could confide in you a little."

"Sure. What's wrong?"

"It has to do with Kevin and Megan."

"It's not another pregnancy scare or something is it?"

"No, thank God no! It's actually more concerning Kyle sneering at her this morning when Kevin gave her flowers. She'd been out of state for a while and Kevin said it was because of a family visit. What I'm wondering is what set Kyle off about that whole thing. I think he's still upset about Megan's disdain for the pregnancy scare. He never really forgave her for that because if he says nothing, it will eventually bite Kevin in the ass, but if he does say something, then he'll be the bad guy again and Kevin and Kyle will start fighting again."

"So basically he loses either way. What about the pack? Who else knows about this?"

"Embry, John, Brian, Leah, you dad knows, Henry, and Halley. Kyle and I have made it clear they're not to say anything, though."

"My dad knows? He never brought it up with mom."

"Again, we asked him not to. If he told your mom, then she'd tell my mom, and my mom would intervene and that would open a can of worms no one wants to open. I want to ask Kyle about this morning and all, but I'm scared that it might turn into a bigger problem."

"I say ask Grandpa Edward. He'll know what's on Kyle's mind and he'll know what to do. When your parents and Kyle get home, convince them to go to the Cullen house for dinner. I'm sure if it's that bad, your grandpa will say something about it. He already knows all this anyway doesn't he?"

"Well, yeah, he read her mind that day just like Kyle did, but Megan hasn't been to the Cullen house since then."

"Well, like I said, convince your parents to go to the Cullen house and see what happens."

Nathan spent the rest of the afternoon with Travis and did homework together until it reached about the time Nathan's parents were supposed to come home. After leaving, Nathan ran home and waited until Jacob and Nessie got home before suggesting that they go to the Cullen house for dinner. It didn't go as planned, though. Jacob was exhausted over something that happened at work and didn't feel like going to Nessie's family's house and went right upstairs. Nessie assured Nathan that they would definitely go the next day and started prepping dinner for when Kevin, Kyle, and Natalie would get home from their own work day. Nathan kept his mouth shut during dinner while eating, but since it was Kevin's night to do patrol with dad, Nathan had the opportunity to talk to Kyle privately.

"So what was this morning all about?"

Kyle took a deep breath and buried his nose in his book. "I don't really want to talk about it."

"Well, we'll have to. I texted grandpa and asked him to come over to help us with homework. He'll figure out what I actually texted him for when he gets here."

"Nathan," Kyle said, almost slamming his book down in his lap, "why would you do that?"

"Because that little sneer of yours doesn't bode well with me. I know how you feel about Megan, but you haven't reacted that way to her since the 'scare that won't be brought up'. I have to wonder what she did or was thinking that would get such a reaction from you."

Kyle didn't say anything. Instead, he closed his book, put it on his nightstand, and laid down staring at the wall by his bed. Nathan didn't push, knowing grandpa would be there soon anyway. Nathan straightened when he heard the door open and his mom start talking to grandpa. Kyle sat up in bed and they both waited for Edward to come up to their room. When Edward came in, he closed the door behind him and looked right at Kyle, his face serious as could be.

"Kyle, this is serious, so you have to be _certain_ you're right."

"It doesn't matter if I'm right or not. I'm not saying anything to Kevin. He's finally talking to me again and isn't mad at me anymore. I'm not going to say anything and get him mad at me again. If I tell Kevin about this, he'll never speak to me again."

"What did she even do?" Nathan asked. "Did she cheat on him or something?" No one said anything. Kyle looked at his hands with a glum look on his face and Edward was taking deep breaths that were completely useless. "Oh my God, she cheated on him?"

"Yes! Yes, damn it, now please drop it!" Kyle shouted, earning Nessie's attention. Edward walked out of the room to give Nessie a bogus explanation about what was going on, claiming that Nathan was bringing up something embarrassing that happened at school and it was nothing to worry about. When Edward had managed to calm Nessie down and send her away, Edward went back to the boys' room, closing the door behind him.

"What exactly happened?" Nathan asked, looking at Edward, since Kyle wasn't going to say anything.

Edward sighed. "According to what Kyle heard from Megan's thoughts, she'd gone to California for those couple weeks of the summer for a college visit, which means she lied to Kevin about what she was actually doing. She'd told him that she was just visiting family. Anyway, on the visit to UCLA, she got the opportunity to spend some time at the dorms to get a taste of college living and the dormitory she stayed at threw a party that she'd been invited to. There was drinking at the party that Megan's mother and father were not aware of and Megan became extremely intoxicated and in her drunken state she slept with two boys named Cody and Matt."

"Two!" Nathan almost said loudly, but caught himself and whispered harshly. Then he looked at Kyle. "Are you sure about this? This is insane!"

"At the same time," Edward mumbled to himself, which near made Nathan's heart stop.

"Yes, Nathan, I'm sure about it." After that, the door opened and everyone looked at the door and saw Natalie, looking upset. She walked in, closed the door, and sat on Nathan's bed and looked up at grandpa.

"I overheard you guys talking. Is it true?"

Kyle sighed. "Yes, Nat, it's true."

"I could stand her saying she didn't want to be stuck with Kevin and all, but this is too much."

"I already said I'm not telling him. I won't put us in that spot again. I learned my lesson the hard way and I'm not making the same mistake twice."

"Kyle," Edward began, "this isn't telling your parents that Megan _might_ be pregnant. This is you telling Kevin that Megan _has_ cheated on him _and_ lied to him. Kevin will be upset, yes, but he knows you would never lie to him about something this serious."

Kyle shook his head. "No, he'll be mad at me. He'll be mad at me and he'll take her side because she'll deny the whole thing and we'll be right back where we were early this year. He'll be angry no matter which of us tell him."

"How about Natalie gets Megan to admit it."

Natalie gave Nathan a weird look. "And how do you propose I do that; just walk up to her and ask, 'hey, Megan, I just wanted to ask, did you get drunk at a dorm party and have a three way behind my brother's back?' She'd smack me, firstly, and secondly, she'd deny it up and down. She's not going to tell me anything."

"Well she's not going to admit it to either of us and she certainly won't admit it to Kevin," Nathan said.

"We don't need to trick her," Edward said, "We need to tell Kevin the truth and let him deal with it. Kyle, there's no avoiding Kevin being upset about this, but it needs to be done. If you really want me to, I'll tell Kevin about it."

"I said no, grandpa. Kevin will know that I told you."

"Kyle," Natalie interrupted. "I'll try to get her to admit it. If nothing else, I'll see if I can find it out somehow and when I do, I'll tell him. That way, we can at least make it seem like I found out on accident and you won't have to get in deep water with Kevin again. I'll take the heat."

Kyle finally looked up, slightly hopeful. "Really?"

"Yes, really. I'll start snooping tomorrow, cross my heart."

Kyle walked over to Natalie and hugged her, thanking her while Edward sighed. "This isn't a good idea. You need to just tell him."

"Grandpa," Natalie said, "Kevin wasn't exactly pleasant to Kyle when he was upset with him last time over telling mom and dad Megan might be pregnant. Telling Kevin she cheated on him will end far worse."

Edward sighed. "Fine, I'll let you three handle this. If you really want to handle it this way, then I'll keep out of it."

"Thanks grandpa."

Edward left that night looking none out of the ordinary and assured Nessie that they understood their homework now. Kevin got home at about midnight. Jacob wanted the boys in bed at least by midnight so they could always get at least a little sleep in before going to school and he never got mad at anyone for taking a quick nap. Since there were so many wolves, one or two taking a nap in intervals wasn't so bad. Considering the hours they were on patrol, naps were necessary. The next morning (for Nathan and Kyle) was unbearably awkward. They avoided it all they could, but they kept glancing at Kevin eating his cereal. He didn't even have a hair out of place. He looked groggy, but that was expected and certainly didn't indicate that he knew anything. Natalie seems completely unbothered and normal through breakfast as if last night hadn't happened at all. That always bugged Kyle. No matter what, Natalie could always pretend everything was normal. Call it acting ability or just aloofness, either way it was aggravating.

They all left for school together and Kyle managed to hold up a conversation with Kevin, but he didn't contribute much, especially when giving Heather flowers the day before came up. Natalie wouldn't end up seeing Megan that day until gym class. Their classes were at the same time and they were in the locker room together, so it would be a perfect time to begin snooping. Natalie changed her locker spot to a place as close to Megan as possible without looking suspicious and she paid close attention the conversations between Megan and her friend Kathy. Nothing important came up in the locker room, but Natalie wasn't discouraged and she made sure to listen in while they were all waiting for gym to start. Natalie was really impressed with herself for managing to keep Megan from noticing her. Unfortunately, Natalie's class had to go to the shelf and run, taking her out of close range of Megan. But have no fear, Vamp gene is here! Natalie ran behind a pair of bleachers to faze into her vampiric form and kept her distance from her classmates so they wouldn't notice and kept her eyes wide open and listening. Megan and Kathy's conversationabout California and the UCLA college visit had already been discussed and it seemed like Megan was dodging the subject for the time being. A whole thirty minutes of class went by talking about UCLA and Megan never so much as brought up staying at the dorms for a week. Natalie was beginning to lose hope that Megan would even bring it up with her best friend. When gym class ended, everyone went back to the locker rooms to get changed, but Natalie kept listening. And she was glad she did. While changing from her sports bra, Megan sighed heavily and looked at Kathy seriously.

"Kathy, I have something I want to get off my chest. You have to promise not to tell anyone, though."

"You know I wouldn't tell a soul. What's on your mind?"

"Well, I've told you most everything that happened when I was in California, but I didn't tell you that I'd stayed at the dorm for a week. It was something the school was offering to potential students that are about to graduate high school. Something about getting the new comers used to a college setting or whatever."

"You got to stay in the dorms? That's awesome! Was it fun?"

Megan sighed. "That's actually what I wanted to talk about. For the first five days, everything was fine and I got to hang out with some of the girls from the sorority and find out how to get in once I start going to UCLA, but once Friday came around, that's when things got bad."

"What do you mean bad?"

Before continuing, Megan lowered her voice to a whisper and brought her face closer to Kathy's. "What I'm about to tell you is not to leave this room. You aren't to tell anyone, not even Kevin. ESPECIALLY not Kevin. If he found out, I don't know what I'd do."

"I promise, I promise, I won't tell anyone. What happened that's so bad? Did they hurt you or something?"

Megan shook her head. "No, that's not it. Friday before I was set to come back home, the dorm threw a big party for the fraternity and the sorority girls I'd befriended were invited and they asked me to come with them. Well, there was plenty of alcohol at the party, needless to say and it got way out of hand. Jenna, one of the sorority girls, kept giving me more and more drinks, like jello shots, _jägerbombs, Long Island Ice Teas, you name it, and she gave it to me. Anyway, not even an hour into the party, I was absolutely trashed. My head was spinning, I was feeling light headed, the works. So, when these two guys from the fraternity started hitting on me, I thought nothing of it. And….well…..I kind of…slept with them."_

_"Them, as in more than one?"_

_"Two, Cody and Matt…I think. Truth be told, I was so drunk, I'm probably wrong about their names. But like I said, I wasn't in control anymore."_

_"Wow, what a weekend you had. Definitely never tell Kevin. I've never seen him have a cross word with you, but if he ever were to, it would be over this."_

_"Exactly. I don't want him knowing about this. I don't want it to end this way. I don't want us to drift apart, but I don't want us breaking up over something I hardly remember either. I want it to be good, clean, and with us still being friends."_

_"So you're already planning to break up with him? Why?"_

_"Why do you think? I'm going to UCLA. I've already been accepted. Kevin's already taken his LSATs and got a 180 on the test. A 180, Kathy! That's a perfect score! Couple that with his grades and the fact that he can prove he's half Native American, the Ivy League schools are basically paying him to come to their schools. He can get into whichever one he wants and basically go there for free and he's already told me he really wants to go to Yale. That's all the way on the East coast, the other side of the country! We can't make that work. It's not that I don't love Kevin, it's just that I'm being realistic here. We can't make a relationship work when he's all the way in Connecticut and I'm in California. It's just not possible."_

_"I guess, but that doesn't mean you cheat on him."_

_"I didn't do it on purpose, Kathy."_

_"Look, when are you even planning to break it off?"_

_"I don't know yet. It just won't be now."_

_"Aren't you being a little selfish? Kevin treats you like a princess and he loves you. Why are you stringing him along like that?"_

_"I'm not stringing him along. I'm keeping him for as long as I can have him. I'm enjoying our time together for as long as it lasts. When the time comes that we have to end it, then I will, but for now, let me just enjoy Kevin."_

_Kathy sighed. "If that's what you want to do."_

_ Natalie kept her cool, but she was losing her patience. Knowing Kevin and Megan's relationship wouldn't last, and hearing it were two completely different things. But what was important was that she'd admitted to the whole debacle and had overheard it. She could tell Kevin what she'd heard. But somehow, Natalie wasn't satisfied with that. She felt a need to punish Megan somehow. Kevin was still her brother and she didn't take too kindly to anyone mussing around with him in any way. As Natalie walked to the gym doors and waited for the bell to ring, she started thinking about what she could do to reveal the whole thing to Kevin and hurt Megan badly in the process. She deserved it for what she was doing after all. Before, Nat really didn't dislike Megan, but now she did and she would enjoy getting back at her a lot more than she probably should. When the bell finally rang, Natalie went straight to the Cafeteria and took a seat where she usually sat with Nathan and Travis. She didn't wait long until they sat with here, but Kyle ended up sitting with them too, bringing Jason and Max with him._

_"So?" Kyle said, looking at Natalie. Max and Jason already knew about the whole thing and promised to keep it a secret. Kyle and Nathan had patrol tonight, so it was up to them to make sure the rest of the pack kept quiet about this. Max and Jason were even planning to skip out on patrol for a while to make sure it didn't slip out. Kyle wanted this to be done as gently as possible._

_"I overheard her talking to Kathy about it. I heard the whole thing."_

_"Good! You can tell Kevin tonight."_

_"It won't be tonight."_

_"Wait, what? Why not?"_

_"Don't worry, he'll find out. I just want to punish Megan while I'm at it."_

_"Punish her how?" Max asked._

_"I don't know yet. I'm still thinking about it."_

_"Nat, we don't have time for you to play mind games with Megan! Tell Kevin what Megan did, have Nathan do a mind transfer thing to prove it, and let Kevin handle it from there. Please, don't drag this out."_

_"I won't let it get dragged out too long. Look, I'm trying to think of a way to make sure that all of us are exempt from any blame ____and__ Megan gets her just desserts for all this, incurring all of Kevin's wrath instead of a small portion of it. If it takes a while, then it takes a little while, but don't worry. Kevin will find out."_

_"Nat, I asked you to find out and tell Kevin, not find out and screw around."_

_"Look, if you don't want to do this my way, then you can always tell him yourself." Kyle didn't say anything. "So I'll get to work and get the gears a-movin'."_

_ And Natalie did just that. Once school was over, Natalie found Kathy and brought her somewhere private to tell her that Kevin had a huge crush on her and that he really liked her. Kyle had mentioned in passing once during prom season last school year that Kathy really liked Kevin and had wished he'd been hers. Granted, this was because Kevin was being a far better date to Megan than her date was being, but even now, there was still attraction and coveting as proven by her tone when talking to Megan earlier. Kathy didn't make any verbal indication that she believed Natalie, but she could tell that Kathy was certainly considering the possibility and was becoming hopeful. The seeds were officially planted and all that was left were to sit back and water the plant from time to time. The only problem was that unless it's a weed, plants don't often grow very fast. But Natalie told Kyle to sit back, shut up, and let her take care of things from here. Kyle and the others reluctantly did what Natalie said and let her take care of things. 'Watering the plant' whenever the opportunity arose. _

_ Unfortunately, Kathy wasn't acting as quickly as Natalie had hoped she would. She was clearly losing her resolve as time went on and as Natalie encouraged her, but Kathy kept clinging to the fact that she was Megan's friend and she would not betray her like that. To which Natalie would reply, "It's understandable that a good person like you wouldn't want to betray a friend. That being said, doesn't it bother you that Megan would betray my brother the way she did." Kathy knew that Natalie knew about the conversation in the locker room and she never said a word to Megan about it (something Natalie never said she needed to do). Kathy's resolve was definitely wavering, but there was still time left before Kathy's resolve would bloom like a beautiful little friend-backstabbing flower. Before winter break that year, Natalie gave Kathy one more tidbit, reminding her that Megan already planned on breaking up with Kevin and that if Megan and Kevin were to break up, that would leave room for Kathy to make her move and win Kevin over. Edward had already made several attempts to tell Natalie to just tell Kevin the truth and be done with it, but Natalie would not be budged. So Edward decided she would need to learn the hard way._

_ When winter break came along, Kevin made sure to get at least a week off from work at the general store so he could spend more time with Megan. Kyle worked at much and as late as possible, wanting to avoid any possible extra time with Kevin so he wouldn't accidentally bring it up out of pure guilt and frustration. Nathan spent most if not all his time with Travis with the same objective. Being around Paul didn't really help, though. He and the other wolves on the regiment were well aware of what was happening and he never failed to give Nathan his two cents about what they ____should__ be doing about Kevin and Megan. But Nathan only ever made Paul promise not to tell Rachael. He'd reluctantly agree, then they'd wash and repeat every time Nathan came over. The week of Christmas, the Cullen house was decorated head to toe in lights and Christmas decorations and the Denali's were over to visit. Some of the former Volturi members were planning to come, but as to who, it wasn't completely certain. Felix was certain, but that was expected. He came to the U.S. a lot just to visit Lia, so he was always over for Christmas. He'd also been bringing his new mate, Jillian, who was a darling and was gifted at telling stories. She and Chelsea had become fast friends, initially because they'd both served as 'escorts' when they were human during ancient Roman times, but they found they had more and more in common as they spoke to each other._

_ Mysteriously, about a week before Christmas, Embry apparently called off work for the week and no one had heard from him since. In any other situation, Ms. Call would have contacted authorities, but she knew she could rely on Jacob and the pack to find him. The problem was he wasn't fazing into his wolf and he wasn't in the woods, in Forks, or any of the surrounding cities that were close by. He wouldn't answer phone calls, but he did answer in texts. He only ever said, ____"Busy for the week, be back home soon,"__ and that would be that. No one knew what he was up to, not even the pack. He hadn't been thinking about doing anything like this and he up and left so suddenly. It seemed like whatever Embry was dealing with, he wanted to take care of himself, but Ms. Call made the pack promise that if Embry wasn't home by New Years, that they were to search all of Washington if they had to until they found him. Until then, they kept sending him texts asking if he was okay and he'd just reply, ____"I'm fine, be home by the end of the week,"__ and no more._

_ While everyone was worrying about where the hell Embry was (because even Edward didn't have a clue, which goes to show how sudden his disappearance was) the family prepped the Cullen house to entertain guests, both that ate and didn't eat. Only those who were in on the vampire secret were allowed to come, which meant that Megan couldn't come to the party. Kevin was disappointed about that, because he'd wanted so badly for her to meet Nessie's side of the family and under far better circumstances than last time. "I mean, she'll have to get to know you guys if she and I end up getting married later." When Kevin said that, Kyle almost vomited, both from rage about what was being kept from him and pure shame that he was being too much of a coward to tell him. Nathan almost said something, but Natalie pinched him, hard, and shut him up really quick. The day before Christmas, the rest of the guests that were coming finally arrived, including Demetri and Afton's coven (grandkids and all), and their friends from South America. Even Nahuel's coven showed up (excluding his two other sisters Citclali and Atzi). _

_ With Kevin having free time off work, he spent most of his time with her and had an early Christmas party with her family. When Natalie heard about this, she made a mental note to slap Megan after Kevin had his choice words with her once he found out what a whore she was! Nathan tried to be at the station as much as possible and Kyle wouldn't have a day off work until Christmas day and would be back working at the movie theatre by New Years Day. Natalie was always at Red Night. Gretchen had spent months trying to buy the rights to ____Wicked __and once she had it, she immediately cast Natalie as Elsie. So she needed to start practicing. When Christmas finally came around, (for Kyle and Nathan and all who were aware) the gathering became painfully awkward. When they'd gotten there, most of the vampires were out of state hunting and wouldn't be back until early afternoon. Natalie, Nathan, and Travis stayed outside on the porch playing a board game together so they could stay out of the commotion in the house. Kyle watched a game with Kevin and their grandparents drinking beer. Jacob didn't mind letting Kevin drink during family events, but he was only allowed one beer and he was done. Normally Kyle never drank anything, but this year, he had a beer, hoping he would feel a little better. Maybe there was something to alcohol after all. _

_ One sip of beer, though, and Kyle hated it. He didn't see the appeal, so he just handed it to Billy so he would drink it. After an hour of sitting at the couch doing nothing, he gets bored and goes out on the patio with his siblings and watched them play their board game for a while. _

_"How goes your little plan, Nat?" Kyle finally said quietly, his tone a little harsh._

_"It's working itself out. I promise you, by the time we get back to school, Kathy will be hitting on Kevin and coming between him and Megan in no time. When she tries to come between them and it doesn't work, she'll reveal what Megan told her in the locker room, Kevin will find out Megan a sleazy whore, they break up, and everything turns out alright in the end. That way, Kevin can take his 180 LSAT scare with him all the way to Yale and find a nice girl that will deserve him."_

_"You guys are already talking about Yale. He hasn't been accepted yet. He sent the application in two weeks ago. The only schools that have actually contacted him have been Harvard, Princeton and a few other law schools. Yale never sent so much as a brochure. Maybe they aren't interested in him."_

_"Don't say that, Kyle. He's a shoe in. He's smarter than most of the applicants that are getting in because they have political family connections, that's for damned sure."_

_"I know." Kyle said, looking at the grass solemnly. "I'm just being cautious. I mean, what if Yale doesn't accept him and we got his hopes up over nothing? It's bad enough he almost got Megan pregnant and now she's done what she did in California, but if he got declined from Yale, it'd be like adding insult to injury."_

_"Just don't think about it," Nathalie said. "Everything will turn out alright. You're just being a big worry wart, Kyle."_

_ Kyle sighed heavily and didn't reply. He looked out into the woods and stared at some weird squirrel that was popping its head out of its little hiding place in the tree. After a few minutes, he heard a few cars pull into the driveway, indicating the vampires were back. While he'd initially ignored them, he turned his head to look inside when he felt something pulling at him. Almost out of instinct, he started walking towards the pulling sensation and he was hardly aware that Nathan was following closely behind him. They both walked towards the kitchen and stopped at the dining room table when they realized exactly what was happening to them. What had happened to them._

_ Kyle looked right at a girl whose name he could not recall. She was standing next to Alphonse, smiling and speaking Russian. He didn't understand Russian, but what Polish he knew got him slightly in on the conversation. She was either related to Dante, or a new member of the coven. Either way, she was what held him here. She had brown eyes, brown hair, pale skin, and was barely taller than Alice. Five feet or five foot one at best with a brilliant smile and a face that reminded him a little of Dante. His daughter maybe. He couldn't tell if anyone was saying her name, so he opened his mind to hers and found her name. Evalina. The name finally made her vaguely familiar. They'd met maybe once or twice in his lifetime, but both times he was too young and uninterested in interacting._

_ Nathan looked right at a girl that was known well in their family and that he already knew pretty well, but had never taken the time to know. He also knew that, once mom found out, she might not be too pleased with it. Ada María, Nahuel's niece, Raphael and Yaretzi's daughter, Marcelo's sister, and by all accounts lose as lose could be. She'd never been shy about her "openness" and Nathan already knew this would get bad when it came up. It wasn't that Nessie hated or disliked Ada María, but dating her son would certainly change her tone in no time flat. So he decided to not say anything for now. Kyle, however, had nothing to fear about Evalina. She was pleasant, friendly, and had never (to his knowledge) done anything to ruffle anyone's feathers or give them a reason to dislike her or think less of her. The problem he faced now was talking to her. Kyle took one step closer with the resolution to talk to her, but she glanced at him with a kind smile, and nervousness stopped Kyle in his tracks. Instead of going through with his plan, he smiled back and walked away, hoping he looked casual. Kevin, having noticed this little exchange, got up from the couch and walked over to Kyle. They weren't alone on the porch, so Kevin lulled Kyle into the field, for slightly more privacy, and began their conversation disguised as a leisurely stroll outside._

_"I see you and Nathan both caught the imprinting bug. At the same time no less. Is that a new one too? We should ask dad about that."_

_"Kevin—"_

_"I know you're bashful, but come on, this is your imprint. Just grow a pair and talk to her. She won't bite." Kevin was silent a moment. "Okay, maybe she could, but it's nothing you can't handle. She's a girl anyway, so half breed venom doesn't apply, remember?"_

_"Kevin, it's not that I'm scared she'll bite me."_

_"You know what I mean, Kyle." They walked a few more paces in silence. "So what's her name again? She's daughter's other kid right?"_

_"Yeah. Her name's Evalina. Legally, they're calling themselves Dimitrov, after Demetri."_

_"I always wondered what they made their last name. Dante couldn't well work anywhere without a last name now could he? Well, when you get the opportunity, strike up a conversation with her. It doesn't have to be about anything specific, but it would be to your benefit to slip in a compliment to her within the first few minutes. A compliment never hurt anyone. And who knows, maybe that'll be enough to butter her up and make her adore you."_

_"Kevin—"_

_"Yes, yes, I know, I'm being facetious, but just do it. Tell her she has nice hair, pretty shoes, if she has manicured hands, compliment those. There will never be a lacking of things to compliment."_

_"You make it sound like I should just walk up to her, tell her she's my imprint, and run off with her in the sunset. I can't just do that. She'd laugh in my face."_

_"Okay, first of all, ____you__ brought up the sunset thing, not me. Secondly, I never said you can't be subtle. If anyone's in a position to be brazen and forward with his imprint, it's Nathan. From what I could tell, he's got the hots for Ada now. Didn't mom say she's a huge slut or something?"_

_"I wouldn't bring that up, Kevin," Kyle said awkwardly, his voice quieting a little._

_"I'm just saying. You're lucky, your imprint's socially acceptable at least. I know talking to her in front of her family might be awkward, so I say wait until she's alone to a degree. Hell, try to get away with sitting next to her at dinner tonight. I'll even suggest the same to Nathan. Consider it your first date or something, courtesy of your favorite big brother."_

_"Yeah," Kyle said, still awkward, "Thanks Kevin."_


	20. Graduation

Graduation

Kevin and Kyle were outside talking for at least thirty minutes before they finally came back into the house. When they came back, they saw Embry walking into the house through the doorway with an unfamiliar woman. Kyle knew her only minimally from the pack telekinesis, but what little he knew made the situation strange. Her name was Brie Henderson or something along those lines; a woman that Embry worked with and had started dating a few months before. The problem was that he'd never really thought about her extensively or even seemed to be that serious about her. The whole pack that was present at the party ran over to Embry and his…..date, to ask what the hell was going on.

"Embry," Jacob started, "Where the hell have you been? You're mother's been calling all of us asking where you were and you've had all of us worried. Why would you leave without saying a word to anyone? Are you insane?"

Embry looked at his feet a moment first, his hands still shoved in his pocket, and then he looked at Brie next, "Why don't you go say hi to everyone while I talk to them." Brie nodded her head and began walking towards the women. It was then that Jacob noticed the gold band on her finger. When she was out of earshot, Jacob looked at Embry again, now expecting Embry to admit that he's dating a married woman. "Well, I have a lot to explain to you guys."

"You think? Did you talk to your mom? If you haven't, I say do that now."

Embry shook his head. "No, no, I already talked to mom….she's pretty sore with me."

"Why is she sore with you?" Jacob asked. "Is she upset because you're dating a married woman or something?"

"What? No, that's not why she's upset with me." Embry sighed a little, looked at his feet as he shifted from side to side, and then finally looked back and took his hands out of his pocket, only then revealing the gold band he too was wearing. "I sort of got married."

"_Sort of_ got married? How do you _sort of_ get married?"

"Okay, what happened was….after patrol last I was home, I saw Brie later that day and she told me she was pregnant. So we went to Las Vegas and got married….at a drive through."

The pack looked at Embry, their faces all variations of surprise. "No wonder your mom's pissed off," Quil said.

"Yeah," Embry nodded, "She's really mad about this. She tried to get us to agree to at least have a small ceremony, but neither of us really wanted to honestly."

Jacob sighed. "Embry, if you don't love her, you shouldn't have married her. You don't need to marry her just because she's pregnant. Step up and take care of those kids, yes, but that doesn't mean throw yourself into an unhappy marriage. You do that and you end up like my grandparents."

"We won't end up like your grandparents Jacob. She and I have a great relationship and I did the right thing."

"You've known her a few months at best," Kyle interjected meekly. "Are you sure about this Embry? There's still time for you two to…undo all this."

"Kyle, when one makes a mistake, they have to handle it. Brie and I made a mistake, so now we've dealt with it. I appreciate that you guys are concerned about us, but I don't want you to worry. She's pregnant with my baby and I'll be there for her and our child. Mom may be upset with me for now, but she'll get over it eventually and realize that I did the right thing."

"Does she know about…..the pack?"

Embry looked back at his feet. "She doesn't know, no."

"Are you planning to tell her?"

"No, she doesn't need to know about any of that. I already plan to tell her I have a security night job, so I'll be able to keep it from her."

"Are you sure," Seth finally said. "She'll realize you're lying eventually when you aren't bringing home an extra paycheck."

"Then I can quit the pack if need be. I won't do that immediately, but if I have to, then I will. I'll stay in the pack as long as I possibly can."

Jacob sighed. "Alright, Embry, we trust your judgment."

"So Leah and I are going to have a niece or nephew?"

"It looks that way." Everyone finally smiled and the mood lightened. All the vampires, of course, overheard that conversation, so they all agreed that when she asked why their eyes were red, they just made up some bullshit story about a weird family tradition pertaining to red contacts or something like that. When she asked Embry about it, thinking it was really weird, he told her they were a part of a weird cult thing and it was in her best interest to just ignore it and not ask any questions.

When the matter of Embry up and getting married without telling anyone was dealt with, he agreed to get Brie out of the house by the time they'd all eaten dinner. Everyone dispersed through the house finding entertainment where they could. Meanwhile, Kevin dragged Nathan over to Kyle to relay his plan (in Quileute of course. They couldn't have anyone knowing their plan).

"Okay, here's what we'll do. Kyle, you'll keep your mind open so you'll know ahead of time where the girls are going to sit. Nathan, you're lucky because Marcelo will definitely be all for letting you sit with his sister. Kyle, yours will be a little trickier. You'll basically have to sit down next to her immediately. But try to make it look like you weren't planning to sit with her. Otherwise, you'll look desperate, and Nathan, only talk to Marcelo, no one else. We want this all to go as smoothly as possible. Mom said dinner would be ready in the next hour, so start listening in now, Kyle. But still, I'd recommend you _at least_ say hi to Dante's kid so you two are adequately introduced. She'll be more willing to sit next to you if she at least knows your name. Try doing the same, Nathan, but if it can't be snuck in, no harm done. Focus on Marcelo first and get him in on the plan to hit on his sister. Even get Laura's support if you must. If anyone will sway Marcelo's decisions, it will be Laura. Do you all remember the plan?" Nathan and Kyle nodded nervously. "Awesome. Now go out there and make me proud, you big Casanovas you."

Kevin then pushed his brothers forward, smiled at them, and walked away to do something else, making it seem like their conversation wasn't about anything important. Nathan was the first to begin executing the plan while Kyle stood where he was awkwardly, trying to force himself to do what Kevin suggested. Nathan went right to Marcelo and let him know, quietly, that he'd imprinted on Ada María and that he wanted his help in making sure they sat together at dinner so they could get to know each other. Marcelo didn't seem bothered by the plan, but Laura wasn't too keen on it. She asked Nathan to follow her outside to the porch so they could have as private a conversation as possible.

"Look, Nathan, I'm not completely familiar with how imprinting works for you guys, but I'd not date Ada if I were you. To put it bluntly, Nathan, she's a complete slut. I love her to pieces, don't get me wrong, she helped me whip her brother into line and I'll always be grateful for that, but I say this for your own good. Leave her alone and find a girl to love that isn't as….how do you say in English, puta?"

"A whore?"

"Yes, a whore. She has the same methods as Marcelo did, charming and sleeping with his victims before drinking them dry. She does that, but she has a lot of casual flings as well. It's a miracle that puta isn't pregnant after all these years. Truth be told, I've always wondered why Raphael and Yaretzi never said anything about it. My best guess is they see her as an adult and she can do what she pleases. But Nathan, you are not an adult. You're still a young man and you've got a great life to look forward to. Your mother said you're becoming a cop. That's fantastic! You have no idea women go crazy over a man in uniform. You'll find a nice girl for sure."

"Look, Laura, I know you're looking out for me, but imprinted love…it's different. I don't know how to explain it other than that. It's a deeper devotion than most people ever reach. And I can't undo imprinting on her. I am what she wants me to be."

Laura sighed. "Then prepare to be her punching bag for the rest of your life." Laura walked away, giving Nathan a feeling of being irate. Marcelo had given him the okay to sit with Ada María at dinner and damn it, he planned to take advantage of that opportunity.

Meanwhile, Kyle finally worked up the nerve to go talk to Evalina. She'd wandered into the music room and was relatively alone in there, fiddling around with the piano. The song sounded familiar, like something from the fourth Pirates movie. The one from the scene with the crazy mermaids. Kyle took a deep breath and walked over to the music room to talk to her. She wasn't paying attention to him as he walked over. Instead, she was glancing through music books that were on the piano's shelf while playing the song. When Kyle was close enough, he stood behind her awkwardly before finally saying something.

"Hi." It was all he could muster, but he was kicking himself for it. He'd planned on saying something charming or romantic, but when he tried, 'hi', was all he could get out. She did look at him at least. She turned, still sitting on the piano bench, and smiled kindly.

"Hello. Are you one of Renesmee's sons?" He finally noticed that she had a thick Russian accent, which he found astonishing. He'd thought Demetri's coven all lived in Italy. Either way, Kyle found the accent to be oddly arousing and appealing. He'd never been attracted to an accent before, but he certainly was attracted to hers.

"Yeah, I'm Kevin—, No, I mean Kyle!"

Evalina giggled. "Well, which are you?"

"Kyle. I'm Kyle. Yeah, I'm Renesmee's middle son. You're Evalina right? Dante's daughter?"

"Yes, I'm Evalina Dimitrovna, Dante's daughter."

"I thought your name was Dimitrov."

"It is, but in the Russian language, women have an added A at the end of their last names. It's a cultural thing. My father is legally Dimitrov and I'm legally Dimitrovna, at least in Russia. Anywhere else, I'm Dimitrov. But I live with my grandpa Demetri and Heidi in Russia. I'd been raised my first year in Italy, but I wasn't fond of it, so I decided to live with my grandparents. They moved to Moscow from Munich a short time before that and I fell in love with Moscow. I've lived there ever since and still live there."

That certainly explained her accent. But then Kyle suddenly couldn't think of anything to say. And Evalina was still staring at him. So, in a panic, Kyle brought up the first thing that came to mind. "What song were you playing?"

"_My Jolly Sailor Bold_." She answered.

"So how do you like the weather here?"

"It reminds me of London honestly."

"Really? I've actually been to London, you know. Well, technically I've been to London, but my brothers, cousins and I didn't get out of the box until we reached France." Kyle chuckled uncomfortably and under his breath and Evalina just gave him a weird look. Meanwhile, Emmett was laughing his ass off in the other room at the memory, then proceeded to, again, tell everyone the story of how Kevin had convinced his siblings and cousins into a box for months. Laughter ensued for them, but for Kyle, the silence became palpable.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Uh, well, what happened was my brother Kevin thought we'd have fun playing at this little industrial place dad told us not to go to and we all ended up getting stuck in a box and didn't get out until we reached Paris. We were gone for about a month."

"How in the hell did you all survive that?"

"We…we had some lunchables and stuff."

"And did you guys just shit in the corner, or how did that all work?"

Kyle shook a little in terror and decided to abruptly change the subject. "So you live in Moscow?"

Noticing his discomfort, Evalina went with the change of topic. "Yes, I've lived in Moscow for most of my life. About…..sixteen years now? Yes, sixteen years give or take. I was only one when I moved there with my grandparents. Either way, I've lived there for a long time."

"Wow, seventeen, huh? That's old for a half breed isn't it?" Kyle had intended to be joking, but Evalina didn't seem to take it that way. In fact, she looked really offended. "I didn't mean that in a bad way," Kyle said hurriedly hoping to recover. "I was just making a joke." Kyle was tempted to read her mind and find out what she was thinking, but he dreaded doing so fearing that she was thinking he was a complete idiot. "Anyway, what do you do?"

"As a job you mean?"

"Yeah. I work at a movie theatre in Hoquiam. I sweep popcorn, help at the vendor's counter, sometimes I take tickets and such. I get to see movies for free, though. Billy, that's my grandpa on my dad's side, used to work in a movie theatre and he teases me that he's proud I've followed in his footsteps." Kyle laughed, but Evalina only smiled.

"Interesting."

"So anyway, what do you do? I asked that already, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did, but I did not answer. I own an apartment building."

"That sounds like fun."

"I wouldn't say that, but it pays my bills and keeps me entertained. The money I save alone on not having to buy food it borderline obscene."

"That's cool. I mean, the whole, being able to save so much not having to buy food. My mom never eats, so more for us." Evalina nodded, but it seemed like she was nodding out of sheer astonishment at this insane teenager running his mouth to her when they've barely even known each other five minutes. Finally, Evalina scooted out from the piano bench and stood.

"I'll go see what Alphonse is up to. It was a pleasure to meet you, Kyle."

"Yeah. You too." Evalina walked out of the music room and made a bee line for where her brother was, undoubtedly to tell him all about the awkward exchange. Kyle began walking out too, but Kevin stepped in front of him and spoke quietly and in Quileute.

"What the hell was that?"

"I did what you said. I talked to her so sitting next to her at dinner would be smoother."

"No, Kyle, dinner tonight won't be smoother because you've managed to make yourself look like a complete dumbass in a matter of minutes. Honestly, Kyle, you should write a book. _How to Turn Off Women In Less than Five Minutes: A Beginner's Guide to Being Awkward as Shit_."

"Look, I got nervous. What do you expect?"

"I expect you to grow a pair and woo your imprint. It's not like the two of you have a complicated obstacle that's preventing a smooth ride in your relationship. You two are technically about the same age and she's single, so I heard through the grapevine. You have no excuse to be screwing this up so badly. Nathan's managed."

"He didn't talk to Ada María now did he? He only talked to Laura and Marcelo. You told me to go straight for the goal when I wasn't ready and now it's blown up in my face." Kevin pinched Kyle, Kyle grunted in pain. "What the hell was that for?"

"Now, little brother, there's still time to recover from your little babbling session. All _you_ need to do is pull your head out of your ass. That's why I pinched you. By now, she thinks you're a moron, and I suggest you begin mission two: recover from being stupid — phase one."

Kevin finally walked away then, leaving Kyle alone to go about with the new plan that Kevin had seemingly pulled out of thin air. Kyle looked around the room until he found Evalina in the kitchen with his mom and other relatives from the Cullen family. He finally decided to open his mind and listen to what Evalina was thinking about him and just as he feared, what he heard was far from satisfactory. She thought he was awkward, weird, and had asked Nessie moments ago if Kyle was mentally retarded. Kyle almost face palmed himself. Bad enough he thought he'd made himself look stupid. Making himself look retarded was a lot worse. Nessie had said, "Of course he's not. What in the hell gave you that impression?" Nessie's offended tone didn't help the situation remotely. Evalina only smiled and shook her head. "Nothing, never mind. I guess he's just not used to talking to strangers." Despite her saying that, she still thought barely better of him and Kyle realized, more so, that he was in a lot of trouble and fixing this would be a lot easier said than done. She and her family were only staying another day or so. That didn't help either.

Despite Laura's little warning, Nathan's encounter with Ada María had far more success. Nathan found her in the kitchen helping his family with some last minute details with dinner. He overheard Evalina ask Nessie if Kyle was mentally retarded and tried his best not to laugh at it. He did reply to her remark about Kyle not being good with strangers. "Sorry about that, Evalina," Nathan had said. "You'll have to forgive Kyle, he's socially awkward is all. I promise, he's perfectly tolerable once he isn't stuttering at you anymore." Evalina giggled, everyone else was trying not to. Nathan glanced Kyle's way and ignored the grimace on his face. Then Nathan finally walked all the way to Ada María's side.

"Hi, I'm Nathan. I'm Nessie's youngest son. Your name's Ada María right?"

She smiled pleasantly. "Yes, that's me. And Nessie has told me a lot about all her kids. I hear you're already brown-nosing your way up at the police station." Ada María giggled and Laura looked at her sourly.

"Meu Deus, Ada, parar de fazer insinuações sexuais," Laura mumbled.

Ada glanced back at her. "Você disse que era uma insinuação, não eu." Nathan looked at his mom, who was rolling her eyes a little. He assumed they were trying to keep the topic of sexual innuendos a secret from him. The problem was that Edward had taught him and his siblings Portuguese. The only one, at this point, in the house that didn't speak Portuguese was the pack and Emmett (he always says, "I learned Spanish, and that's good enough"). "Is it true that officers here have to be tasered?"

Nathan nodded nervously. "Only if they're authorized to carry tasers, which the station I help out at is. So yeah, we have to all be tasered. I haven't done it yet, but that will be later during my training and what not."

"How old are you?"

"I'm fourteen."

The huff that escaped Ada María seemed very amused, but in a way that was meant to be really insulting. Laura seemed surprised to hear that. Evidently, she thought Nathan was older, which seemed really strange to be honest. She's mostly vampire, so how does she not remember his age when Nessie surely mentioned it before all the other times she'd ever come over with Marcelo for a social gathering. Laura, after her faced expressed some obvious surprise, looked right at Ada María and her look became extremely critical. Nathan looked back at Ada María and it was then that he realized what might actually be surprising Laura. Ada María seemed very intrigued by Nathan and even seemed to be attracted to him. This made Nathan happy to know, so he decided to move things along and see if he could improve her opinion.

"Fourteen or not, I'm already a member of the pack."

Ada María grinned. "Oh my; you've turned into the big bad wolf."

"All the better to eat you with." Ada María giggled and looked impressed….and charmed. Nathan did a little victory dance in his head; his first encounter with his imprint going substantially better than Kyle's.

Nessie finally interrupted. "Ada María, would you do me a favor and work on these potatoes for me?"

"Make Laura do it." Laura hissed at Ada María. "Meu Deus, fine, I'll do it." Ada María then stood from her seat, but not before winking at Nathan, and went to the counter to mash the potatoes. Nessie then walked over to Nathan and put her hand on his for just a second, pushing the thoughts, _"Come with me to the cottage. We need to talk. Tell your father to come too."_ And then she just walked out of the kitchen, out of the house, and began running to her parent's cottage. Nathan shuddered a little at Nessie's face when she'd looked at him. It wasn't angry, but more exasperated or something along those lines. Nathan walked over to Jacob and let him know that mom wanted them at the cottage, so they ran to the cottage and walked in, seeing mom sitting on the couch.

"Oh, good, there you two are." Nessie patted the couch, indicating for them to sit next to her. They complied, Jacob sitting between Nessie and Nathan.

"What's the matter, Nessie? Nathan said you needed to speak to the two of us."

"It's more about Nathan. I just want you here to help me out on the matter considering that I'm pretty sure I know what's happened."

Jacob looked at Nathan. "What happened?"

"He imprinted on Ada María from what I can tell."

Jacob looked at Nathan surprised. "Ada María? Really?"

"Yes, dad, I imprinted on Ada. I don't really know what you want me to do about it, mom. It's not like I can undo it. You and dad should know that more than anyone."

Nessie sighed. "Honey, I do know that. I'm just a little annoyed is all. I'm not mad at you, Nathan, I promise. I'm mad at her."

"Why would you be mad at her?" Jacob asked. "She can't control it anymore than Nathan can."

"That's not the issue, Jacob, the issue is that Ada María, only barely younger than me, is a huge slut. She's too much like her brother and she's a tramp. All I'm saying is that imprinting might be off in this case."

"Well, Nessie, a lot of the pack and the tribe said the same thing when I imprinted on you, but we're doing alright."

"Jacob, I'm different. You're the only man I've ever been with romantically. Ada María probably doesn't even remember the name of the first person she ever slept with. I know he wasn't a blood victim, so they definitely had opportunity to talk, but go ahead, ask her the name of her first lover. She won't be able to answer you."

"Yes, Nessie, you were different. That was the problem everyone had. You aren't entirely human and that's what was taken issue with. But everyone's accepted you now and everything's good. Who's to say the situation will end up any different with Ada María?"

"Mom," Nathan spoke up, "You know how imprinting works. The bond formed is mutual. I mean, there's never been a situation in our pack where an imprintee never ended up loving the imprinter." Nathan stopped a moment, then looked at Jacob. "Right?"

"Yes, Nathan, that's right."

"See? I know she seems rough around the edges, but people can change. I mean, I am what she needs me to be, so she'll be what I need her to be."

"Nathan, I don't know if it's as simple as that when we're referring to Ada María. She goes through men like tissues. I know, she brags about it whenever she visits."

"And how often does she visit, mom?"

"Don't get smart with me, Nathan. When she is here, she brags. She's worse than her brother ever was."

"Mom, you're being really unfair. What do you want me to do? Pretend I never imprinted on her and spend the rest of my life being miserable?"

"No," Nessie began, then sighed, "I don't know, Nathan. I just don't feel good about this."

"Mom, you're being too critical of her. I'm sure that once she and I get to know each other, everything will work out. Please just let me try, mom."

"Alright," Nessie said reluctantly after a moment's silence and a sigh. "Alright, I'll leave you to it. Just don't go into this with your heart on your sleeve or she'll make a meal of you."

"You're exaggerating mom," Nathan said as he stood from the couch in front of the fireplace. Nessie said nothing and followed Jacob and her son back to the house feeling no better than she did before. Her mood didn't improve when she found out from Kevin that Kyle had imprinted too. The only solace she got from it was that at least he imprinted on Evalina instead of Ada María. While Nathan and his parents were at the cottage, Kyle went over to Evalina again, but this time, she made a point to ignore him, talking to her brother in speedy Russian.

Esme couldn't have picked a better time to let everyone know that dinner was ready. Embry and Brie sat within a group of pack members so she wouldn't notice that none of the vampires were eating. It was bad enough they had to bullshit an explanation about their eyes, they didn't need to make up a reason they weren't eating too. However, as if she knew the plan, Evalina sat between her brother and father, leaving Kyle unable to sit next to her at dinner. So he sat next to Kevin, hiding his dismay, though to Kevin it was clear as day. Nathan fared better and was sitting with Ada María, speaking naturally with her and making her smile and laugh.

"I'm glad to see that Nathan's doing better than me." Kyle said. Kevin sighed, then began to answer again in Quileute.

"It's not hopeless yet, Kyle. She's still here, she's not left yet. Look, Kyle, you need to get over this shyness. She's your imprint, not some random broad gossiping with her friends. She might think you're weird now, but when she comes to know you, she will love you. If Sam can make Emily love him after that monstrous situation that was breaking Leah's heart, I think you'll be able to repair Evalina thinking you're a babbling idiot."

"Not if she won't talk to me."

Kevin sighed again. "You're right, I admit, but don't give up so easily. I'll help you with this."

"No," Kyle said, a burning guilt now festering inside his belly. "You've helped me enough and I've still failed because of my own lackings."

"Your lackings being your negativity. I've only helped by suggestion, now it's time I helped directly. It's true that you can't fix things if you can't speak to her. All we need to do is make it so you can speak to her."

"What are you planning, then?"

"Something generous and sinister. Don't you worry, I'll have you two alone and speaking within the hour after dinner. Natalie will help, I promise. You let me handle the private time and you handle the rest when the opportunity comes."

"Are you sure it'll work?"

"Only if you relax little brother. Here," Kevin continued when he was handed the green bean casserole, "have some green bean casserole, it'll make you feel better." Kyle took a deep breath and reluctantly took his favorite side dish and helped himself before handing it to the left down the table.

"What if I choke?"

Kevin sighed. "Then I'll give you a swift kick in the ass. Deal?" Kyle took a deep breath and started eating his dinner. Kyle glanced at Evalina to see if she was still talking to her brother. She was, and from what he could hear, it was certainly not about him. Then Kyle looked back at Nathan and Ada María. They were talking about his Spanish class. Nathan was talking about how he'd already learned Spanish from Grandpa Edward anyway and Ada María claimed that Spanish was inferior to Portuguese anyway. Kyle noticed Laura roll her eyes and pinch Ada María and Marcello smiling to himself. It was so natural seeming and Ada María was shamelessly showing her affections to Nathan. Shamelessly being the operative word. She'd already been wearing a very low cut sweater, but there was an undershirt under that sweater before dinner. After Nathan first started hitting on her, she'd snuck away, took off the undershirt, and now her cleavage was hanging out for all to see. Every time Ada María rested her hand on Nathan's romantically, Laura would swat Ada María again and say, 'Ele tem quatorze anos! Tenha um pouco de decência.' Ada María always waved her off and kept talking to Nathan, but not before using her biceps to 'subtly' press her breasts together to make them look fuller.

Kyle groaned. "Figures Nathan's imprint is already putty in the palm of his hands," he said in Quileute. Under the circumstances, it seemed that having the remainder of their conversations in Quileute was a safe thing to do.

"Rest assured, Kyle, it's not because he's doing a better job. Ada María's just…..to put it bluntly, she's a little loose. To be honest, I'll be surprised if they aren't humping like rabbits by the end of the night." Suddenly, there was a cracking sound and the whole table looked at Nessie, who'd broken her wine glass filled with wine she wasn't drinking. Edward and Jacob had overheard what she'd heard and knew why she'd reacted as such, but they asked anyway if she was okay. Nessie nodded and made up that she was only stunned by a noise she thought she heard. Kyle and Kevin looked at mom a little longer, making sure she was alright, and then returned to their conversation. "Evalina strikes me as being a lot more wholesome and ladylike. Either that, or she's really hard to impress in which case, your imprint might be a bitch."

"Don't say that about her," Kyle responded harshly.

"Kyle, she asked mom if you were retarded. That's a bit bitchy to me."

"It's my own fault. I choked."

"I mean it, Kyle, if I go through all the work of getting you two alone together and you screw it up by choking like a big baby, I'll beat the shit out of you." Kevin patted Kyle's back. "No pressure, though." Kyle huffed a laugh and stuffed more turkey in his mouth.

Halfway through dinner, Embry and Brie needed to leave because she wasn't feeling well. Carlisle and Esme walked them to the door as they left and Carlisle reminded Brie that if she wanted help with anything and wanted to have him deliver the baby, then he was more than happy. Brie had been reluctant at first, but Embry had sold her on the idea, letting her know that Carlisle was a well practiced doctor and had years of experience in this field of medicine. Seeing as Carlisle was offering his services for free, Brie eventually agreed to the idea and agreed that she would visit Carlisle once a month to keep track of her pregnancy. Then, when Carlisle closed the door after Embry and Brie left, the whole room relaxed.

"My God," Felix started, handing his plate to Quil, "I thought she would never leave."

"Don't be rude, Felix."

"Jillian there's only so long I can stand pretending that I'm enjoying food. You don't mind eating that, do you Quil?"

"No," Quil said putting the food on his plate, "Not at all."

"This'll blow up in his face, I promise you," Demetri said flatly. "There's only so long he can keep this side of his life from his wife before she'll find out. What will he do when that happens?"

"He'll explain himself," Jacob responded in Embry's defense. "That's what he did with his mom, that's what he'll have to do with Brie too."

"Somehow, I doubt it'll go as well," Afton said. "That's his mother; she'll understand and trust him no matter what. I doubt that Brie will be as understanding as his mother was."

"Even so, what's the worst she can do? Leave him? They're about to have a child together." Afton looked at Chelsea seriously, but didn't say anything. It was Felix that responded.

"She could do something all right. Something very serious. Something I think you remember all too well, Chelsea." Everyone who realized what Felix was talking about looked at him shocked and angrily. Jillian rested her hand on Felix's wrist.

"Felix," Jillian said sternly, "Don't bring things like that up. Chelsea never wanted that. I never did either. Slaves never have a choice. You know that."

"Exactly. You and Chelsea never had a choice in the matter. In fact, I remember when I first met Chelsea. She was running away trying furiously to save the life of a child she already loved no matter who the father was."

"That's enough, Felix," Afton said. "What does any of that have to do with Brie?"

"He's saying," Edward interrupted, "That Brie might have an abortion as a way to get back at Embry if she finds out about his 'other life', as we're calling it. I can assure you, Felix, that she won't do that."

"You read minds, Edward. That doesn't mean you can see the future." Then Felix looked at Alice. "And seeing as you can only see the future of an already made decision, basically, you're as much in the dark as Edward is."

"Felix," Demetri interrupted, "You're being an asshole. Let's just drop it and change the subject to something more cheerful. How's Italy? It's been so long since Heidi and I have lived there."

"Italy is Italy, same as always. How's Russia?"

"Frigid as always."

Felix laughed. "Frigid is a good way to put it. What possessed Evalina to move to Russia of all places when she could live with her parents and brother in Italy? There wasn't a problem or anything was there?"

"No, not at all." Demetri said. "She just wanted to live somewhere other than Italy. It wasn't her family she had a problem with, it had more to do with her not liking Italy. She spent a year of her life there and it was enough in her eyes to know she didn't like it that much, so she asked if she could stay with me and Heidi. We were living in Germany at the time, but we were already planning to move to Russia, so we let her come with us. She liked it there so much that she just stayed with us until she was old enough to move out."

"And she owns her own apartment building now, am I right?"

"Yeah. She's planning to buy a few more, increase her profits, but you should see them. They're nice apartments, so she's able to charge a lot for them. Actually, I should have brought pictures with me."

"It's alright, Grandpa, I brought some." Evalina said as she pulled some picture out of her purse and handed them to Demetri. The photos were passed around the table from there and Evalina talked about anything that was asked about. "You have to remember, though, the ones in these pictures only look this nice because I paid for staging and had the colors I like on the walls. People have their own furniture of course, and I give them liberty to change the colors if they want. If they decide to do that and move out later, they agree when they sign the lease that they'll pay to have the color changed back when they move out. Figures, though, that some people don't read the fine print. Just last year, a couple took me to court because they didn't think they needed to pay for changing the color. But it was in the contract they signed, so they were ordered to pay me anyway."

The conversation about the apartment complex went on for a while longer until Felix decided to change the subject again to something other than housing complexes. An hour and a half later, everyone helped get the plates and eaten food to the kitchen to clean. With everyone helping, it only took a few minutes to clean up. Now that dinner was over and Evalina wasn't being hounded to talk about her apartments, Kevin decided it was time to initiate his plan. He went to Natalie and let her know, in Quileute, what he needed her to do and when she would do it. After that, Kevin dragged Kyle with him outside and into the woods to let him know what he was to do.

"Okay, Kyle, here's what you're going to do. We'll tell dad that we're running home together. Now, I'll go ahead and go home. You, on the other hand, are going to go to grandma and grandpa's house a mile up. I've already told Natalie what to do, so all you need to do is wait for Evalina to show up."

"How long will that take?"

"However long it takes. Don't worry about it. Just stay at the house and wait for her to show up. I can promise it will be within the hour, okay. Now, let's go tell dad we're going home. You know what to do after that."

Kevin and Kyle shook on it then went inside to tell Jacob they were going home early. Jacob told them it was fine and that he'd let their mother know Kevin and Kyle were leaving. Once outside and in the woods, Kevin fazed into his wolf, but not before wishing Kyle good luck, and ran off home. Kyle started walking to his grandparent's cottage a mile or so north. The door was unlocked, so Kyle just let himself in and sat at the couch in front of the fireplace. Not wanting to look like he was expecting her, Kyle walked over to the bookcase and looked for something to read and keep his mind occupied. He took out the first book he saw and sat on the couch and started reading. But when he sat down and opened the book, he realized it was a cookbook and felt a little stupid. Kyle sighed and cursed to himself and got up again to chose a book more carefully. This time, Kyle picked up _Lolita_. Who knows, maybe it's something that Evalina had read it before. Kyle pushed the thought out of his head immediately, thinking that assuming she'd read it was racist of him. Just because she was a third Russian and lived in Russia didn't mean she'd read anything by Nabokov or Tolstoy, or any other famous Russian authors. She could be a Harry Potter fan for all he knew. She didn't seem to think about it at any point, but then that didn't mean she wasn't a fan. Kyle looked at the bookshelf, but there was no Harry Potter series on the bookshelf. It was only then that his grandparents were strictly classics readers so they wouldn't have that on their bookshelves.

"Oh well," Kyle said to himself as he sighed and slouched into the couch. "Maybe she'll be impressed." Impressed that he was reading something about a man sleeping with a twelve year old? Kyle groaned and put the book back in the bookshelf. Kyle took another look at what the bookshelf had to offer and finally found a collection of short stories by Edgar Alan Poe. "Perfect!" Kyle grabbed the collection and opened up to the first story. Edgar Alan Poe might be a crazy man, but he was a good writer. Even Evalina wouldn't be able to argue with that. Maybe they could talk about _The Tell-Tale Heart_ or _The Fall of the House of Usher_ or _The Pit and the Pendulum_, or so on. Seeing as the collection included poems, Kyle decided to start with _The Raven_. Kyle wasn't a big fan of poetry, but he was a fan of Poe. Edward had taught him his love for the author. It was Poe that had Kyle thinking about becoming a Psychologist. The inner workings of the human mind were fascinating to him and being a mind reader, it seemed like the perfect thing for him. Then, during his freshman year, after taking his first Psych class, he was sold and made a point to take a Psych class every year if possible. This year, he was in AP Psychology. He was scheduled to take the AP test during finals week and was certain he'd get a great score.

After reading that poem, Kyle went to one of the stories and read on. Thirty minutes went by while he read, but still Evalina hadn't showed up at the house. The longer it took, the more nervous Kyle got. What if she didn't show up at all? Kevin hadn't told him what Natalie was going to do. And if she was planning to use mind control, there was only so far that her power worked and Evalina would realize she'd been controlled or something. What if she came because she was tired and turned around the moment she smelled him at the house? Kyle realized, after all this thinking, that he was just making himself shake and his heart race louder than was normal. As a last ditch attempt to make himself calm down, Kyle fazed into his vampire form that he virtually never took on. When his heart stopped and he wasn't trembling anymore, Kyle took in an unneeded breath. His thoughts filled his head more and other circumstances crossed his mind, but if nothing else, at least he wasn't shaking anymore in shear nervousness. Kyle breathed in the air, but he couldn't smell Evalina anywhere nearby. Another hour passed before Kyle finally heard and smelled Evalina approaching the cabin. She was a few meters away and she suddenly stopped in her tracks, no doubt from noticing Kyle's altered scent. Evalina finally continued approaching the cottage much more slowly than before and when she was at the door, she knocked first.

"Is someone there?"

"It's just me." There was silence at the other end of the door. Evalina opened the door slowly when walking in and looked at Kyle suspiciously.

"Forgive me; I didn't know it was you. Why do you smell different? I knew you could turn into a wolf, but a vampire too?"

Kyle nodded. "Yeah. Kevin figured out we could do it a long time ago, but we hardly ever find a use for it."

"Why did you do it now?"

"Because I was nervous. I didn't want to be shaking when you got here, so I changed."

"I noticed you were nervous earlier too. Is there something wrong?"

Kyle smiled. "No. I'm just not good at talking to new people. Especially under the circumstances."

"And what are those circumstances?" Kyle noticed then that Evalina seemed to be losing her patience. He didn't want to flat out tell her he'd imprinted on her, but that seemed to be the only thing he could do. Although, he could refrain from saying everything and only say he likes her.

"I don't talk to girls that much. I'm not really interested in anyone, so I never had a reason to. I'm interested in you, though. So I'm nervous to talk to you. That's all."

"I beg your pardon?" Kyle noticed another change in Evalina. She looked stunned. "You're saying you're attracted to me, correct?"

"Um…" Kyle started scratching his head. "Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I tried talking to you earlier. I had a plan of what to say and everything, but I choked."

"Hold on a minute, you're hitting on me?" Kyle nodded. "I'm flattered, Kyle, believe me, I'm very flattered, but you're a little young for my taste and….how do I put this….?"

"I'm older than you. It's only a few months, but I'm older than you."

"In age, yes, but not emotionally. I've been an adult since I was five. I've lived on my own, owned my own apartment complex. I'm a grown woman. You're still a teenager in more ways than I am. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, Kyle, but the fact of the matter is you're too young for me."

"I won't always be. Hell, next year's my last year of high school—"

"Then after that is college. I know how it works. But college does not an adult make."

Kyle stood from the chair then, almost as if to show off that he was taller than her by a good foot. "I'm not a boy, Eva."

"What did you call me?"

Realizing he'd gotten ahead of himself, Kyle cleared his throat needlessly. "Sorry. I should have asked if you were okay with me calling you by a nickname."

"Indeed."

Kyle sighed. "We're getting off on the wrong foot."

"What foot were you wanting to launch off?" Kyle smiled a little at the joke. Maybe he wasn't completely screwing it up. But if he didn't tell her the whole story, screwing up would be inevitable anyway.

"Maybe I should start by being completely honest with you."

Evalina's eyes widened slightly. "There's more?"

"Look….you know what imprinting is, right? My mom and dad, the other pack members and their wives…..that sort of thing?"

Then, finally, Evalina looked like she knew exactly what was going on. She didn't look especially pleased at the moment, which concerned Kyle greatly, but at least she didn't look like she was annoyed with him anymore.

"So it's more than you just being attracted to me?"

"Yeah."

"I see," Evalina said flatly. "This does change things a little, doesn't it?" Evalina finally started walking away from the front door and closer to the couch. Kyle started feeling a little better, but he dared not read her mind in case he wouldn't like what she was really thinking. "That explains a lot, actually."

"Really? I'm glad to hear it."

"It explains why your sister was so damned determined to make me come here." Kyle stiffened a little, even in his vampiric state. "She kept telling me that I should definitely sleep here tonight since there were only so many beds in the Cullen house for us half-breeds to use. It seemed so strange to me, but seeing as you were here waiting for me, it makes sense now."

"I promise it was Kevin's idea. He wanted to help me out since I hadn't done so well on my own. I hope you're not upset with me over that."

"I'm not." Evalina glanced at the collection of Edgar Alan Poe and smiled. "So are you actually a Poe fan or was that just a ploy to look busy and like you weren't expecting me?"

"Both actually." Kyle took the collection and put it on the coffee table so it wouldn't be in their way.

"I see. What were you reading?"

"_The Raven_ first, then I read _House of Usher_. To tell you the truth, I started reading _Lolita_, but then I realized it was stupid to assume you'd read it just because you're a third Russian." Evalina giggled. She giggled!

"Incredibly stupid, yes. I've never wanted to read it. My grandpa assures me it's a good read, but a story about pedophilia really isn't my taste. The fact that Vanity Fair had the balls to call it 'The only convincing love story of our century' doesn't really sell me either."

"I'm glad I picked Poe then. Or are you not a Poe fan?"

"I admit I'm not really an avid reader. I'm usually working and when I'm not working, I unwind with a good work out and watching some crap television. That must sound weird for a vampire not to be interested in reading, but it's true."

"I like reading. Maybe I should give you some suggestions. I've got plenty."

"I'm sure." Kyle smiled and sat back down on the couch. Evalina walked over and sat down with him. She was on the other side of the couch, but it was a start. "Don't suggest any Russian writers. My grandpa's already been trying to get me to read that stuff for years."

"There's plenty of good literature out there that isn't Russian. You could always start with Poe. He's written poetry and short stories and they're all good."

"From what I've heard, Poe is rather dark isn't it?"

"Extremely, but it's good I promise. Hell, why don't we read _the Raven_?" Evalina smiled.

"This wouldn't happen to be an excuse to make us sit closer together would it?" Kyle didn't say anything. He wouldn't let himself read her mind, so he wasn't sure what she was thinking or what she was trying to do. "Let us be realistic for a moment." Evalina finally said, changing the subject entirely. "You've imprinted on me. From what I understand, that means you're already in love with me. Is that correct?"

"I am what you need me to be. And yes, that means I already love you. You're not so young that I'm just a friend. We're the same age—"

"You already love me?" Evalina said, demanding a straight forward answer.

"Yes, I already love you."

"Alright. What will we do, then? I don't live here. And this is the first time I've visited in years. I only came this year because I haven't been to the US since I was born and I thought it would be fun. My plane ticket wasn't cheap either. It's not like I can make a habit of coming here regularly. It's not that easy."

"I'm prepared for a long distance relationship. I knew we'd have to do that when I imprinted."

"Fair enough, but then what? We call each other all the time? I hardly know you. You imprinting on me might be enough for you to make an immediate commitment, but it's not for me."

"Let me take you on a date, then. I know it's one date, but—"

"Have that one date and see where it goes from there without any consideration of what we'll do later?"

Kyle sighed. "Yes, exactly."

"Alright," Evalina said, changing her position on the couch so her legs were crossed and she was facing him. "Let's have our date, then."

"You're being facetious."

"I'm being realistic."

"I realize that, but just give me the opportunity to prove to you that I'm not some child like you think I am." Kyle and Evalina looked at each other for a while. She was reluctant simply because if she started a relationship with Kyle, she would hardly ever see him. And based on what she knew about imprinted love, that wasn't a burden she wanted to have forced onto her. If she ultimately felt love for him later on, then it would be long distance.

"Fine then. Seriously. Let's have our date. No talk about where we live, nothing about reality. Let's just talk."

Kyle smiled. "That's all I wanted."

"So what should we talk about? You've already heard as much as you possibly can about the apartment complex I own. You've told me that you work at a movie theatre. How about we talk about interests. Your brother Kevin's going to Yale after graduation, your younger brother's planning to become a police officer, and your little sister is heavily involved with the Red Night Theatre that I've heard so much about. What about you? What are your plans?"

"I'm actually thinking of becoming a Psychologist."

"PhD and everything?"

"Yeah, PhD and everything."

"That's nice. Do you already know what college you want to go to? Or is it too soon for that?"

"It's never too soon. I'm thinking of just going to the University of Seattle, but we'll see if I find one I'd rather go to. No matter what school I go to, they'll make me take pre-requisite classes that have nothing to do with my major. The good thing, though, is that I get to go to school for free."

Evalina looked surprised. "Do you?"

"Yeah. I'm half Native American and able to prove it. And colleges go crazy for that sort of thing. They love having minorities. It makes them look good."

Evalina smiled. "That's such a shallow reason to be admitted into a school."

"Yeah, but whatever works. I mean, Kevin's already going to school for free since he proved he's half Native American. He's also earned some scholarships for his grades and what not. He'll have enough money to go to school for ten years if he wanted to. Here's hoping I get all those scholarships. I'm the one going for my PhD, so I _will_ be in school for about ten years."

"For that length of time, you better love what you're going for."

"I know. Did you ever go to college?"

Evalina shook her head. "I never had a need to. To be honest, I was working at an accounting firm for three years before, one day, I up and bought an apartment building. It turned into a huge project and ended up working out for me. As crazy as it sounds, it was kind of an impulse buy on my part that went a lot better than I'd thought it would."

"That's good. Do you still work at that accounting firm or did you stop that once the apartment was making money?"

"About a year after I bought the building, yes. You should've seen it before I got my hands on it. It was a junk pile in the middle of Moscow. It took me four months to get it fully functioning and I admit I spent a lot more money than I should have. I got lucky."

"I can tell. Do you live in the apartment or do you live somewhere else?"

"In the apartment, of course. I live there with my cat." Evalina smiled and reached into the purse she'd brought with her and pulled out her phone. She scrolled through until she found the picture she was looking for. "His name is Nikko. He was a stray that I took in and he's the sweetest little cat."

Kyle took the phone to look at the picture of a cat that didn't seem to be any specific breed, which is typical for a stray anyway. It was a very short hair cat that was mostly grey and black with a spot of white right on top of its nose. The cat was in a lying position with his front paws stretched out towards the camera with his yellow eyes barely showing through half closed eyes. "How long have you had him?"

"Thirteen years now. He was still a kitten when I found him, so I'm thinking he's no older than fourteen. He's still in good health despite his age. According to the vet, it's because he's not a pure bred cat."

"I don't have any pets. I've always wanted a dog, though."

"You're already a wolf. Why bother?"

Kyle smiled. "You sound like my mom. Dad never really wanted pets, but my siblings and I asked for a puppy on more than one occasion. Mom always said dad was all the dog we needed in the house. Though to be honest, mom's cousin Valerie owns a cat and mom never liked the smell, no matter how much Valerie invested in groomers. I guess she decided the smell wasn't worth it."

"I don't blame her. I love Nikko to death, but he smells. If it didn't make me a hypocrite, I wouldn't let my tenants have pets. It makes the whole building smell like litter box and stinky cat. And when so many people have cats and the smell gets really concentrated, even humans can start to notice the smell. Dogs aren't much better. They do their business outside, but dogs get just as stinky as cats."

"I take it that once Nikko's gone, you aren't planning to have any more pets?"

"With that smell, no more cats for me. I don't know how Valerie and Tae Sook can stand it, but good for them I guess. But enough about cats. Tell me more about yourself. You can eat human food without being completely repulsed correct? What's that like?"

"It's great. I've had blood before and I get the appeal for you guys, but there just isn't as much variety in human blood. There's more variety in animal blood, but there's always that bitter undertone to their blood, especially with herbivores. Then, with human blood, if there's anything foreign in the blood, it kills the taste. Or so my uncle Jasper tells me. He was around when Syphilis was an especially huge problem in this country and he told me a man that had Syphilis tasted off. Grandpa Edward described it as eating meat that's gone south just a day before. And apparently, according to Garrett, depending on the disease a human has, the person's blood can taste like it's rotting. According to him, when the AIDS epidemic broke out, he'd attacked someone with the virus and he swears it was the blandest taste he'd ever experienced."

"I will attest to that. I've attacked an AIDS patient before. Thank goodness I didn't contract it, but my God, it was so bland. I never thought I'd come across blood that was completely flavorless."

"Well, the T-Cells are gone, so maybe that's where all the flavor it."

"Oh, but Cycle cell blood is just as bad. Have you ever had blood that was infected with Cycle Cell Anemia? Just as flavorless."

"Really?"

Evalina nodded. "Mark my words, completely flavorless. And according to my grandpa, blood infected with parasites it the worst."

"I imagine so. Do you know Titus Valerius?"

"Yeah, but I've only met him once. You know, he's infected, like, three Pomeranians with his venom so his mate Nicoleta would have pets forever? Maybe I should do that to Nikko. At least then, I'd always have him and he wouldn't smell bad anymore. But anyway, go on. What about him?"

"Well, he's an old vampire, so he's been around for some of the worst times in history. He was alive during the plague and he was telling me and my siblings about it one year. According to him, whatever that disease was, it made a human's blood taste toxic. He claims it's the only time blood has ever forced him to regurgitate."

Evalina giggled. "Well, look at you with your expensive words." Kyle would've blushed were he in his normal form. "And yes, I've heard that from my grandpa and from Felix. It was a bad time for humans and vampires alike. Humans were dying by the millions and vampires were starving for clean blood that was near impossible to find. Russia's pretty good about health these days."

"So you drink human blood regularly?"

"Of course I do. I live in the middle of a huge city. I'm not exactly in a position to go into the woods and hunt. Besides, I've tried your animal diet once, and even that was one time too many. I don't know how any of you stand it."

"Mom manages and so does the rest of her family. The few times I've done it, I didn't think it was so bad. I admit, I've never had human blood, but animal blood is good too."

"My God, no wonder. You don't know better." Evalina said with a sweet giggle. "Considering your family, I suppose it's for the best isn't it? Though I must admit, seeing as your mother is half vampire and your father is a wolf that's bent on the destruction of vampires, you and your siblings are just walking paradoxes aren't you?"

"Dad and the pack only attack vampires that go against their tribal laws within their boundaries. Even my dad's ancestors new that there was only so much they could do and they kept within the boundaries of their land."

"And yet here are my family and former members of the Volturi and your pack doesn't even twitch. I'm not sure if I should be impressed with your self-control or disappointed in your hypocrisy."

"It's not a matter of hypocrisy. Initially, they never came within the boundaries of the tribe and since we were in Cullen territory, we aren't allowed to attack because of a treaty we'd made years before. Now, the pack is so used to you guys and even respects some of you to a degree. Like your grandpa and Felix, for instance. My grandma, Bella, has every reason to hate them considering what they've put her through. The pack hated them too from the beginning. But we came to get to know them as more than some fascist assholes and as actual people."

"Fascist you say?" Kyle heard the offense in Evalina's voice and made an effort to recover.

"Look, I'm sorry, but during their Volturi days, they were extremely controlling and intolerant per Aro's orders. Hell, it's still near impossible for Jane and Alec to come visit without it being awkward as hell for everyone. Jane's been vicious and she knows it. It'll be a while before they're all comfortable around each other."

"Jane isn't that bad. She's just a hard worker and she probably got a little overzealous. If she were giving that much dedication anywhere else, you guys would label her employee of the month."

"She was employee of the month. Employee of the month in a company from hell." Evalina straightened her back a little. Kyle realized he'd offended her, but he wasn't completely sure what was offending her, so he caved and read her mind. Kyle sighed. "I'm not accusing your grandparents of being bad people. That's not what I'm trying to do."

"Well, that's what it sounds like. There isn't much that I know about my grandparents when the Volturi was still intact, but what I do know is that they did as ordered and aren't entirely the villains in this. From what I understand, Aro and Caius were the bad guys."

"Definitely. That's my understanding of the whole thing too, but what I also know is that any of them could've gone off on their own and not listened to Aro. He was a vampire yes, but he was one vampire against millions. Caius wasn't much stronger than Aro if at all and Marcus didn't care about the Volturi at all."

"You're forgetting Chelsea and how early on she was in the Volturi clan. She has the power to alter relationships, so she was able to force an obligatory relationship between the individual and Aro. Also, from what I understand of her story, she owed Aro a lot to begin with because it was his clan that saved her from certain death and made it possible for her to exact revenge against those that caused her the most pain. And according to Heidi, when she encountered Aro's clan at its smallest, she'd been wandering alone for who knows how long and was the only survivor of a vampire attack on her clan with her husband and daughter among the dead. Trauma will do a lot to anyone, even vampires."

"I'll give you that one."

"So let me ask you this. If my family were to come to your reservation, even with the best intentions, you would have to kill us?"

"If you guys brought harm to the tribe, yes. As long as you're not doing anything, no. I mean, dad's far from comfortable with the idea that even if the tribe and Forks are safe, somewhere else, people are being killed. Though from what I can tell, the Red Night bar made that an out-dated issue, wouldn't you agree?"

Evalina's smile finally reappeared and the mood lightened. "I guess that's true too. Speaking of vampires, why are you still one? Are you still nervous?"

"A little," Kyle admitted. "I'm scared that if I turn back, I'll start shaking again."

"Do I really make you that nervous? I thought imprinting on me would make you a bolder flirt."

"I thought that too, honestly. Obviously, we were both wrong. Kevin's the bold one, not me." The news he'd been holding back came to the front of his mind again and he felt guilt ridden. He was also getting angry with Natalie because she was taking a lot longer than she'd promised all because she was trying to 'punish' Megan for something that happened five months ago now! And yet, no matter how frustrated he was, he just didn't have the balls to tell Kevin what happened and he was ashamed of himself for it. Thankfully being in his current form made it possible for Kyle to think this through immediately and not show an ounce of change on his face. "Honestly, if it weren't for Kevin, I would never have been able to get a chance to talk to you."

"How kind of him. Did he help Nathan out with Ada María too? The way he's flirting with her, I assume he imprinted on her?"

"Yeah, Kevin helped Nathan out with Ada María, but not as much as he helped me out. Nathan didn't need as much help. Ada María's already putty in Nathan's hands last I saw."

"I noticed. I swear, during dinner I think she started rubbing his thigh. She hardly knows him and she's already a hair away from sleeping with him. And Nathan's fourteen for God's sake. I have to say, when I was leaving, Nathan had offered to take Ada María out hunting so they could get to know each other a little more, but Yaretzi made it clear to Ada María that they weren't going hunting alone and sent Laura and Marcelo with them. You should've seen the look on Ada María's face. She was pouting like a small child that didn't get her way. Honestly, the way Nessie was staring her down all of dinner, I can't believe she had the nerve to even consider having sex with Nathan. I'll admit your brother looks much older than he is, but seriously."

"Everything will turn out alright, I'm sure. Pack members have been through worse with their imprints than imprinting on a slut. My dad imprinted on a half vampire and Sam almost killed his completely on accident. If they were able to make things work, I don't think Nathan has anything to worry about. Their biggest problem will be the long distance." They were both quiet after that. Kyle started getting really nervous again. He'd started feeling better, but he'd screwed it up again.

"You know," Evalina started after the awkward silence, "I have a tenant in the building, trinadtsatʹ д (dé) he lives in—"

"Trinadtsatʹ?" Kyle asked.

"Thirteen."

"Oh, okay. Sorry, you were talking about the guy in your apartment?"

"Yeah," Evalina said, nodding. "He's an old man with a Jack Russell Terrier that does nothing but bark. Anyway, he's eighty years old and completely delusional. He used to be a KGB agent years ago, but now he thinks it's still 1984 and we're still communist and in a cold war with America. He calls me Comrade and everything. Every time I see him, he reminds me to keep my eye on the skies and look out for nuclear bombs."

Kyle smiled, happy for the change in subject. "Does he tell you what to do when you see a nuclear bomb?"

"That never seems to come up," Evalina said with a smile. "He has told me, though, that I'm too old to be unmarried and without kids. He's tried setting me up with his son a million times, but unfortunately, his son is sixty two and lives in St. Petersburg with a wife, five kids, and two dogs."

"I don't know. That sounds like a catchy man." Evalina started laughing an hit Kyle playfully. With that little bit of encouragement, Kyle finally worked up enough courage to scoot a little closer to her on the couch.

"Don't tease about that. It was uncomfortable enough meeting the man let alone trying to get away from them so Mr. Catrov wouldn't try to get a date set up for me and his son. I don't think Catrov junior's wife would appreciate that."

"Wives typically don't appreciate those things, true." Evalina smiled, but then she realized Kyle was closer than he'd originally been. Kyle noticed and began to feel self-conscience, so he began moving back, but Evalina put her hand on Kyle's.

"You're fine. I'm having a nice time."

"Really?"

"Yes, Kyle. You're being very sweet and I'm sorry that I was being so rude to you before."

"It's okay," Kyle said, beginning to move closer to her since she seemed to be okay with it. "I didn't exactly come off as appealing, so I don't blame you. I admit I'm surprised I made you think I'm retarded."

Evalina lost her smile. "You heard that did you? Please forgive me, I should never have asked something like that, and I especially should not have asked your mother that."

"It's alright; I kind of had it coming the way I was acting. I'm just glad we have that cleared up now. I've managed to prove that I'm not an idiot, right?"

Evalina smiled and nodded. "Yes, I no longer think you're an idiot. But can I bring up something that we really need to talk about?" Kyle nodded, dreading what she might bring up. "You know that we're leaving tomorrow, right?" Kyle didn't say anything. Evalina sighed. "What is the plan? I can't afford to extend my trip."

"What time are you leaving tomorrow? I don't have to work, so we can spend some extra time together before you have to go."

"We weren't planning to leave until late at night so we don't need to worry about sunlight. So I guess we can spend time together tomorrow. I would like to make a request, though."

"And what's that?"

"I want you to go back to normal. Now that I know you made yourself a vampire because you're nervous, it's making me feel bad. If we're going to have an extended date, I would like for you to be comfortable with me."

Kyle smiled. "I guess I can do that." He said that, but it was a moment before Kyle turned back. When he did, his heart was racing again, he was still shaking a little, and he was breathing more heavily than he wanted to. "Sorry. I'm still kind of nervous."

"Why? Because you think you're going to screw up? Just relax for me. I promise I won't bite you."

"I know I'm being irrational, but I can't help it. I don't think I've ever talking with someone like this before."

"Is there anything I can do to make you fell less uncomfortable? I can sit on the recliner instead of the couch if you want." Kyle took a hold of Evalina's hand out of impulse.

"No, you don't need to do that." Kyle looked at the grip he had on her, but didn't let himself release her. He wanted to seem resolved. "I want you to sit next to me. It'll let me know that I'm doing alright."

"You're doing fine, Kyle." Evalina didn't give any indication that she expected Kyle to take his hand away, so he didn't. They talked for another hour before Evalina admitted that she was tired and that they would meet up and talk more the next morning and she'd be in the cottage. Kyle ran home in a giddy haze, feeling so relieved that things had actually gone well. When Kyle got home, Kevin was in his room sound asleep, but Nathan was nowhere to be found. Kyle went to bed, but didn't immediately fall asleep. He was thinking about Evalina and how he'd managed to get her to like him at last after the epic failure that was the early evening before dinner. When he did fall asleep, he wasn't asleep for long before he heard his phone go off, indicating that he'd gotten a text. He opened his phone and didn't recognize the number. It didn't look American at all. Then, eagerly, Kyle read the text that was in awkward English.

"_Awake. Ready when you are."_ That was all Kyle needed to get out of bed and get ready to leave.

"Kyle," Kevin said, having been woken up by Kyle's phone. "How'd it go?" Kyle, with a bright smile on his face, ran over to Kevin and hugged him tightly and unexpectedly. "Woah!" When Kyle finally let go, Kevin looked at Kyle weirdly. "It went that well, did it?"

"It went great! Better than I thought it would. I can't even begin to thank you."

Kevin smiled and waved his hand once. "Oh, it was nothing. Anything to help my little brother win over his imprint. But hey, if she ever calls you retarded again, let me know and I'll rip her a new one for you, okay?" Kyle was quiet and lost his smile. When Kevin noticed this, he lost his smile too. "What's wrong?"

"Kevin," Kyle started after a silent moment. "I need to talk to you about something."

"Sure, what's on your mind?"

"It's about…" Kyle began, but the words wouldn't come out. He felt himself begin to shake, so he quickly averted it so Kevin wouldn't get suspicious. "It's about Evalina. She and I are hanging out for the rest of the day before she has to go back home. What if she wants to…..you know….do anything intimate?"

Kevin smiled again and chuckled a little. "Jeez, Kyle, you had me thinking you were worried about something bad."

Kyle chuckled uncomfortably. "No…..of course not."

"Look, Kyle, if she wants to, then just go with the flow. It's nerve wracking at first, but once you're inside…oh my God, it's incredible, Kyle! There is literally no feeling in the world better than a woman's vagina. And that's normal sex. I promise you that if dad's thoughts are any indicator, imprint sex is better than anything you'll experience in the history of anything. But..." Kevin started before opening his nightstand and pulling out a condom to hand to Kyle, "Remember to always use a condom. No exceptions. Otherwise, you get the 'incident that will not be mentioned'." Kyle felt himself almost vomit. Kyle took the condom and forced a smile.

"Thanks Kevin. I owe you a lot."

"Think nothing of it. Now what the hell are you doing talking to me? You've got a new girlfriend whose world needs rocking." Kevin gently pushed Kyle off the bed. "Have fun, Kyle. I'll see you later." Kyle and Kevin hugged one more time before Kyle left the room with an unsettling feeling. As Kyle was walking down the stairs, he saw Nathan sitting at the counter eating cereal. He looked exhausted.

"How was your date with Ada María? Evalina told me that you and she went out hunting together with Marcelo and Laura."

"It was fine for the most part, but she was really unhappy with Marcelo and Laura being there. I'm almost positive that she only wanted to have sex and since that wasn't possible, she was really cranky. She certainly made up for it, though, with how many times she groped me while they weren't looking."

Kyle sighed. "You might want to explain to her that you want more out of the relationship than just being friends with benefits."

"I'm scared to bring up that I've imprinted on her. In the six hours that I've spent with her, I've learned one very important thing about her. She does not want a relationship. She thinks they're inconvenient, life-consuming, and not worth the trouble. All she cares about is getting her rocks of. If I tell her I've imprinted on her now, I'll never see her again. I'm walking on eggshells with Ada and the slightest error on my part will make them crack."

"Fair enough. How long are you keeping that information from her?"

"I'm wanting to make sure she has feelings for me of some nature before I bring it up. I figure that if she has at least a degree of affection for me, then telling her I love her won't be as rocky. Whether I like it or not, the key to making Ada María fall in love with me will be persistence, patience, and being a cold fish."

"Being a cold fish?" Kyle asked, confused.

"No sex. Regardless of my age, she'll lose interest in me if I put out too soon. If I hold out on her long enough, it might add to her desire for me. And who knows, maybe holding out on her will actually make her love me."

Kyle looked at Nathan a little, a weird look on his face. "Is it just me or are you basically the stereotypical chick character in this teen date movie of a scenario?"

Nathan laughed. "It does seem that way, doesn't it? But when one's imprint has the sex drive of a perverted teenager, such actions become necessary on my part. Let's keep our fingers cross that this method works, no matter how many years it ends up taking. Speaking of imprints, how did your date with Evalina go yesterday?"

"Great, actually. We're meeting again and spending the rest of the day getting to know each other before she has to leave tonight. I don't think she's thrilled, but she isn't being combative about this. She did bring up something that neither of us, at least I really don't, want to talk about. The long distance."

Nathan nodded. "I bet. When you're on completely separate continents, then yes, it's bound to come up as an issue. Ada hasn't brought it up, but then, she and I haven't made the same headway that you and Evalina seem to have made."

"Indeed. I better get going. I'll see you later, okay?" Kyle finally walked out the door and ran, in his wolf form once he was hidden in the trees, to his grandparents' cottage to spend more time with Evalina.

By the time Evalina had to leave with her family, she and Kyle had managed to make a lot more progress in their relationship. It still couldn't be called dating per se, but it was certainly something good. Evalina promised that she would call Kyle or at least text him the moment she got back home and if possible, they could talk a little more once she was home. When Kyle got back home that night after his day with Evalina, Kevin was out, leaving Nathan in the room, strangely, with Natalie.

"Hey," Natalie said when Kyle came in. "How was your second date?"

"Great," Kyle responded, taking off his shoes and sitting on his bed. "Where's Kevin? He's not out on patrol tonight is he?"

"No, he's with Megan," Nathan said. "He's been at her house since noon and it doesn't look like he'll be home any time soon."

"Did he say when he was getting back?"

"Whenever it's about Megan, he never has a specific time when he comes back. He's just home when he's home. And speaking of Megan, Natalie and I were talking about her method and how its desired results have been," Nathan looked right at Natalie, "Severely lacking."

Natalie sighed. "Look, I've done what I could thus far. I didn't think Kathy would be such a hard nut to crack. I admit that I underestimated her loyalty to Megan. But I promise she'll crack soon. She might not be expressing any desire to intervene in Megan and Kevin's relationship, but I can tell her resolve is wavering. We just need to be patient. I realize that it's been a long time since the incident in question, but if it comes out this way and such a long time afterwards, we can easily pretend we had no idea this was going on, just as we'd been planning."

"No Natalie," Kyle started, "The plan was that you were going to overhear Megan admit to what she'd done and tell Kevin about it afterwards. You're the one that changed the plan on us because you want to punish Megan. Honestly, isn't Kevin finding out about this punishment enough?"

"Kyle, you know Kevin. He'll definitely take Megan's side if we do this too gently or tell him at all. We need to do this in a way that will make Kevin so angry with her that he won't want anything to do with her. And by using Kathy, we're not only forcing Megan to lose Kevin, but we're also making it so that she loses her best friend too. You're getting antsy, Kyle. I promise it'll come out before the end of the year. Cross my heart and hope to die. And if Kathy really doesn't come through for us, then I'll just tell Kevin and take the heat for keeping it from him for so long. Just let me try to make sure that we don't get in trouble for something that skank did."

"Natalie," Nathan started, "I feel like you're making this all about you. This is Kevin's girlfriend that went behind his back, not yours…..well, if Megan were your boyfriend….whatever, you know what I'm saying. Last time, you said you'd have Kathy cracked within a few months, but now it's halfway through the year and you're saying it'll be the end of the year before anything happens."

"I didn't say it would be the end of the year, I said before the end of the year. In fact, pinky promise, I'll have Kathy cracking within the first week that we're all back at school." Natalie held out both her pinkies, one for Nathan and one for Kyle, and they accepted them reluctantly. "I mean, Kyle, if you really want to tell Kevin yourself? Just tell me if you do."

Kyle shook his head. "I just can't. I tried telling him this morning before going to see Evalina, but I panicked and just asked him what to do if me and Evalina got intimate." Nathan snickered a little. "Don't laugh at me, Nathan. I felt so ashamed of myself. I didn't even notice that Kevin snuck a condom in my pocket until I was already at the cottage. It fell out while I was taking out my wallet. You can imagine how embarrassing that was to explain to Evalina without her bring angry."

"So," Natalie said after she managed to stop imagining the scenario of Kyle awkwardly trying to explain away why there was a condom in his wallet, "It looks like my way is the only way he'll ever find out." Natalie stood from Nathan's bed and began making her way to her room. "I'll get it done, guys. Don't you worry about that."

For the rest of winter break, Megan only came over to the house once and they stayed downstairs for the most part. Kevin was always at Megan's house and for most of the day. When he went back to work and it was still technically winter break, Megan would go to the convenience store and visit Kevin. When school got back on, Natalie wasted no time and continued working on Kathy, though not as subtly as she'd done before. In the morning, Megan and Kevin were sitting together in front of her locker and Kathy was at her locker, which was in a whole other hallway. When Natalie saw her, she went straight for the kill.

"Hey, Kathy." Kathy looked up at Natalie from her book and she looked upset. Natalie tried not to smile. "How was your break?"

"Nothing special. I couldn't enjoy myself anyway."

Looking concerned, Natalie sat down next to her. "What? Why not?"

"I kept thinking about what you told me. You know, that Kevin likes me."

Natalie got slightly closer. "It's true."

"Yeah," Kathy said quietly. She was looking at her purse intently, desperate to look at anything but Natalie. "I would never do something like that to him. Cheat on him and all."

"I know you wouldn't."

"It just makes me so angry that she's able to look him in the face just days after it's happened and then continue to….." Kathy trailed off and started tearing up. Natalie began to pat her back.

"It's okay, Kathy. Believe me, I'm none too thrilled either. I love my brother and I don't want to see him hurt. You would be so much better to him than Megan. You would never lie to my brother and cheat on him would you?"

Kathy shook her head. "No, never! You know the worst part?"

"What's that?"

"She never even said she was sorry about it. She only asked me not to tell Kevin and that….She said she was planning to dump him by the end of the year anyway."

Natalie pretended to be surprised. "She's planning to dump my brother anyway? Oh, I can't believe her. You need to act fast, Kathy. Win my brother's heart from Megan and be a better girlfriend than Megan ever was."

"You know what, Natalie, you're right. Kevin likes me, so why should I just sit back and watch."

"You go girl!"

"In fact, I'm going to tell him how I feel as soon as I can get him alone. I'll tell him everything and he'll be mine."

"Damn straight he will be, Kathy." Kathy threw her back over her shoulder and started speed walking to where she might find Kevin, leaving Natalie alone. When Kathy was out of sight, Natalie grinned widely and started looking for Kyle and Nathan. She dragged both of them to another hallway and could barely contain her excitement. "It's done guys. Kathy's going to admit to Kevin what Megan told her."

"Finally," Kyle said. "I was beginning to think you'd never get her to tell him. And she won't tell him we know?"

"I doubt it. She's more concerned about telling Kevin she likes him. As long as she admits what Megan did, I don't care if she starts dating Kevin or not. We'll finally be able to put this whole thing behind us after this and we'll be shoulders for Kevin to cry on. He's better off without Megan anyway."

Meanwhile, Kathy was waiting for there to be a moment when Kevin would be alone, but since it was before school, that wasn't going to be an option. Luckily, she did have a math class with him, so she could sit next to him during class and talk before and after class. When Calculus came along, Kathy went right to where Kevin was sitting and took the desk to his right. Kevin smiled when he saw her and she smiled back, taking that as her opportunity to start talking to him.

"Hey, Kevin. How was your winter break?"

"Great actually. Kyle actually got an official girlfriend thanks to family friends."

"Kyle? Really?" Kathy blushed a little. "I'm sorry; I could've sworn he was gay."

Kevin bit his lip trying not to laugh. "No, no, Kyle's not gay, he's just shy. Well, they're still talking, so I guess it's too soon to call them dating, but they're definitely working on it." 

"Well that's great news."

"Yeah. Even Nathan has a crush on another family friend's daughter."

"Wow. You're brothers are getting pretty lucky lately aren't they?"

"It looks that way."

"What about you? How was _your_ winter break? Anything interesting happen to you?"

"Nothing too exciting. I just spent most of winter break at Megan's house. I think her mom and dad might be sick of me by now." Kevin said with a chuckle. Kathy smiled too.

"She told me about that. Actually, speaking of Megan, there was something I wanted to talk to you about." Before continuing, Kathy turned so she was sitting off the side of the chair looking directly at Kevin. "First of all, I want to admit to something."

"What's that? Is everything okay with Megan? She didn't say you two were arguing over anything."

Kathy shook her head. "No, Megan and I didn't have an argument. It's something that I've wanted to admit to you for a long time." Kathy was smiling sweetly at Kevin and looked slightly nervous. It was enough to immediately make Kevin nervous too. "I know you're with Megan and everything, but I've liked you for a while. And Natalie said you like me too."

Kevin looked confused. "Natalie?" Kathy nodded. "Why would she tell you that?" Kathy lost her smile in that moment. "Look, Kathy, you're really nice, but I don't think of you that way. I'm really sorry about Natalie and I'll talk to her about this later, but I love Megan. Really, I'm sorry about this."

Kathy's face fell. "So Natalie lied to me?"

"I promise, I'll make her apologize to you over this, but I don't know why should would tell you that."

"I think I know," Kathy said, getting a little teary eyed. Kathy looked up at the teacher's desk, then at the clock. It wasn't time for class yet, so she looked at Kevin, her face turning serious. "I know class is starting soon, but would you step outside with me please? Whether you like me or not….there's something I need to tell you about Megan. It's something that I think would be best brought up in private."

Kevin was reluctant. "Kathy, I'm sorry, but—"

"It's not about me liking you. It's about Megan. Please? Either way, you deserve to know."

Kevin glanced towards the teacher's desk and clock, and then looked at Kathy. "Let's make this fast."

Kathy didn't smile. "Thanks." They both stood from their seats and walked out of the classroom together. The teacher began protesting, but they were out the door before she could get a word out and figured it would be fine. Kathy walked Kevin all the way to his locker and she waited until the hallway was almost completely empty.

"Are you sure this can't wait until later. Class starts in," Kevin looked at the clock, "thirty seconds."

"Honestly, I don't think you're going to care in about that time."

"Why? You said this was about Megan. Did something happen that she didn't tell me about?"

"Indeed," Kathy said, tucking her hair behind her ears. "Look, this happened months ago, but time doesn't change that it happened and she didn't tell you. For starters, she told you that she was visiting family over the summer. She lied." The class bell rang.

"What do you mean she lied?"

"Exactly what I said. She lied. She didn't visit family over the summer. She went to California to visit UCLA for a campus preview. She's already been accepted and she's planning to go there."

Kevin gave her a weird look. "Why didn't she just tell me that?"

"Because she's stringing you along, for starters. I haven't even told you the part that'll make you mad."

"Kathy, I realize you're upset with me, but I don't deserve for you to be snarky with me."

"Considering all your siblings know, you should be happy I'm even telling you about this."

"Look, I don't know why she would lie to me about that, but it's hardly something I'm going to get into a huff over. Can we go to class now?"

"No, I'm not done. I told you she went to LA. She also had the opportunity to stay in the dorms and she befriended a sorority while she was there. According to her, the fraternity threw a party and the sorority was invited and Megan tagged along. Obviously, there was drinking at this party and the sorority encouraged her to drink. She claims she was drunk when this happened, but considering everything she said after this, I wouldn't be surprised if she were sober enough to know better. Anyway, after a few drinks, some guys, two by the way, I want that to be made very clear, two guys started hitting on Megan and she ended up sleeping with them." Kevin stared at Kathy a moment dumbfounded. "This happened the Friday before she got back home. She told me about it and admitted to me that she wasn't planning on continuing the relationship after graduation anyway. So to be honest, I'm not sure she's even sorry about it. Natalie overheard the conversation we'd had and told me you liked me so I would admit this all to you. I don't know why she wouldn't just tell you herself, but that's not my problem anymore."

Kathy began walking away, but Kevin stopped her. "She said all that? Planning to break up, cheating on me, all that?"

Kathy nodded. "Yes Kevin." Kathy turned around to go to class, but Megan was walking their direction. Megan didn't look upset or anything to see them together, so when she got to her locker to grab her book, she smiled at them. "Hey you two. What're you doing out here? Nothing bad I hope." Kathy leered at Megan, which made Megan lose her smile. "What?" She looked at Kevin, who was staring at the floor. "What's going on?"

"I told him Megan."

Megan immediately got defensive, but tried to look ignorant. "What do you mean? Told him what?"

"You know what."

"No, Kathy, I don't know what. Why don't you enlighten me?"

"I told him about the college visit and the party, Megan. Don't try to play stupid. You know exactly what I'm talking about and now Kevin does too."

"I don't know what you told him, Kathy, but it's nothing that actually happened. I went to visit family over the summer."

"Cut the bullshit, Megan. His sister Natalie knows and she'll vouch for me."

"Natalie?" Megan asked but then recollected herself. "You know what, Kathy, I don't know what's gotten into you, but how dare you lie to my boyfriend and tell him I cheated on him?" Kathy grinned a little and Kevin looked right at Megan.

"Kathy never mentioned cheating. She just said she told me about the college visit and party." Megan lost her cocky grin and looked at Kathy.

"Well…what else would she be implying? Either way, she's lying," Megan looked back from Kevin to Kathy, "though I can't imagine why she would do that."

Kathy sighed heavily. "You know what Megan he knows the truth and so does Natalie. I've done my part and told him the truth. If you want to keep lying to him, fine, but don't drag me into it anymore."

Kathy began to walk away, but Megan grabbed her. "Kathy," Megan started, and then she was whispering, "What I told you, I told you in confidence."

"You should've thought about that before you brought it up within earshot of his sister."

"We weren't in earshot of his sister!" Megan looked at Kathy with suspicion. "You told her about it. How else could Natalie know? I know for a fact that she was nowhere near us when I told you about that."

"Megan," Kevin interrupted, forcing Megan to look at him, "Did you or did you not lie to me about going to California and cheating on me?"

"Kevin, I didn't, I swear."

"You know what Megan," Kathy roared, "You are such a liar! You know what you did and you're just too stubborn to admit to it! You're also too much of a selfish bitch to just admit that you aren't planning to continue dating him! You're a slut and a bitch and one day this will come and bite you in the ass!"

"No, Kathy, you're the liar! You're the one that's trying to ruin my relationship because you're jealous! I thought we were friends, Kathy!"

"We were friends, Megan, until I lost respect for you!" Megan slapped Kathy suddenly then. Shocked and upset, Kathy slapped Megan back. "Don't you hit me, you bitch!"

"Don't you lie to my boyfriend!" Finally, the slaps elevated into a full on fight between the two girls and Kevin was forced to pull them apart. Finally, a teacher came to break up the fight and it was Mr. Call of all people.

"What the hell is going on here?" Mr. Call grabbed Kathy and Kevin kept holding Megan and both men pulled the girls away from each other. "Stop yelling! Kevin, Megan, Kathy, all of you follow me to the principal's office right now."

The three of them followed Mr. Call to Mrs. Kovac's office. Kevin glanced at Megan and noticed she was shaking violently now. When all three of them were in the principal's office waiting for the opportunity to talk to her, both girls sat as far away from each other as possible and Kevin sat as far away from them as possible. Kevin was angry about Megan doing this to him, yes, but he was more upset that his siblings knew about all this and didn't tell him. If Natalie knows, surely Kyle and Nathan know too. In fact, it was more than likely Kyle that found out about it first, which means he had to tell Nathan and Natalie and Natalie had time to think of some convoluted scheme that involved lying to Kathy about him liking her. Kevin was livid to say the least, but on top of that, he felt betrayed in more ways than one and by more people than one.

"Megan, Kathy, Kevin, come in please." Mrs. Kovac called from her office. All three stepped in and Kevin let the two girls take the two available seats, though both made a point to push the seats as far apart as possible. "Young lady, do you want to explain what happened?" Mrs. Kovac asked demandingly, looking right at her daughter.

"She started it," Megan said. "She was lying to Kevin about what happened over the summer."

Kathy rolled her eyes. "Mrs. Kovac, Megan was in California for a college visit, correct?" Mrs. Kovac nodded. "Well, what'cha you know," Kathy said sarcastically, "It looks like I was telling the truth. Although I assume your mom doesn't know that you went to a frat party and were drinking heavily. I assume she also doesn't know that you had a drunken three way with two guys you didn't even know."

"Shut up, Kathy!"

"Don't yell in my office, Megan," Mrs. Kovac said sternly. "Now I want you to tell me the truth. Is this true? And if so, is this the reason you two got into a fight when you were supposed to all be in class?"

"I was in the hallway because I needed to get my book." Megan pulled out a small pink slip. "I have permission from my teacher to do so. I don't know about Kathy."

"I took Kevin out into the hallway so I could tell him the truth in private."

"Well, you know what, you're lying to him. I may have lied about going to UCLA, but I never cheated on him and I most certainly never said to you that I wanted to break up with him. You're just trying to start something and Natalie's in on it."

"Oh, and I suppose Natalie and I just made all this up just to get back at you for some inexplicable reason, is that it? I just made all this up and waited until now to fill Kevin in on this made up story. You're really a piece of work, you know that?"

"Mrs. Kovac?" Kevin interrupted and all the women in the room looked at him. "I admit that I was in the hallway during class and was not suppose to, but that is all I've done wrong. If I have to serve detention, fine, but can I please get back to class?"

Mrs. Kovac sighed. "You know what, Kevin, considering what happened, being out of class at inappropriate times are the least of the problem. And I still need you to tell me what happened. Do that and I'll let you go to class."

"Okay. What happened was Kathy told me that she had something really important that she needed to talk to me about and that it would be better discussed in private, so I followed her into the hallways to talk. She told me all about Megan going to California and what not and that's when Megan came to her locker to get her book and the two started arguing. When the fight turned physical, I tried pulling Megan off Kathy and Mr. Call started pulling Kathy away when he saw what was going on."

"Is that all, Kevin?"

"Yes, Mrs. Kovac, that's all." Mrs. Kovac sighed and let Kevin leave to go to class. Around that time, the bell rang, signaling the end of the period, so Kevin went through the halls looking for his siblings, prepared to demand an explanation. But as he looked for them, none of them were anywhere to be found. There weren't near their lockers, they weren't at their next classes and they weren't in the cafeteria or outside either. Kevin was getting angrier and was seething when he came across Travis, who was at his locker talking to that Phil kid, Kevin went right for Travis. "Where are they?" Kevin asked when he was standing right next to Travis.

"What? Where're who?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Where are my brothers and sister? They owe me an explanation and a can't find them."

When Travis knew what he was talking about, he stepped back. "I take it you know about Megan cheating on you then?"

Kevin's eyes went wide. "You know too! Who else knows about this?"

"Just me and your siblings, and your grandpa Edward, I swear, that's it. But I don't know where they are, Kevin, I'm sorry."

"You know where they are. You always know where Natalie is." Kevin was getting closer and Phil pushed Kevin back.

"Okay, you need to calm the hell down, Kevin. Travis said he doesn't know where they are and if he doesn't know, he doesn't know. Now leave him alone."

"Phil, it's okay," Travis said, "I'm just as responsible for knowing about this and not saying anything. Honestly, it was Nathan that told me and he was just confiding in me because Natalie was taking forever to make Kathy tell you."

"Why the hell was she even making Kathy do it? Why didn't they come to me?"

"Because," Travis said, "they didn't want to be the ones to tell you. They knew you would be upset."

"Upset?" Kevin said, raising his voice. "Upset? I haven't even begun to get angry and I'm angry because my own brothers and sister didn't have the balls to tell me what the hell was going on under my own nose!"

Kevin ran from Travis in a huff looking for his siblings. Taking a risk and desperate to find them, Kevin let himself change into a vampire for a moment and listened. He couldn't hear them and he couldn't smell them, which meant they weren't in the building at all. So Kevin followed a trail of their scents that led him outside. Kevin followed the trail back to the house and let himself in. It turns out that Kyle was listening to the whole thing through mind reading and had Nathan and Natalie out of the school and running for their house the moment the bell rang. But now there was no hiding from Kevin, and when he came home, they were all downstairs in the kitchen. Kevin didn't say anything when he got to the kitchen where his siblings were. He realized he didn't know what to say. It didn't matter what he said anyway; it wouldn't change what happened. Kevin took a deep breath and Kyle stood a little taller and breathed heavily.

"Kevin—"

"Shut up, Kyle," Kevin interrupted. "I don't care. I don't want to hear it."

"Kevin, it wasn't all Natalie's fault. I should've just told you from the beginning so—"

"You think?" Kevin yelled. "What the fuck is wrong with you? You knew this whole time that Megan had cheated on me and you didn't tell me? For fuck sake, Kyle, we've had sex since then! I know Carlisle says we're immune to STDs, but what if I _had_ caught something?"

"Kevin, I didn't have the heart to tell you," Kyle blurted out. But all this did was send Kevin into another rant.

"You didn't have the heart to tell me, but you had the heart to get Natalie to make up some bullshit scheme to get Kathy to tell me?"

"That part was Natalie's idea."

"I don't care who's idea it was, the three of you fucking lied to me!" All three took one step back from how loud Kevin had yelled. "It's bad enough that Megan lied to me, but the fact that you guys didn't tell me what was going on is what I'm most angry about. And hell, half the pack knows about this too don't they? Who else knew about this before me besides you guys, the pack, and Travis?"

"It was only the pack we patrolled with and Travis only knows because Nathan told him. Grandpa Edward knows, but he swore he wouldn't tell anyone either. Mom and dad don't know and no one else in the family besides Travis and Uncle Paul know about this. Kevin, really, I'm sorry. None of us wanted to be the ones to tell you about this because we didn't want you upset with us. Megan's the villain here, not us."

"I'm a hell of a lot angrier now than I would've been if you'd just told me from the get go!"

"Maybe, Kevin," Kyle continued though it was very meekly, "But I didn't want to put you and I back in that place where you were angry at me. You'd finally forgiven me for what happened last year and I didn't want to ruin that by telling you about Megan."

"So instead you made Natalie do all the work?"

"Kyle didn't make me," Natalie said in Kyle's defense. "I was upset when Kyle admitted this to us and I wanted to get back at Megan for doing this so I told Kyle and Nathan to let me handle this. I was already upset with her because Kyle said she'd thought of you possibly getting her pregnant as a burden and the whole, 'I'll just get an abortion anyway', thing and this just threw me over the edge. I know that's selfish, but—"

"There is no but! It was just selfish!" Kevin looked right at Kyle and Nathan. "I can't believe the two of you. I helped you with your imprints over the winter, especially you Kyle, and this is the thanks I get? And don't tell me you thought I wouldn't believe any of you! You're a fucking mind reader, Kyle! I have no reason not to believe you! But now, I've got Kathy claiming that Natalie made up this bullshit to coax her into telling me what happened and Megan's denying everything. And it's not like I can tell her my mind reading brother told me because he didn't!"

"I tried telling you over break, Kevin, but I just couldn't," Kyle said, his voice continuing to get weaker because, no matter what he said, he knew he was wrong and nothing would make Kevin less angry.

"I don't give a shit anymore, Kyle! You should've told me from the beginning that this happened and let me deal with it myself! Yet again, you took the initiative of taking on my problems for me, and you know what, it backfired!"

"I wasn't trying to—"

"I don't care, Kyle!" Kevin interrupted. "I don't care anymore." Taking deep breaths, Kevin walked to the table and sat down, his face in his hands.

Natalie and Nathan looked at Kyle, who was obviously getting the majority of Kevin's rage, waiting to see what he was going to do. They knew they were in trouble too, but it seemed Kyle had let Kevin unleash on him. Nathan's guilt was towering on him and so was Natalie's. But she didn't know what else to do, so she stood back and waited for Kyle to do something. Several minutes of painful silence went by with no one moving from their spot. Eventually, Kyle started walking towards Kevin slowly. When Kyle was close enough, he tried resting his hand on Kevin's shoulder, but the moment Kevin felt his touch, he stood from his seat and backhanded Kyle's hand away from him.

"Don't touch me!" Then Kevin looked around the room. "All of you stay away from me." Kevin kept stepping away, getting closer to the staircase. When Kevin reached the staircase, he began running upstairs to the room he shared with his brothers. Kyle, Nathan, and Natalie stayed downstairs looking at the ground and didn't look up until about twenty minutes later when Kevin finally started coming downstairs. He had all his things on his back.

"Kevin, what are you doing?"

"I'm staying downstairs. The less I have to be around the three of you, the better."

"Kevin," Natalie said, "Don't be that way."

"I said I'm staying down here." The look Kevin gave them sent a shiver down all their spines. "I don't have to go to work until four. I suggest the three of you stay the hell away from me and this couch until I fucking say otherwise."

Reluctantly, the three of them did exactly what Kevin said and walked upstairs so they wouldn't bother Kevin. Natalie went straight to her room and called Gretchen letting her know she was out of school for the day and that she could come to practice early. Natalie was picked up by a co-worker thirty minutes later and she made sure to stay out of Kevin's way. Kyle and Nathan stayed in their room staring at Kevin's clear bed.

"What do you think mom and dad will say when they finally hear about this?" Nathan asked.

Kyle shuttered. "I don't even want to think about it. It won't even be just us that get in trouble. Half the pack will be in trouble for knowing about this and not saying anything. Then Kevin will probably be lectured for insisting on sleeping downstairs. I'm not looking forward to explaining all this. I have to say, I've never been so eager to go to work and get away from home."

"I know what you mean. I'm tempted to just run over to the police station and loiter until they give me something to do. At least you have work today."

Kyle shook his head. "They gave me the day off today. Normally, I'd be thrilled, but at the moment, I'd rather be cleaning up someone's vomit and popcorn than talk to mom and dad about what happened. Hell, they've probably gotten a call by now saying we're missing from school."

"They have," Nathan said. "I have about fifteen missed calls from mom. I'm willing to bet you, Natalie and Kevin do to."

"Maybe Kevin's already answered mom and told her what happened today. I hope so. It'll be nice not to repeat everything over again."

Nathan took a deep breath. "Kevin said that Megan's denying ever cheating on him. You said as much too. Do you think he'll forgive her?"

"If he does, he'll pay for it later. But from what I've read of his mind, he has no intention of forgiving her for this. He also has no intention of forgiving us either. Then again, he's also forcing himself not to think of ways to kill us, so I say just let him calm down."

"Yeah. He can't be mad at us forever, right?"

"Maybe not you and Natalie. Me, I don't know. As far as he's concerned, this all started with me and should've ended with me. If he ever forgives me for this, it'll be a long, long time." Kyle sighed and looked at his phone. "Do you think Evalina and I are at a point in our relationship where I can confide in her?"

"You're certainly further in your relationship than I am with mine. All Ada wants to do is sleep with me. I doubt she'd be willing to hear me bellyache about this to her. What time is it in Moscow anyway?"

Kyle grabbed his phone and looked at the world clock. It was almost eleven o'clock now. "Approximately ten pm. If I call now, she might still be awake." Kyle looked at Nathan. "Do you think she'd mind?"

"I don't know, Kyle. You're the mind reader and she's your imprint. I'm just going to sit here until mom and dad get home to yell at us for ditching school." Kyle smiled weakly and walked to the bathroom so he would have some privacy. When Kyle opened his phone, he forced himself to call the number, nervous that she might not talk to him at her hour or that she might be in the middle of something important. He doubted she was asleep, but if she was, he didn't want to wake her. The phone rang for a few tones before he finally heard a click on the other line.

"_Привет, вы достигли количества Эвaлина Димитрова и я не могу ответить на ваш звонок в данный момент. Если вы, пожалуйста, оставьте ваше имя, номер, и причину вызова, я вернусь к вам как можно скорее. До свидания и хорошего дня. (_Privet, vy dostigli kolichestva Evalina Dimitrovna i ya ne mogu otvetitʹ na vash zvonok v dannyĭ moment. Yesli vy, pozhaluĭsta, ostavʹte vashe imya, nomer, i prichinu vyzova, ya vernusʹ k vam kak mozhno skoryee. Do svidaniya i khoroshego dnya.)" Kyle sighed when he realized it was a voice mail message. So he hung up the phone. Kyle stood to walk back to his room, but as he rested his hand on the doorknob, he felt his phone start to vibrate. He saw Evalina's strange number and walked back towards the tub, sat down, and answered.

"Hello."

"_Sorry, I was cleaning Nikko's litter-box. What time is it where you are? Aren't you in school?"_

"It's eleven. And yes, I should be in school but…..I went home."

"_You of all people are ditching school? What on earth has gotten into you?"_

"A lot, actually. So much so that I'm not even sure when to begin. Long story short, Kevin's girlfriend had cheated on him over the simmer and I knew about it for a long time. So did Nathan and Natalie. Half the pack knew too, but no one said anything. I could never bring myself to tell him and Natalie decided to make Megan's friend tell him by planting in her head that Kevin liked her when he really didn't. Today, Megan's friend Kathy finally came to Kevin and told him she liked him and that Megan had cheated on him. Kevin found out that Natalie had been lying to Kathy and that we'd known about Megan all along and hadn't told him. Kevin's livid with us, but mostly me. As far as he's concerned, I was the first one to know and I should've been the first one to tell him about Megan. Now he's moved all his stuff to the couch downstairs and has told us not to talk to him or go anywhere near him. I know it's late and all in Moscow, but I really needed someone to talk to."

Evalina didn't immediately answer, but Kyle did wait patiently. When she did answer, it was first with a sigh. _"Why didn't you tell Kevin his girlfriend was cheating on him the moment you found out?"_

"Because last year, he and I got into a huge fight regarding Megan. She had a pregnancy scare and I overheard that in her thoughts. I went and told mom and dad about it and that led to a huge problem that didn't need to be there and it was my fault. Kevin and I were on rocky terms all summer and by the nearing of the school year, he finally forgave me and wasn't angry with me anymore. I didn't want to throw that away by telling him about Megan and so soon after we'd reconciled. I realize that makes me a coward, and I've paid for it."

"_By the sound of it, you certainly have. But if Nathan and Natalie were involved, why isn't Kevin mad at them?"_

"Oh, he's mad at them alright. He's just maddest at me. He said that this was another circumstance where I didn't just let him take care of his own business and instead tried to let Natalie take care of it for him. That's why he's so upset with me. And I don't know how long it will be before he finally forgives me for this if he ever does."

"_He'll forgive you eventually, Kyle."_ Evalina assured. _"He's your brother and he loves you more than a high school sweetheart that's done him wrong. He might not ever forgive you for the audacious way it was brought about, but he will forgive you out of love. Your methods were far from correct, but your intent was genuine. He will see that eventually."_

Kyle smiled gently. "I can only hope so. Sorry for calling this late. That's all I wanted to talk about. I can let you go if you were planning to go to bed."

"_No, not at all. I haven't had a chance to talk to you in a while and it's too late for tenants to start bugging me. I'll talk as long as you want."_

Kyle was relieved to have the reassurance. He really needed it at the time. Kyle and Evalina stayed on the phone together until it was midnight her time and she was tired. Kevin ended up leaving early to go to work. If nothing else, he could sit behind the counter and help in what minor ways he could. The shop owner's son, thankfully, was relieved to see Kevin and was more than happy to turn over the shift to him early. When the shop owner's son left after signing out for the day and left Kevin alone with the shop. People came in and out as normal and when there was no one there; he just read his required reading. He was on shift for about two hours before he saw Megan come into the shop with a guilty face. Kevin only glanced up to notice who she was, and then turned his attention back to his book pretending he didn't realize it was her. He didn't want to talk to her, especially not now. She'd been texting him all day, all saying, "I never cheated on you," over and over again. The fact that she was still lying to him was what had him angriest at her. Nessie and Jacob had already blown up his phone asking what the hell was going on. He told them everything and didn't answer again when they continued to text and call him with surprise at the day's events.

"Kevin?" Megan said when she was behind the counter and close to his chair. Kevin looked up, but didn't say anything. "You haven't answered any of my texts or calls. I was getting worried." Kevin stayed quiet and to that, Megan came closer. "Kevin, I swear, I never—"

"That's why I didn't respond. Because you keep insisting on lying to me."

"I'm not lying to you, Kevin. I was drunk at the party and I don't remember sleeping with anyone. Natalie told Kathy that you liked her because your sister doesn't like me and wanted to break us up and your brothers were all too eager to see it happened."

"That isn't why Natalie did what she did. I won't argue that when my brothers and sister found out about all this, they should've just told me, but they didn't go to all this effort just so they could break us up. They aren't like that. They did this because they wanted me to know what I had every right to know."

"I admit that I wasn't honest about where I was that two weeks. I should've told you that I was going on a college visit and I should've told you that I was going to a frat party, but I swear to you, Kevin, that I did not cheat on you."

"Why wouldn't you just tell me you were going on a college visit? Why lie to me about that? Kathy said it was because you were stringing me along. You can imagine that's a claim that doesn't sit well with me."

"She's lying I promise you. I never said anything of the sort." Kevin looked at her intently. He knew she was lying. No matter how mad he was, he trusted Kyle to tell him the truth about his girlfriend's thoughts. The fact that she insisted his brother was a liar caused his blood to boil more and more. When Kevin's silence became too much for her, she closed the distance and hugged Kevin. Then she started crying. "Please, Kevin, why won't you believe me? I'm telling you the truth. I love you. And I didn't tell you about UCLA because….it was like admitting that we'd be separated soon because of college. I've been dreading that day and I know you have too. I didn't want to bring it up until later when the school year was almost over."

"I told you when I was accepted to Yale. I told you because it was one of the proudest moments of my life and I wanted to share that with you. I don't know why you didn't want to share your success with me and let me celebrate it with you."

"Because I'm not looking forward to graduation. I'm scared of it."

"Maybe, but avoiding it won't change that it's approaching and I'm hurt that you couldn't talk to me and be honest with me. I'm hurt that you still can't be honest with me now."

"Kevin, I'm sorry, but I don't remember. If I did sleep with some guys from the party, then I swear I don't remember. If I said anything to Kathy, it was that I feared that was the case. I never said it was. I didn't tell you about that because I wasn't sure myself and I didn't want to admit to something that I wasn't even sure I'd done."

"You wouldn't admit that to me, but you admitted it to Kathy?"

"I told her in confidence and only because I wanted to try playing the events in my head. I hoped that if I told Kathy everything that I remembered, then I would know whether or not something really did happen. No one at the dorm remembered either, so I couldn't ask them. I wasn't keeping this from you to be vindictive, I was keeping it from you because I wanted to put it in the past and forget it ever happened. I was beginning to until Kathy started that fight this morning."

Finally, though he was far from forgiving, Kevin started patting Megan's back. "I should never have found out this way, Megan. You should've told me about this, not Kathy, and I would've forgiven you. But under the current circumstances, I don't know if I can. This all caused my brothers and sister and I to have a huge fight because they were burdened with finding out before me and not wanting to admit that the girl I loved had done anything to hurt me."

"I never meant to hurt you," Megan said through her tears and still hugging Kevin. "I love you too and I just wanted to put the past behind me. I didn't want to hurt you."

"Then you should've really put it behind you and not told Kathy. I could've lived with being ignorant, but I can't live with being laughed at for being the only one who doesn't know."

"I told Kathy never to say a word."

"She didn't need to, Megan," Kevin said. Then he said and tried pushing Megan away from him, but she tightened her hold on him. "Megan, I just want to be left alone for a while."

"Kevin, please," she said weakly, "I'm sorry."

"I still want to be alone for a while. I just need time to think and settle down. At the moment, I'm still too angry to make a rational decision."

Megan finally let Kevin push her away and she rubbed her nose. "Okay, Kevin." She picked back up her bag and walked to the door, but before leaving she looked at Kevin again and said, "I love you," then finally walked out.

Kevin felt a burning need to kick something, but seeing as he'd get fired if he did, he held in his anger. One thing was certain, whether it was his night or not, he was fazing tonight and going to run circles around the forest until he wasn't pissed off anymore. Kevin looked at the clock. It was getting close to the time Nessie and Jacob would get home from work if they weren't home already. They'd probably call once they learned he was sleeping on the couch from now on and demand he come home so the four kids could talk, but he wasn't going anywhere. As far as Kevin was concerned, he was done for the day. While Kevin stayed at work even when Nessie texted for him to come home from work early, Nessie and Jacob came home from work early and were greeted only by two of the four kids involved. Nessie already texted Gretchen and let her know Natalie was to be brought home immediately, but seeing Kevin not presented irritated her. Nathan and Kyle were in the dining room eating dinner and waiting for their parents to get home. When they saw Nessie and Jacob, they both shuttered. They did not look the least bit pleased, which Kyle expected.

"We got a call from the principal today that you kids weren't in school," Jacob started. "Mind explaining that to us?"

"Kevin was upset with us and we didn't want to face him, so we went home early. We don't have an excuse aside from that. Kevin left school early because he was looking for us so he could confront us about what happened this morning."

"Speaking of which," Nessie said, "Kyle, why didn't you tell Kevin this all happened?"

"I couldn't mom. Okay? I just couldn't. I didn't want to be the one to tell him about that after we'd finally gotten back on good terms. Natalie offered up a way that Kevin could find out without any of us being implicated, so I let her go through with it."

"And how well did that work out for you?" Jacob asked rhetorically. "And why is Kevin's stuff on the couch?"

"He's sleeping downstairs from now on. He doesn't want to be in the same room with me and Nathan, so he's moved all his stuff down there. And if his mindset at the time was any indication, he has no intention of moving back upstairs. Right now, he'll move out and stay with Grandpa and Grandma before he does that. Grandpa said I should've just told him the truth myself, I didn't listen, so now I'm paying for it."

"I take it half the pack knows about all this too?" Kyle nodded meekly, causing Jacob to take a deep breath. "So half the pack knew about this for a good six months and never came to me or Kevin and said anything?" Jacob took another deep breath. "I can't believe this. Where is Kevin? Your mother's texted him to come home fifteen times."

"He won't come home, mom. He's livid right now."

"I wonder why," Nessie said sarcastically. "I just can't believe that his own brother knew Megan had cheated and never said a word about it. Now Kevin's being punished ten times more than Megan for all this. If you'd just told him from the beginning, this would never have gotten this messy. And to have Natalie do what she did! I'm beyond words."

"I'm sorry, mom," Nathan and Kyle both said. It was then that Natalie finally made it home. She knew she was in just as much trouble as her brothers, but in a last ditch effort to be in slightly less trouble, Natalie went right for Jacob and hugged him, saying she was sorry in her sweetest 'daddy' voice. But Jacob wasn't having it and told her to sit down.

"What were you thinking, Natalie," Jacob asked when Natalie was sitting down. "You dragged someone into this that never should've been, and dragging her in just because you wanted to punish Megan is by far the dumbest thing you've ever done, hands down."

"I'm sorry, daddy."

"Don't 'daddy' me, young lady. I'm completely dumbfounded over this whole thing. You're damned lucky you're all immune to diseases, otherwise this could've easily gone far further south than it already has."

"Do you think we should have Carlisle check anyway," Nessie asked Jacob with her voice trembling at the thought of Kevin contracting anything being a possibility.

"We probably might as well. We can take him to the Cullen house the moment he comes home from work."

"Should we make Megan get tested too?"

"I don't give a shit about her health, Nessie, I care about Kevin's. After all this, as long as Kevin's clean, she could have AIDS for all I care."

"Don't Jacob," Nessie said quietly. Then Nessie looked at the kids, realizing she'd have to give them some form of legitimate discipline for this. Natalie was the easiest, so she started with her. "Call Gretchen tonight and let her know she's going to need to find a new Florence Unger. You're not going to the theatre until I say otherwise." Natalie began to protest, but Nessie spoke over her. "And if Gretchen has a problem with that, let her know that she can take it up with my middle finger."

"But mommy—"

"It's not up for discussion, Natalie. Now get upstairs and call her now or I'll call her for you. When you're finished talking to her, bring me your phone."

"Mom, you can't be serious."

"Make it your computer too."

"Mom!"

"Want me to take more away?" Natalie held her head down and shook it. "That's what I thought. Now call Gretchen then bring down your phone and computer when you're done." Natalie nodded and went upstairs to do what she was told. That left Nathan and Kyle, who were slightly harder. Nessie looked at Jacob to see if he knew what they could do. Jacob knew exactly what to do.

"As for the two of you, extra patrol hours. Not half a night, but all night and every night for the next two weeks. You two can also kiss your phones and computer goodbye until we say otherwise." Jacob held out his hand demanding the phones. Kyle and Nathan pulled them out and handed them over then got up to retrieve their laptop. As they were going up, Natalie was coming down with her phone.

"Mom, Gretchen wants to talk to you."

"I bet she does." Nessie took the phone from Natalie and held it to her ear. "Yes, Gretchen?"

"_Mind explaining what the hell is going on?"_ Gretchen said her British accent made heavier from her harsh tone. _"Why are you telling Natalie that she's not allowed to come to the theatre and why she won't be playing Florence Unger? She has no understudy, Nessie; you can't pull her out on me like this!"_

"I don't care, Gretchen, that's your problem. Natalie's done something seriously wrong and I plan to discipline her for her actions."

"_And what did she do that's so bad you're robbing me of my Florence Unger?"_

"It's family business, Gretchen, not yours."

"It is my business when I have a packed house and no main character!"

"You have plenty of female vampires at your establishment that can easily take Natalie's place for the time being. Or would you rather I pull her out of your theatre permanently? I'm sure there are plenty of theatre companies that would gladly take Natalie on and they wouldn't call her fat for eating a Twinkie either. Jacob's really no fan of that and it would be no skin off his back to pull her out."

"Mom!" Nessie held her finger in front of Natalie's face.

"Quiet, Natalie. Now, Gretchen, which will it be: lose a Florence Unger this one time or lose Natalie all together? Push my buttons further and it'll be the second choice."

There was a long pause on the other end, followed by a heavy sigh. _"Fine, I'll make someone else play Florence. But Natalie comes back to practice before summer starts, do you hear me? I have a business to run and I can't afford the loss. Can we at least agree to that?"_

"Fine, Gretchen. She'll be back for the summer season, but not a day before." Nessie hung up on Gretchen then and turned off the phone. Then Jacob took both Natalie's laptop and the boy's laptop while Nessie took the rest of the phones and turned them off. "You guys go to bed now. Also, you all have detention this Saturday, so clear your days up for that. You'll have to be at school by seven o'clock and you'll leave at three in the afternoon. Mrs. Kovac will explain this tomorrow, but I'm giving you a heads up."

The kids all nodded in acknowledgement and went upstairs with nothing to do but talk or sleep since they didn't have all their homework for the day. Nessie made one last attempt to make Kevin come home from work early by calling, but Kevin didn't answer. She didn't like being ignored, but Nessie was more concerned that something might be really wrong. Jacob and Nessie stayed downstairs together sitting on Kevin's makeshift constructed bed on the couch and waited for him to finally get home. When it was eight o'clock and he was supposed to be home, he didn't show up. Going on a hunch, Jacob went into the woods and fazed. He heard Kevin immediately, but he also heard the other pack members. Kevin's thoughts were all the angrier because it was the half of the pack that had known about this beforehand. Jacob let them all know he'd deal with them later and to faze back until he howled. They did as ordered and fazed back so Jacob and Kevin had some privacy. Kevin's rage was so hot, his vision was red.

_Do you want to talk, Kevin?_ Jacob asked when they were alone.

_You know I don't. I've just found out my girlfriend lied and cheated on her and my siblings sabotaged an innocent girl just to clear their own asses. I just want to be left alone and wallow in my own self pity._

_Well, Kevin, you can do that later tonight. You mother and I are taking you to Carlisle so he can give you some STD tests. I'm sure you're fine, but we want to be safe._

Kevin shuddered. _No, dad. Haven't I been humiliated enough for one day without my grandpa shoving some medical q-tip in my cock? Or however doctors check that shit._

_I realize you're mad, so I'll let that go for now. Kevin, just go with me and your mother to Carlisle and get it over with. It's better to do it and not need to than need to and not do it. After that, I promise you'll officially be done with the embarrassment for one day._

'_One day' being the operative words. Come tomorrow, everyone in school is going to know about this and I'll be able to do nothing about it but hold my head down in shame that I didn't know what my own girlfriend had done behind my back. Because apparently everyone knew but me!_

_I know, Kevin, but not everyone knew. Your mother and I weren't aware of this and I promise we would've told you had we known. I can't explain for your grandpa, but I'm assuming he thought your brothers and sister needed to learn a harsh lesson._

_They did, maybe, but why the hell am I being punished too? I did nothing wrong._

_I know, Kevin. And don't worry about ditching school. Don't make a habit of it, because I'll only do this once, but I managed to convince Mrs. Kovac to give you a pass on weekend detention._

_Thanks dad. I really appreciate that._

_Now please, just come with your mom and I and Carlisle will make this quick. That'll be the last of this, I swear._

Though Kevin was still reluctant, he followed Jacob to the house and changed back so they could all go to the Cullen house. Nessie already called ahead to let Carlisle know what happened and what they needed him to do. The rest of the night was unbearably uncomfortable for everyone, most of all Kevin. Edward took the opportunity to explain his side while they waited for the results of Kevin's tests. He assured Kevin that he was not at all in agreement with Kyle, Nathan and Natalie over their plan and had told them they needed to tell Kevin themselves, but they were adamant about finding a way to tell Kevin without being implicated or having any blame for Megan's actions. And as Jacob had assumed, Edward said that he knew the three just needed to learn their lesson the hard way and that he was sorry this all happened to Kevin. When Carlisle finally came down with the results, the tension in the room released to the news that Kevin was clean and had nothing to worry about.

"Grandpa?" Kevin said several minutes later as he, Nessie and Jacob were walking out. "Can I borrow the Volvo? I need to go to try and get to the closest Target or Wal-Mart so I can buy an inflatable mattress. There's no way I'll be able to sleep on that couch comfortably." Edward nodded and tossed the keys to Kevin.

"Honey," Nessie said, "I know you're mad, but maybe you can go ahead and just sleep upstairs. Please?"

Kevin shook his head. "No way, mom. Absolutely no way." Then Kevin ran to the Volvo and drove to the closest Target and managed to get there before the store closed and bought the biggest air mattress that was available and spent most of the night setting it up. So when he woke up the next morning, he was groggy and cranky. He did get a small sense of satisfaction when he saw Nathan and Kyle come home, tired as could be and having to go right back upstairs, get dressed, and go to school without an ounce of sleep. Kevin left for school early to keep his distance from his siblings and stayed at his locker all morning getting some extra sleep. He woke up when he felt someone sit next to him. Megan.

"Morning, Kevin."

"Morning nothing. My parents insisted that I get STD testing done last night when they found out."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Don't, Megan. They came out negative. My uncle was able to have the results in a few hours since he has a lab at his house. I suggest you go ahead and get tested too."

"I don't have anything. I already got checked."

Kevin was silent a moment. When he finally looked at Megan, his eyes were expressionless. "So you're finally admitting that you cheated on me?"

Megan sighed. "Look, all I remember is I got extremely drunk and when I woke up the next morning, I was naked in bed with two guys I'd never met before. I was concerned, so yes I went to my gynecologist and got tested. I already know I'm clean."

"How long before you knew? When did you get tested?"

"Two weeks after I got back. The results took another two weeks to come in."

"So you and I were sexually active for a month where your health was in question?" Kevin asked, but it was rhetorical. He stood from the floor and Megan stood too.

"We've always used a condom, so I thought we'd be fine."

"And even then you kept all this from me. I had to allow my uncle to take samples from my cock, Megan. It hurts to pee and my uncle's seen far more of me than I ever wanted him to. You can understand why I'd be just a little pissed off."

"Please don't give me that tone Kevin."

"You're in no position to tell me what tone I can and cannot use."

Megan sighed. "I see your mood hasn't improved since yesterday." Megan took a hold of Kevin's hand. "I know you're mad. You have every right to be mad. I would be too if I were in your shoes. But I never meant for any of this to happen and I still love you more than anything. I just wanted to let you know that."

"You did that just fine yesterday, Megan. You don't need to repeat it."

Megan got a little teary eyed. "You're really not going to forgive me for this are you?"

"Megan, it's the day after I've had all this shit slammed onto my shoulders. I'd like some more time to decompress. You might be over it by now, but I'm not."

"You think I'm not upset about all this? I just lost my best friend and you're mad at me because your sisters a sadistic bitch. If anyone deserves the majority of your anger, it's Natalie."

"Natalie didn't lie to me about going to California and cheat on me with two ball brained frat boys. She just played mind games with an impressionable teenager. I can get over that last thing. The first part might take me a while to get over and you can't pretend it won't."

"Please, Kevin, I'll make it all up to you. Anything you want, I'll make it up to you."

"Anything?" Megan nodded. "Tell me the whole truth. Don't lie to me. Tell me everything."

Megan sighed. "Alright. I went to California for a college visit and I didn't tell you because I didn't want to bring up our having to deal with being separated. I really mean that. I hate admitting that one day soon I won't be able to see you whenever I want and that kills me. It hurt enough while I was actually there. I befriended a group of girls that said they'd help me get into their sorority next year and we all became really close. A few days before I was about to leave, the frat house threw a party and I ended up getting invited. The girls I'd befriended encouraged me to drink everything they handed to me and even handed me a joint at one point. I was so drunk within the hour that I couldn't remember my own name. It all went really fuzzy after that and I woke up the next morning naked in bed. None of the girls remembered anything either, so I had to assume the worst. But I knew it was the worst and I was ashamed of myself for it. I didn't want to admit that it'd ever happened because I was so ashamed."

"And what about Kathy's claim that you were planning to break up with me at the end of the year anyway?"

Megan released a tear. "Kevin, would I be working so hard to get you back if that were true? Natalie told her you liked her, so my guess is that she said that put you against me. I swear to you that I never said anything of the sort to her. If I said anything, it was that I was depressed that we'd be forced to be apart most of the time at the end of the year. I still want to be with you, Kevin, and I'll always love you. I just hope that you'll be able to forgive me for what I've done."

Kevin kept looking at Megan, his face blank, and brushed away her tear. This was the best he'd get out of her. Kevin wanted to believe her and believe that she loved him enough to be with him even when the entire continent separated them. No matter how angry he was, he still loved her and seeing her cry made him hurt even more. Kevin finally took Megan in a hug and she burst into tears when her face was against his chest and she held onto him like a lifeline. He wasn't forgiving her necessarily, but just accepting that she'd made a mistake and that he could either move on or punish her. He didn't want to punish her, so he chose to move on. Kevin finally kissed the top of her head.

"I love you too, Megan. Just don't ever do any of this to me again, do you hear. And don't keep things from me anymore."

"I won't, Kevin. I promise."

Kyle had overheard the whole conversation. He'd been walking to Kevin's locker to see if he could try to apologize to Kevin and he saw him talking to Megan. When Kevin said he'd forgive her, he felt his blood boil. After everything, he was still taking her back? Natalie would be extremely angry when she found out. A possibility crossed him mind, so he knew when he told Nathan and Natalie about this, he'd have to make sure Natalie was in the woods just to be on the safe side. He would have to wait until lunch period before he told her anything, so he hoped that she wouldn't find out from someone else in that time. When lunch time did finally roll around Kyle made sure to find Natalie and Nathan before they stepped foot into the lunch room. He'd seen the two sitting together with what was left of Megan's friends at that table. When Kyle found his brother and sister, he grabbed them and took them outside and into the wooded area near them as quickly as possible. When they were alone, he broke the news.

"Kevin took her back."

"What!" Nathan and Natalie said together. "You can't be serious," Natalie continued in a rant. "I know I was in the wrong, but I worked hard! I planted that seed in Kathy's head and kept tending to her for months trying to get her to tell Kevin the truth and he found out in the worst way possible! The whole school knows by now about what happened! I've busted my ass, lost my laptop, my phone, and my role as Florence Unger and this is what he does? After everything Megan did to him and after she lied about it relentlessly, he still took her back? That stupid, condescending cock-brained, mother fucker!"

Natalie started shaking the moment she started talking and it looked like Kyle was right to drag Natalie outside. When the last word was yelled out, Natalie's body almost literally burst into a pure white wolf. As soon as she'd changed, he laid down and began to whimper. The sudden change was extremely uncomfortable and her bones and muscles were suddenly aching. On top of that, Natalie was already 5'6" at 15 and this would only make her get taller. Kyle told Nathan to run home as fast as he could and get a change of clothes for Natalie. Nathan turned into a vampiric state and started running. Doing that would make him able to get back faster. There was a reason that most wolves cut their hair when they changed. Natalie had natural hair that reached down to her butt and right now, she looked more like an Afghan Hound than a wolf. All she needed was for her tail to curl and it would be perfect. Kyle looked at her and, despite the situation, started laughing a little. Natalie growled at him.

"I'm sorry, Natalie, but you don't exactly look very menacing. You look more like an overgrown show dog than a wolf." Natalie growled more and barked, so Kyle put his hand on Natalie's nose. "Don't, Natalie, we're still just outside the school. If someone hears you, the whole school will see you like this and I'm not exactly in the mood to describe why there's a white, long-haired Clifford outside our school. I know you don't want to deal with that either." Kyle couldn't fight a grin. "We should at least put a pretty bow in your hair before people see you this way." Natalie reached over to bite Kyle, but he dodged and kept laughing. "I'm sorry, Nat, but you're just so….cutesy. I can't wait for the pack to see this." Natalie barked at Kyle again and louder than before. "Natalie, keep your voice down!"

Nathan finally came back with a change of clothes for Natalie, but it was hardly what she would've picked. But she was still too angry to change back on her own, so she'd have to just deal with it. Nathan was about to put her clothes on the ground for her, but Natalie started growling. Nathan looked at Kyle asking what was wrong and he let him know she didn't want Nathan putting her clothes in the dirt and it was, 'bad enough that her hair was getting dirty'. Then she asked Kyle to go get Travis and see if he could cheer her up or at least calm her down. She'd also have to relay the news that there was a possibility that she'd have to start going on patrol and she wasn't sure how well she'd be able to keep his secret with the pack constantly in her head. Kyle went and got Travis, making sure that no one was following them. Then, when Travis saw Natalie and gave her one look over, he started laughing hysterically.

"Oh my God, Natalie, you look like a pageant dog." Instead of growling, Natalie whimpered. Travis walked over and started petting her nose. "I know, I know, it hurts. My brothers told me what it's like. But if it makes you feel better, your fur looks absolutely beautiful. I heard from Nathan what happened. I'm sorry, Natalie, I really am." Natalie whimpered. "I know, I know." Travis started scratching behind Natalie's ear to sooth her. "Kevin will come to his senses eventually, but I think for now he just needs to do some of his own learning the hard way." Travis looked at Kyle and Nathan. "Could you two give us some privacy? We need to have a talk and I would rather it be between just her and me." Nathan and Kyle left the two alone and when he felt sure they were along, he looked back at Natalie. "Don't worry, Natalie. I was anticipating this being what forces me to come out." Natalie whimpered. "Don't feel bad. You kept it a secret for me for this long and I'll never be able to thank you enough for it." Natalie took a few more deep breaths and was finally able to change back, but her bones were still throbbing. Travis went out and grabbed her clothes from Nathan and brought them to her so she could get dressed. "Feeling better now?"

"Enough, I guess," Natalie said. "I just can't believe we went through all that and were punished so badly only to have Kevin take her back. She doesn't deserve him."

"I doubt Kevin and Megan will last much longer, that much I can promise you. Kevin's no idiot. He knows that he can take Kyle's word and if Kyle told him that she was cheating on him and wasn't remorseful like she should've been, then Kyle's the one that would know. And when Kevin realizes how little he really means to Megan and sees her for what she is, he'll end it. And she'll have no one to blame but herself and she'll realize far too late that Kevin was the best she'd ever have."

"Why can't he realize that now?"

"Because he still loves her I think. I mean, they've been together for about three years now and they've never had problems like this before. He's bound to forgive her on that count alone. I mean, think about it. Your parents have been together for over twenty years or so. If your mom slept with another guy completely on accident and swore she never intended for it to happen and promise it would never happen again with tears in her eyes, your dad would forgive her in a heartbeat once he'd calmed down from being upset about it."

"My parents are different. Daddy and mommy are imprints. And mommy would never do such a thing to daddy even if she were completely drunk. Megan and Kevin aren't imprints. Megan's just some girl that thinks she can get away with cheating on my brother and breaking his heart later. She doesn't deserve him and she knows it so she's holding onto him as long as she possibly can before discarding him like a piece of dirty laundry thinking she can find better."

"I know, Natalie. But all you can do is wait for Kevin to come to his senses. And look on the bright side. When she realizes she'll never find a man as good as Kevin, then she'll be able to do nothing but look back at what she missed out on. Kevin's going to law school next year. He has better things to look to."

Natalie brushed away a tear. "Exactly! I just wish Kevin realized that now instead of later. I don't know why he's planning to waste his time with her when she's already planning to break up with him."

"He still loves her, Natalie. Love's never been known for rationality. The way I figure it, this whole thing will loom over him for the rest of the year and it'll be a harsh dose of reality for him. It's an unfortunate truth for all of us. But hey, I have some news that'll cheer you up. At least, it's better news than Kevin and Megan getting back together."

"I certainly hope so. What news do you have?"

"Well, Phil and I went out last night and we went alone for a change. So we ended up doing it."

Natalie finally smiled. "You big slut, good for you." Natalie and Travis hugged. Then Natalie's tone turned immediately serious. "You two used protection right?"

Travis chuckled. "Yes, Natalie, we used protection."

"So top or bottom?"

Travis gave Natalie a weird look. "That's none of your business, Natalie." Natalie kept looking at Travis with hopeful eyes and a small smile. "We interchanged. There. Happy?"

"I'm just making sure that Phil was a perfect gentleman. You know I don't respond well to my siblings being taken advantage of."

"He never took advantage of me, Natalie. Don't be silly. I asked him to be gentle since it was my first time and he did just that until I told him otherwise. There is a little snag though. We worked it out and everything, but I admit I'm a little sad."

"What did he do?"

"We had to have a serious talk about our relationship and the age difference. He's going to college and everything and considering the two of us are still pretty in the closet, we both decided that after graduation, we should start seeing other people."

"Oh, Travis, I'm so sorry."

"It's alright. I kind of saw it coming. Phil and I were really never specific about the type of relationship we had together. And since I just didn't want to tell my parents the truth, we really couldn't have a serious relationship anyway. It always felt like we were more like friends than boyfriends. I'm a little sad, but we're still going to stay friends. He's actually said I can come with him to his graduation party at the end of the year. I knew Alice would throw a party for Kevin and Maxi, so I asked him if he would be willing to have the party either the day before graduation or the day after. His party's the day after. Do you want to come?"

"If you want me to go. What do you want to do about….you know. You said you'd have to tell them since I've changed, but are you ready? If you're not, I can keep it a secret longer. Kyle knows and he's managed to keep it secret."

"I know…I know I should, but I'm just not ready for my parents to see me differently."

"You know they won't think differently of you. When have your parents ever given any indication that they would be angry about you being gay? They've never had a problem with gay people right?"

"It's not that. They're not homophobes, but I'll still be that son that's different because I'm gay."

"Well, Travis, it makes you different from your brothers, and that's a fact of life. But Aunt Rachael and Uncle Paul won't treat you any different because of it. How many times do I have to tell you that before you'll believe me?"

"I know, Natalie, I know. But try to see it from my point of view. Even if I'm accepted, I'm still the oddball out."

"You're the oddball out? I've had my two brothers laugh at me because I looked like a show dog. Even you laughed at me."

"At least you can just cut your hair."

"Don't even joke," Natalie said, holding her long hair and petting it. "I don't care how ridiculous I look as a wolf. I'm not cutting my hair."

Travis shrugged. "Okay. Just be prepared to defend that hair to the death. I'm willing to bet your dad will tell you to at least cut it to your shoulder."

"No."

"Mid-back maybe?"

"No."

"A millimeter?"

"No."

Travis sighed. "I don't envy the talk you and Uncle Jacob will have tonight."

"Alice has never done anything but trim my hair all my life. I'm not about to let her do anything different. The pack can deal with having a long haired wolf in the pack. Just like they can deal with having a gay wolf in the pack when the day to change comes for you. It's still up to you, but I need to know what you're planning. Should I keep this a secret just a little bit longer or are you going to tell your parents tonight?"

Travis sighed heavily. "I'll tell them tonight. One way or another, I'll tell them tonight."

Natalie smiled and patted Travis's back. "Do you want me there for support?"

"No thanks, peanut. I'm a grown man. I need to do this myself. So do you think you've calmed down enough to go back inside? Or do you want to stay outside and relax a little more?"

"I'll just go back. Kevin's not going to change his mind just because I'm sitting out here in a huff. Maybe dad can knock some sense into him later tonight at patrol."

Natalie and Travis finally left the spot in the trees and went back inside with Kyle and Nathan acting like nothing had happened. Phil asked Travis what that whole thing was all about when they passed each other and Travis just said he decided he'd tell his parents tonight. Phil knew what Travis meant, smiled, and wished him good luck. When Travis got home that day, his mom was already home and was walking around cleaning. The gravity of his proclamation earlier that day was beginning to weigh on him and he realized this would be much harder to do than he thought. When Rachael looked up and saw Travis, she smiled.

"Hi, honey. How was school? Did your brothers already go to work?"

"Mom, I'm gay," Travis blurted out, and then he instantly regretted it. Rachael looked at Travis a little stunned. But after a moment, she smiled and walked over to Travis and gave him a big hug.

"Oh honey. I was wondering when you were going to tell me."

"You already knew?" Travis asked, looking up at Rachael.

"Yes, honey, I already knew. There were small things I noticed once you started getting older that made it pretty evident to me."

"Please tell me it wasn't because I hang out with Natalie."

Rachael sighed. "It was a big part of it, dear. You're closer to her than any of your other friends. But what really made me realize it was…" Rachael sighed, "I'm just going to say it. I saw you kiss Phil when he dropped you off a few months ago."

"You saw that?"

"Yes, honey, I saw that. Since then, I've been waiting for you to tell me. I don't want you to feel like you can't tell me things. I assume you told Natalie first."

Travis nodded. "Yes, I told her first. I knew that if I asked her to keep quiet, then she would. I didn't want to tell you and dad right away because I didn't want you two to see me as different. And I wasn't ready to be the oddball out that was different from everyone else, especially if I did end up becoming a part of the pack. I knew I would be different and that scared me."

Rachael kissed Travis on the forehead. "I had a feeling that was why you weren't saying anything. Well, I want you to know that this changes nothing. You're still my baby and you always will be regardless of your sexual orientation. And I know your father will say the same thing as me. Now all that's left is for you to formally introduce us to Phil. You two are dating right?"

"More or less. He's the first guy I've ever been with so—"

"No need to elaborate, honey. You're still my baby, so I'd like to pretend you're not doing those things just yet."

Travis smiled. "Alright mom."

"You're using protection?"

Travis rolled his eyes. "Yes, mom, we've used protection."

"Just making sure. Just because he can't knock you up and vise versa doesn't mean you're allowed to not use protection. Phil looks like a very nice boy, but you can never be too careful. I just don't want you getting careless honey."

"I won't mom. Actually…" Travis started, "Dad already told you about Kevin and Megan right?"

Rachael sighed. "Yes, your father told me. Apparently, your uncle gave him and his half of the pack a good yelling at last night and your father came home and told me about everything. What about it?"

"Kevin took Megan back."

"What?"

"Yeah. Natalie didn't take too well to this news and she ended up fazing." Travis smiled a little. "You should see her, mom. She looks like a show dog."

Rachael smiled. "What color is she?"

"Pure white, no joke. She's basically a pure white Afghan hound. All she's missing is a big pink bow and a diamond studded collar. That'll really strike fear in the hearts of stray vampires won't it?"

Rachael started laughing. "She can become the pack decoy. Lull enemies into a false sense of security with a pretty dog and attack when they least expect it."

"Tell dad to mention it next patrol."

Having told his mom, Travis felt as if the whole world was lifted from his shoulders and he felt a million times better. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the Black family at the moment. Kevin, Kyle, and Nathan all went to work that day and Natalie was left all alone at home with nothing to do but read her lines that she wouldn't be delivering. Bored out of her mind, Natalie walked to the Black Repair shop and let herself into her mom's office. When Nessie looked up and saw her, she kept a straight face.

"What brings you here, honey?"

"Well, you're not going to believe what happened today. Two things happened today, one to Kevin, the other to me."

Nessie went a little stiff. "Something else happened? I'm not sure I can handle any more surprises Natalie."

"Well, I've got some. Kevin decided to take Megan back."

Nessie sighed again and rubbed her face. "You don't say."

"And the news made me so angry that Kyle and Nathan had to drag me into the woods so I wouldn't faze in the middle of school."

"You fazed," Nessie asked a little nervously.

"Yeah, I fazed. I got laughed at for a good five minutes."

Nessie gave Natalie a weird look. "Why?"

"Apparently I look like a show dog and Kyle and Nathan thought it was funny."

"Ah," Nessie said. "I guess I can see that. Is that all? Nothing else for the day?"

"Nothing else."

"Well, I guess I have news for you too from your Aunt."

"You mean that Travis is gay? Yeah, I know. He told me last year."

"I figured as much. He tells you everything after all. So when you say that Kevin and Megan are back together, does that mean Kevin's feeling better?"

"I can't say. He's looked depressed every time I've looked at him, but that might be because of me, Nathan and Kyle. Megan, on the other hand, looked like she was on cloud nine. Probably happy that she managed to sucker Kevin into forgiving her. She'll get her just desserts, though."

"Natalie," Nessie said, "Don't you do anything. Let Kevin handle what's to come later. That's how all this started; none of you allowed Kevin to take care of his own problems and took it upon yourselves to solve the problem for him. You need to just let Kevin handle his business. If you guys can't do that, Kevin will never forgive any of you."

"I just hate that, whether it was right or not, I put all that work into making sure Kathy showed Megan's true colors and he takes her back anyway. I don't know how much more transparent it can be.'

"Natalie, I won't pretend that I'm pleased Kevin didn't end things with Megan, but you know what, that's his business and the more we argue with him, the more likely it is he will continue to not see Megan's true colors. Or at the very least, he'll know them full well but won't acknowledge them to prove a point to us. Just leave him alone and let him come to his own realization. I don't want there to be any more arguing between you guys."

"Understood, mom."

"Thanks honey. You're welcome to stay and help out if you're bored at home."

"Thanks mom."

Natalie left the office and let herself into the shop and went right to Jacob, first to apologize, then to explain the fazing thing, then to help with anything she could so she could keep her mind occupied for the rest of the day. Later that night, Travis called the house and asked if he could talk to Natalie and let her know that Rachael already figured out that he was gay. Natalie thought it was a little funny, but was supportive all the same. Paul, to Travis's relief, was surprised to find out his son was gay. Travis was starting to get tired of people telling him that his homosexual-ness was apparently obvious to them. His brothers, Maxi and Jason, were supportive of Travis too and kept saying it was no wonder he was never into girls.

The rest of the school year was unbearably tense for Kyle because he knew exactly what was coming. Even after Kevin forgave her out of love, Megan still had every intention of ending the relationship and was planning to claim that it was something she'd only recently been thinking about. Kevin would have none of that, though. If Kyle tried to talk to him, Kevin put in his headphones and ignored him. He had his inflatable mattress downstairs and wouldn't say a word to either Kyle, Nathan or Natalie. After a while, it just started feeling like Kevin was a roommate instead of their brother. He never ate dinner with them anymore; he worked as many hours as he possibly could, and whatever free time he had he spent at Megan's house just so he'd be away from his siblings. Megan never came around anymore either. She was still extremely angry at Natalie for what she did and didn't want to be around her. Natalie was in full agreement on that point. So much so that Natalie made an avid point to tell Alice that if Megan was going to be at the graduation party she was throwing for the kids, then she wouldn't be there.

"Honey," Alice had tried to reason, "You can't tell me to do that. Kevin invited her and if he says she can come, then it's his decision. There's no need for you to not be there. There's more than enough room in this house for the two of you not to be around each other."

"I don't care if this house stretches the entire state of Washington. I don't want to be in the same building as that two timing whore when I don't have to be and I don't want to be around when she dumps Kevin on his ass like Kyle's been saying she will. She can come here, but if she's here, than I won't be."

Natalie wouldn't budge, so Natalie decided she'd be home alone that night unless Travis would be willing to stay home with her. Travis agreed he'd spend that day with her and that was the end of the argument. From what little that Natalie, Nathan, and Kyle saw of Kevin, he didn't seem to be cheering up at all since the incident. If anything, he was getting moodier, more reclusive, and quieter. Yet Megan continued to be as happy as could be. When graduation finally came along, the day wasn't nearly as happy as it was supposed to be. Kevin didn't seem excited at all and even turned down giving a valedictorian speech at the last minute, leaving Mrs. Kovac to do a speech in his place. He didn't think he would be, but Kevin on that day was really relieved that his last name started with a B and Megan's last named started with a K. They were separated by the whole gym. When the graduation ceremony was over, Kevin and everyone that was invited headed to the Cullen house for the graduation party except for Travis and Natalie, who just went back home to do something else. Thankfully for Kyle (especially Kyle) Evalina was able to come to Washington with her family for the graduation. Ada María and her family came too, but Nessie wasn't thrilled with it. The last thing she wanted was for her to cause problems with Nathan by just being herself. When the party rolled around, Kyle and Evalina finally had the opportunity to just be with each other instead of Kyle being busy and Evalina having to stay at the Cullen house with very little to do.

"So have things improved since we last spoke? Your mother let me know that you didn't have a phone right now. I admit I missed talking to you."

Kyle smiled. "I missed talking to you too. You have no idea. Sadly, nothing really improved. Kevin's still extremely angry with me and he hasn't spoken to any of us since the incident. Even mom and dad barely talk to him anymore. He sleeps in the living room, he works all the time, and he spends his free time at Megan's house. And he's been so depressed. I want to talk to him but he won't give me the time of day."

Evalina took a hold of Kyle's hand. Kyle looked at the contact, then at Evalina again. "He'll forgive you, Kyle. Just give him time."

"I'm sorry to have dragged you into this."

Evalina smiled kindly. "Don't worry about it, Kyle. It's always nice to have someone to talk to and I know you would do the same for me."

Kyle nodded. "Yeah."

"Good, I'll take you up on that offer. Let me tell you all about this unusual new tenant in my apartment building."

Kyle chuckled and let Evalina complain his ear off about some weird kid that moved back in with his parents and was constantly bothering the neighbors because he threw parties late into the night. His parents were always working and hardly ever home, but they'd certainly be sore when they find out that she was a month away from serving them an eviction notice. Though Kyle stayed with Evalina the whole night, he still kept a good eye on Kevin, who never seemed to perk up at all.

Everyone else was having a good time except him. The truth was Kevin knew exactly what was coming. Kevin had known for a while. The worst part was that he knew full well that he owed Kyle an apology, but he was too stubborn to admit that he was wrong to take Megan back. He was just waiting for Megan to take him aside and get this whole thing over with. He also knew that Kyle had been watching him all night and was almost relieved about that, though he had no intention of admitting it later. The moment finally came when it was almost eleven at night after Megan had spent the night enjoying herself. Megan took a hold of Kevin's hand and took him with her to the garage claiming she wanted them to be alone for a minute. It would seem she wanted him to think it was for something intimate, but Kevin knew better. When they were alone in the garage, Kevin turned on the lights and watched Megan walk over to Alice's yellow Porsche.

"This car's beautiful."

"It's Aunt Alice's favorite."

"It would be my favorite too." Megan turned to face Kevin with a small smile, but it went away when she saw that Kevin wasn't smiling. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing. What did you want to bring me in here for?"

Megan sighed. "Well…I've been thinking. You've been accepted to Yale University and I'll be going to UCLA. The two of us have a lot to be proud of. Especially you."

"Yeah," Kevin said flatly.

Megan came a little closer. "You know I love you, right?"

"I love you too," Kevin answered just as flatly.

"You know that I want nothing more than to make everything work right?"

Kevin raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Well, I've spent all this time thinking about it and mulling it over in my head. Nothing I thought of was working. We'll be apart most of the time and hardly ever see each other. So I was thinking that it might be best if we just…started seeing other people." Kevin returned his face to what it had been. Megan waited for a reaction from him, but nothing was coming. The silence was tense and painful and it was beginning to really bug her. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"What is there to say? You already had this planned for a while now and I knew it. Kathy warned me that you were going to do this and frankly so did Natalie. I don't know what you expect me to say when I've spent the whole night waiting for you to tell me you've been thinking about this only recently."

"Kevin, I told you that I never said anything of the sort to Kathy. And Natalie has no business telling you what I'm thinking. She's a half-wit show-girl that wouldn't know her ass from her elbow."

"Shut up, Megan," Kevin barked. "I'll take you yelling at me or insulting me, but you leave my siblings out of this. They did what they thought was right and found a way for me to find out that you'd cheated on me and lied to me. Frankly, if anyone should be breaking things off, it should be me. I'm the one that was hurt in this whole thing. You, on the other hand, had this planned from the start. And I won't let you insult my little sister when it's me you're supposed to be dealing with."

"Kevin, I told you—"

"Yes, I know you told me, but you know what, I'm not fucking stupid. I know I may seem that way because I didn't turn you away when you gave me those damned crocodile tears, but trust me, I'm not so stupid that I don't know what you're doing."

"Exactly, Kevin, we stayed together. If you really thought I'd done you wrong, you would've never stayed with me."

"You're right; I should've just ended it then. You don't care about how this all makes me feel. You were just thrilled that I was stupid enough to take you back. But that ship has sailed and you can go to California and do whatever it is you plan to do. I don't care anymore." Kevin started walking to the door that led outside.

"Where are you going?"

"Home."

"You can't leave! You were my ride here."

"You can walk." Then Kevin walked out and started running so that by the time Megan had run to the door to yell at him, Kevin was already gone. Megan let out a grunt before she slammed the door and began making her way back to the house. As she was making her way back, she saw that girl that had spent most of the night with Kyle. She wasn't sure what her name was. All she knew was that this chick had a Russian accent. The woman stopped in front of Megan and looked at her intently.

"Yeah?"

"You're Megan right? Kevin's girlfriend?"

"Ex-girlfriend," Megan corrected with a harsh tone.

"Indeed." Then the girl slapped Megan clear across the face for no apparent reason, leaving Megan dumbfounded. "That's all." Then the woman turned her back on Megan and began walking back to the house.

Meanwhile, Kevin was running home as fast as he could. He'd changed to his vampiric form because he wanted to get home quickly, but he also didn't want to ruin his clothes or let anyone in his head that might be out on patrol that night. When Kevin got home, he changed back and went upstairs to take a shower. It wasn't because he felt dirty; it was more that he wanted to pretend he wasn't crying. He stayed in the shower for at least a half hour before he come out and walked downstairs in a fresh pair of boxers and a t-shirt. But when he got down, Kyle was sitting on the couch in front of Kevin's air mattress. When their eyes met, Kyle smiled reassuringly, but didn't say anything. Kevin didn't say anything either, but he did walk over and sit on the couch with Kyle and looked forward at the fireplace.

"I'm sorry," Kyle said when Kevin was seated. "I know you're still mad at me, but I wanted to let you know that I'm here if you need me. I promise I never wanted any of this to happen to you. I just wanted you to see her for what she is. That happened, but not the way I would've liked it to."

"Don't worry about it, Kyle. I don't want to talk about it anymore." There was a moment of silence again after Kevin said that. He refused to cry in front of Kyle. He had known this was coming and he didn't want to look heartbroken over this. The problem was that he was crushed. He still loved her and the fact that the feeling wasn't completely mutual absolutely killed him. But after five minutes of complete silence, Kevin finally broke down and rested his head between his legs and just started crying. "I'm so fucking stupid."

"No you're not. She's the one that's stupid. She hurt you the way she did and assumed that you would sit back and take it. You didn't, Kevin, and I'm really proud of you. You proved to her that you're more of a man than she gives you credit for."

"Then why do I still feel like shit?"

"Because the girl you thought loved you just broke your heart. There's no shame in admitting what she did hurt you. But there is shame on my part that I didn't have the nerve to tell you myself what she had done and was planning to do. If I'd just told you, none of this would've happened. And for that, I'm sorry."

"Can I ask something?"

"Anything?"

"When did she actually start thinking about breaking up with me?"

Kyle took a deep breath. "The idea started festering after she started applying for college. And when she was accepted by UCLA, that's when she officially decided to break things off after graduation."

"So she really was string me along?"

Kyle was reluctant to answer. "Yes," he finally said, "Basically. I'm so sorry, Kevin. I should've told you. But the thoughts came up after the pregnancy scare and I knew you were still angry with me at the time and I was scared that if I told you, then you would get angrier at me and never ever forgive me."

"And did she really think of me as a burden when we had that pregnancy scare?" Kevin asked with silent tears still going.

"Not you as much as the possible baby. But she was thinking that she didn't want to be….stuck with you. That's about the time that Natalie and I really started to dislike her. We knew that she wasn't respecting you the way you deserved and it agitated the two of us. And when Natalie found out about the summer, she wanted to punish Megan in the cruelest way possible. She never wanted you to get hurt all the more. I guess we really didn't think the plan out as much as we should've."

"Indeed," Kevin replied before taking a deep breath. "Even so, I shouldn't have reacted the way I did; moving down here and never speaking to any of you. All I did was make an ass of myself while tolerating Megan's presence because I would rather be around her than face you, Nathan and Natalie."

"You reacted the way anyone would react if they were in your shoes. Though we hadn't meant for that, you felt betrayed and it hurt more for you because it wasn't just Megan, but us too."

"I know." Again, there was a moment of silence. Eventually, Kyle suddenly hugged Kevin.

"I just don't want you to hate me anymore. I hate it when you're mad at me. I just wanted to help and when it blew up in my face, I couldn't stand the feeling of it. Please, Kevin, please just forgive me. I know you're sick of hearing that request, but mine is genuine. You'll always be my big brother. And the truth is, even if it doesn't seem that way, I've always looked up to you."

"You? Looking up to me? You're the one that always calls me childish and tells me to grow up."

"I know, but you're everything I'm not. You're charming, charismatic, and extremely good at making friends. I've never been that way and I've always had a jealous admiration of you. I guess that's why I get mean with you sometimes. But I would never wish anything bad on you and I'm sorry that I'm the cause of something bad."

"I know, Kyle," Kevin answered, hugging Kyle back. "I've always admired you too, you know. You're so mature and you always seem to have your shit together. You're more organized and more mature than I am. I've had a jealous admiration for you too. We're opposites of the same coin, you and I. And you'll always be my little brother, Kyle. And I forgive you for everything."

"Thank you," Kyle said harshly, his breath catching a little from joy and relief. It was hardly a good night overall, but the night ended the way it needed to.


	21. What Followed

**What Followed**

After the graduation party, Kevin agreed to move all his things back up into the boys' room, though it seemed like he had to pack things up again as soon as he'd unpacked. And even though he and Kyle had reconciled and Kevin wasn't made at Nathan and Natalie anymore, he was still extremely depressed for the rest of the summer. He didn't even perk up when he got an e-mail from the guy that would be his dorm mate. He'd gotten it at about two one afternoon, had read through it, and then put his phone down near Nathan without answering. Kyle walked over to the nightstand and looked at the e-mail.

"Is everything okay?" Kyle asked, fearing the email may have been from Megan. Kevin had deleted Megan's number the night they'd broken up, but Megan had texted, called, e-mailed a million times, though Kyle really didn't know why. Kevin always ignored her and deleted whatever she sent him.

"It's just my soon to be roommate."

"What did he say?"

Kevin shrugged. "Something about not being able to wait to meet me or something. I didn't really read it."

Kyle picked up the phone and began reading. "'Kevin Black,'" Kyle began aloud, "'I've just been informed that you and I will be roommates in the coming school year. Congratulations on being accepted into Yale and for having the good fortune of being roomed with me! You have proven yourself to be of a superior mind than that of the common people and are hence worthy of my respect.'" Kyle laughed. Kevin looked up with a straight face.

"I can see we'll get along just fine," Kevin said sarcastically.

"He's kidding Kevin. Let me finish reading the e-mail. This guy's intriguing me now. 'My name is Heathcliff Fitzgerald Kensington (forgive the strange name, my mother is a PhD in English Literature and my father is currently the mayor of Norfolk, Virginia). I shall allow you to simply call me Heath. Most do.'" Kyle stopped a moment. "Heathcliff?"

Nathan chuckled. "And his dad's a mayor? Fancy shmancy."

Kyle chuckled. "Anyway, 'Now that I've introduced myself, I look forward to us meeting in person. I look forward to tolerating your company and bad habits as you undoubtedly will tolerate mine. I shall warn you first and foremost that I'm extremely anal (I'm afraid it's not in the good way).'" Kyle stopped a moment in surprise before continuing. "'I like to keep a clean room, so I would appreciate the assistance with this venture. I would also like to ask that we keep romantic activity out of our dorm room. Any activity with a girlfriend (or boyfriend if that's what you're into) will be kept in other locations. I look forward to getting to know you, but I would rather not know you _that_ well. Until we meet, farewell and enjoy your summer. P.S. I have purchased a mini-fridge that I plan to stock with moose tracks ice cream that is mine, the whole of mine, and nothing but mine. If you wish to have any, you are to ask me first or the punishment to follow will be quick and severe. Until the school year, Heathcliff Fitzgerald Kensington.' Hm. He seems interesting."

"Indeed," Nathan said. "I say it's a good thing you're getting an interesting roommate." Nathan left the comment at that and Kevin sighed.

"I guess. As long as he keeps out of my stuff and I keep out of his, we'll get along great." Kevin said solemnly. Everyone in the room went silent. Nathan and Kyle noticed Kevin's mood was slightly sourer and both had a feeling they knew what was wrong.

"Did you get something from Megan that you want to tell us about?" Nathan asked hesitantly.

"She texted me something last night while I was at work." Kevin stopped there. Nathan waited a minute before coaxing.

"And what did she say that's upset you? She isn't trying to get back together or something is she?"

"No, that's not it. She sent me a text that apologized for yelling at me and constantly calling me first of all. She was calling me an asshole for leaving her alone at the Cullen house; shit like that. But last night after apologizing for that, she said it was stupid of me to assume that we'd last past high school. Frankly, I think she's still speaking from anger, but I don't know what she has to be angry about. She's the one that broke things off with me when I found it in me to forgive her. I guess that was my first mistake."

"Don't think about it," Kyle said. "She isn't worth all this. She's already proven that beyond a reasonable doubt. I have to say, I'm pleased with you for handling this like an adult."

Kevin huffed. "I guess that's really all I can say about this whole thing isn't it? I just don't want to be constantly reminded that the love of my life cheated on me."

"She isn't the love of your life," Nathan said. "If she were, you would've imprinted on her. She's out there somewhere, Kevin. And when you look in her eyes, you'll know. Sure, I have a lot of work cut out for me with Ada, but I can't wait until she loves me as much as I love her. I just have to be patient and you'll have to be patient too."

"I don't want to imprint. After all this, I just want to be left alone."

"And that's not a bad thing," Kyle assured. "After what's happened, I think you should definitely take time for yourself. Focus on your law degree. I mean, seriously, do you realize that you're officially the first Quileute or Makka to get into Yale? That's huge, Kevin! According to Grandpa Billy, even grandma's ex that had gone to law school didn't get into Yale. He got into Brown."

Kevin smiled finally. "Thanks for reassuring me that I'm better." The three of them laughed a little and Kevin seemed to be in slightly better spirits after that.

Now that it was the summer season, Natalie was finally allowed to go back to the theatre to perform. Gretchen was so relieved to have Natalie back at work and the rest of the cast and the staff were too. Gretchen decided that to celebrate, she would have a revival of _Evita_ and called Cesar to the states to help them with the tango sequences. This had Natalie extremely eager.

"This is so exciting!" Natalie said the moment she got to her aunt and uncle's house and Travis answered the door. "I get to play Eva Perón in one of my favorite musicals and I'll be taught how to Tango by one of the most famous tango dancers of the 1940's! This beats playing Florence Unger any day!"

Travis closed the front door. "Nice to see you too, Natalie." Natalie and Travis both sat on the couch in the living room. "Do you want anything to eat?"

"Whatever's in the fridge is fine unless you want to go somewhere."

"We have some leftover mac-n-cheese, or does Gretchen not allow you to eat cheese?"

Natalie smiled. "She's not here and I won't tell her if you won't."

Travis was silent a moment. "She seriously doesn't let you eat cheese?"

"She doesn't care as long as I don't go overboard. She just doesn't let me eat processed food."

"Natalie, you're an actress, not a swimsuit model. I don't know why she watches what you eat the way she does. And if you tell me that she's trying to get you a modeling contract, I swear I'll slap you."

"She's not, Travis, I promise. Modeling's not what I want to get into. But what's important is that I'm going to be Eva Perón! I'm so excited."

"I know, I know, and that's great. Are you even old enough to play Eva Perón?"

"I'm tall enough to look older than I am. Hell, I got the role of Florence Unger didn't I and she's in her forties."

"I guess," Travis said as he took out the mac-n-cheese and put it in the microwave. "Sometimes I feel like Gretchen just gives you roles because she's biased about you."

"She's not, I have to try out. She picks us based on our voices and what she wants out of the performance. We're a very tight knit theatre group and there are only so many of us in that group. Later this summer, we're doing _Dracula the Musical_, and I'm not playing Mina for that. I'll be playing one of Dracula's brides."

"You already know your role for the second play for the season?"

"Of course. Gretchen plans the season ahead of time and who is in what role. Unless it's a non-musical, she picks what voice she wants for what role and she doesn't want an alto as Mina. She'll give the role to Bethani because she's a soprano. Eva Perón is typically an Alto role, and on top of that, out of the cast, I'm the one that's better able to pass for Argentinean. However, on top of not being a soprano, I hardly look English."

Travis shrugged. "Makes sense I guess. So are _Evita_ and _Dracula the Musical_ all you guys are doing over the summer?"

"Yeah, that's it. Gretchen's playing around with making fall a Shakespeare season. We don't do Shakespeare that often and I'll have to actually try out. And for the fall season, Gretchen's planning to schedule three plays. I don't know how I'll do it. Lead role or not, I'll have lines to memorize."

Travis smiled. "You've been in a Shakespeare play before with Gretchen."

"Yes, but I was playing the Indian child that Titania was looking after. That's a silent role and I was on stage for one scene and it wasn't even the whole scene. Now that I'm older, I can be in larger speaking roles and I've barely done any Shakespeare."

"Well, you'll never get experience unless you participate, am I right?"

"Indeed. I just wish I knew which plays she's planning to schedule so I could practice ahead of time. I'll have plenty of time since Dracula's brides don't really have lines. All I'll be doing is singing and hissing," Natalie said with a small laugh as Travis took the mac-n-cheese out of the microwave. "Thank God too. You'll never believe what Gretchen agreed to do."

"What did she agree to do?" Travis asked as he got them both forks.

"Apparently, Roosevelt High School added German to their already expansive foreign language program a few years ago and Gretchen offered to have _Dracula the Musical_ in German for the German 3rd years and AP students."

"How many times will it be in German?"

"There are two German shows scheduled. It's a huge class of 3rd year German and AP German students and the school wants all the students to have an opportunity to see it. Needless to say, I'm thrilled I won't have to memorize lines in German."

"Don't you speak German?"

"I never learned German. I stopped at the Romantic languages. Out of all my siblings I'm the only one that doesn't speak German or Polish."

"I'm sure Edward's disappointed."

"Grandpa will get over it. Grandma doesn't speak Polish. I don't even think she speaks much Spanish let alone Polish. Enough about languages my Grandma doesn't speak. Let's talk about something far more interesting," Natalie said in a teasing voice as she took a bite of noodles with a devilish grin. "Tell me about Brandon."

Travis blushed. "You mean the guy I met at Phil's graduation party?"

"No, Travis, your imaginary friend. Of course the guy you met at Phil's party," Natalie said cheerfully. "You said so little about him after the party and then I hear from Jason that the two of you had a date the other day. Not that I'm criticizing or anything, because I'm not. In fact I'm commending you, but my God, Travis you work fast."

"It's not like I planned to meet him. As it is, I didn't even talk to him until the end of the night and I didn't learn he was gay until Phil told me and gave me his number."

"So is he cute? How'd you ask him out? Or did he ask you out? Where did you guys go—"

"Damn it, Peanut, one question at a time!" Natalie shut up and waited innocently for Travis to start talking. Travis sighed. "Alright, first of all, it turns out he goes to Forks High School and we're in the same grade. According to Phil, Brandon is the son of his football coach and that's how the two of them met. It's also how Brandon started getting comfortable not just with the gay community but also with coming to terms with being gay to begin with."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Travis said between bites of pasta. "As it turns out, Phil's coach is a little narrow minded and hypocritical about it."

Natalie looked confused. "How so?"

"Well, when Phil wasn't sure about his sexuality, he went to his coach to confide in him, but when he did, Coach Perry was a little…how do I put this? According to Phil, he was really contradictory about what he was saying. Phil said it was like Coach Perry was giving him advice while insulting him all at once. Comments like, 'It's good that you've come to someone to talk, but the responsibility to change lies with you', or something like that."

"So Brandon's dad is basically a homophobe?"

"I don't know if homophobe is the word. Narrow minded, maybe. I've met the guy and when I mentioned that we met through Phil, he got really passive aggressive with me. So did Mrs. Perry once she was told by Mr. Perry that Phil is gay. In fact I remember her saying it was a 'shame' that such a talented boy would end up like that. I can honestly say that I haven't felt that uncomfortable since I was still in the closet, but now I'm getting poked with a sharp stick while I'm huddling in the corner."

"I take it then that they don't know that Brandon's gay?"

Travis shook his head. "They don't have a clue. In fact, when I asked Brandon if he wanted to go out with me, he made it very clear that his parents were to never find out."

"Well," Natalie said with a sigh, "That certainly puts a damper on the first date doesn't it?"

"A little, but only while we were still at his house."

"What did you guys tell his parents? They didn't suspect that the two of you were going on a date?"

"I got Cat to help us out. She's still nearby and when we told her the circumstances, she was more than happy to pick us up and portray the gathering as a completely not gay event. Cat dropped us off at the movie theatre in Hoquiam. I convinced Kyle to give us free tickets and after the movie we went out for pizza together."

"That sounds like fun," Natalie said with a smile. "So you said you asked Brandon out?"

"Yeah, I did. Phil was kind of pushing me to talk to him during his party and now I know why. We have a lot in common. Actually, speaking of having things in common, I sort of promised him that I would take him to _Evita_ and as it turns out, he's really into theatre. I don't suppose you'd be willing to give me two free tickets would you?"

Natalie sighed. "Don't think that you'll be able to treat Brandon to free things as a habit. But yes, I would be happy to give you some free tickets. I'll even get one for Cat if she's become yours and Brandon's scapegoat."

"No, that's alright, just two tickets is fine. I'm going to push it and ask for backstage passes for the two of us too. You can meet him then, so it all works out."

"We aren't debuting for another three weeks. Why can't I meet him before then? Have a date at my house. Tell his parents you'll be with me. They can't get upset with you for visiting your cousin with a friend." Natalie stopped a moment. "This is getting annoyingly convoluted."

"You think?"

"How're the two of you going to make this work when you've got his parents breathing down your necks the whole time?"

Travis shrugged. "Brandon's parents have never accused him of being gay. He thinks that because they're so….close-minded about it that they think they've taught him to be as much. Poor Brandon, his parents raised him to be a very strict Baptist. His mom doesn't work and she wears long skirts and long sleeve shirts and never swears and is really submissive and his dad is very domineering and he barks at her when she speaks out of line. We aren't just talking about devoting and rational Baptists; we're talking about insanely obsessive, the-father-and-mother-may-very-well-have-a-mental-dissorder-thrown-in-there kind of Baptists. And from what I can tell, they're just assuming that we're friends and a smaller part of a bigger group. As long as we keep them thinking that, we should be fine."

"That sounds like a plan. Do you at least have a picture to show me?"

"No, Nat, but how about this: next weekend, I'll bring him to your house like you suggested and you can meet him. You can use that opportunity to hand over the free tickets so I can surprise him with them."

"I thought you already guaranteed him the tickets would be free."

"I never guaranteed it; I only promised I'd try." Travis gave Natalie puppy-dog eyes. "Thanks by the way."

"I already told you think nothing of it." Natalie took the now empty dish to the sink and filled it with water. "I do expect to meet this Brandon Perry within the next week or so, though. I need to give him my stamp of approval to date my fabulous cousin."

Travis laughed. "Don't you worry about a thing. I already know you'll love him. You'll probably think he's adorable."

"I know you don't have a picture, but at least give me an idea of what he looks like. Is he by some off chance taller than you?" Travis, like his brothers, was quickly growing really tall and it was pretty certain that, seeing as how fast he's been growing, he would be fazing really soon. With the Cullens being a constant factor, the pack was continuing to grow larger than it ever had.

"No, he's 5' 4", so he's a lot shorter than me." Travis smiled and looked upwards slightly in a dreamy way. "He's got dark brown hair and a pair of the bluest eyes I've ever seen. He also has the tips of his hair dyed a shade of blonde right now. Something he did when he got mad at his mom over something, but I think it looks sexy on him. I'll admit there is one good thing that Brandon got from his dad and it's his masculine nose and a nice slender square jaw; a square jaw that sometimes he doesn't bother shaving. He's on his school's track team as a shot-putter, so he's really muscular, but not too muscular. Oh, and Nat, you should see him smile. He's got such white teeth and they're so perfectly straight. And it's such a shy smile and his lips." Travis sighed a little.

Natalie giggled. "Travis, you're, um, starting to drool."

Travis smiled. "Sorry, I didn't realize. You'll see what I mean when you meet him."

"Will I be green with jealousy?" Natalie asked with a kind smile.

"You'd have to be blinded or imprinted not to be." Natalie grinned and pulled out some chocolate ice cream and got two spoons. "You're allowed to eat ice cream?" Travis teased.

"I won't tell if you won't, Travis," Natalie said, handing Travis a spoon. Travis and Natalie laughed together before indulging together in the ice cream and discussing the details of the next weekend when Travis would bring Brandon to Natalie's house. Upon returning home that day, Natalie let everyone know about Brandon coming Saturday and to be ready for him. The next day, Nessie got a call from Rachael saying that she and Paul hadn't met this Brandon kid and they wanted the opportunity.

When Saturday finally rolled along, Natalie walked over to Nathan's house to pick him up and walk with him to Forks. She wanted to meet Brandon's parents and see for herself what they were like. It took a while to walk all the way to Brandon's house and even though it wasn't raining, it was still pretty cool outside. It might be summer, but it rarely ever got very hot. When they arrived at Brandon's house, Natalie realized that his house was about a block away from Grandpa Charlie's house. If Charlie were home, Natalie would have half a mind to make Charlie drive them back to her house. The house looked about the same as all the other houses that were on the black. It was a sensible and modest house with a nice little picket fence and flower pot surrounding the front porch. The car was parked off to the side and it was a classic soccer-mom mini-van with a Jesus fish on the rear of the car. As they approached the house, a small dog started barking at the window and it made Natalie smile. It was a cute little Bishon Frise.

"Look, they have a dog," Natalie pointed.

"Yeah, I know. They spoil that dumb dog. It's a little sad." Natalie laughed as they walked to the front door and ringing the bell. They waited a moment before a blonde woman answered the door. Natalie assumed this was Brandon's mother seeing as she was covered from neck to toe in concealing clothing. Travis smiled politely at the woman who answered. "Good morning, Mrs. Perry."

Mrs. Perry smiled politely. "Oh there you are Travis. Please, both of you, come in, it's freezing out there." Natalie and Travis stepped into the house and the little Bishon that had been barking at the window ran over and got up on two legs and started dancing. Mrs. Perry giggled at the Bishon's little dance.

"Is Brandon ready to get going?"

"Oh, what's the rush? Stay for a little bit." Mrs. Perry turned and called for Brandon to come down. "Please, while we wait, introduce me to your friend."

"Of course Mrs. Perry. This is my cousin Natalie. Natalie, this is Brandon's mom, Mrs. Perry." Natalie held out her hand for a shake.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Perry. You have a lovely home and your dog is precious."

"Oh, thank you dear. Her name's Daisy." Just then, Brandon finally came downstairs and went right to Travis, but kept a reasonable distance from him. Upon seeing Brandon, Natalie could see what all the fuss was about. He was everything that Travis had described and looked so sweet and handsome. He was slightly shorter than her, as Travis had said, but if she didn't know he was gay, she would be attracted to him herself.

"Bye, mom, we'll be going. I have my phone if you need me okay?" Brandon began walking to the door, but his mom took a hold of his arm.

"Honey, don't be in such a hurry. It's freezing out there and all you're wearing are jeans and your track shirt."

"Mom, it's not that cold outside. I'm not going to put on a jacket just because you're cold."

"Oh yes you will young man." Mrs. Perry walked over to the coat closet next to the front door and pulled out Brandon's letterman jacket and handed it to him. "You aren't leaving his house until you wear a jacket." Brandon took a deep breath before putting on his jacket like his mother told him to. "That's better. Now you said you'll be having dinner at their house tonight?"

"Yes mom," Brandon answered.

"Alright dear, but don't be home late; we have church in the morning and you know how you get cranky in the morning when you don't get enough sleep."

Brandon somewhat cringed. "I won't be late, mom. I'll be home by ten."

"You'll be home by eight."

"9:30."

"8:30 and no later."

"Give me nine at least."

Mrs. Perry sighed. "8:45, Brandon, and not a minute later or I'll make you stay after church and help clean up."

"Fine mom, 8:45."

Mrs. Perry smiled. "That's my dear. And remember not to eat any dairy, honey. You know how it makes you sick."

"I know, mom," Brandon said, slightly gritting his teeth. This had been funny to Natalie initially, but not it was getting uncomfortable. Nathan was already uncomfortable: one – Because he knew how his parents felt about 'an alternative lifestyle' and two – Travis had already seen this once before and knew it was coming. They were finally able to get out of the house and said their goodbyes to Mrs. Perry. When the front door to the house was closed, Brandon finally relaxed a little. "I'm really sorry about that."

Travis shook his head and touched Brandon's hand a moment before taking it away. "Don't worry about it, Brandon."

"So is your dad at practice or something?" Natalie asked. "He's a football coach right?"

"Yeah," Brandon answered. "He's a football coach. He doesn't usually get home on Saturdays until three in the afternoon."

"What else does your dad do if you don't mind me asking?"

"My dad's a history teacher at Forks high school. He's been working at Forks High since we moved here."

"Where'd you guys move here from?"

"Moab, Utah." Natalie looked surprised. "We moved here about five years ago because my dad couldn't find a teaching job in Moab, so when Forks offered him a job after he applied, he jumped on it and we moved here."

"That's quite a transition moving from a mountainous desert to a mountainous wetland."

Brandon smiled. "You have no idea. I used to hate it here. It was too cold and virtually nothing to do. Back in Utah, I lived between two national parks and I used to go skiing with my friends and hiking. When I moved here, all there was to do was go to the beach and the beach doesn't even really have sand, just rocks."

"Well, if you want to do some hiking, my grandparents absolutely love hiking." Travis cleared his throat.

"They used to anyway." Natalie caught the slip after Travis spoke and let Travis finish. "I know a few places where we could hike if you wanted to and we could even surf. Maybe even cliff dive if you're feeling bold."

Brandon smiled. "I know all that now, I've just never had anyone I could do all that with. Since I came here, I've been in sports most of the time."

"So tell me, Brandon," Natalie started, wanting to change the subject, "You and my cousin are officially dating right? He tells me the two of you went to a movie and pizza."

Brandon nodded. "Yeah, we did. His friend Cat dropped us off downtown; we saw some comedy and went to the pizza shop that was down the street from the theatre. Honestly, I don't think I've been out of Forks since I moved here, so it was a lot of fun."

"That's great. Now, I have to ask; only because this is my gay boyfriend we're talking about." Brandon and Travis smiled. "Were you a perfect gentleman on your date?"

"He was, Nat," Travis said.

"I'm the one who's never been on a date before let alone with a guy. Shouldn't you ask if _he_ was a perfect gentleman? I'm the one who could've been taken advantage of." Travis and Natalie chuckled.

"You're right, of course. Please forgive my inconsideration. I know how forceful Travis can be on sweet young virgins," Natalie teased. Brandon lost his smile and looked down blushing. Natalie giggled. "I'm just teasing, Brandon, there's no reason to be embarrassed. Travis smiled and wrapped his arm around Brandon's neck, but not romantically. It looked more like a teasing grab that bros would do. Then, as soon as the contact happened, Travis took his arm away.

"Don't be mean, Nat. I was a gentleman too, just like he was."

Natalie smiled. "I'm glad to hear it. And, Travis, I must say that he's every bit as handsome as you said he was." Brandon looked at Travis. "Oh, yes, Brandon, he raved about you. He was getting so excited that he started drooling."

"I wasn't actually drooling, Nat," Travis defended, though he couldn't fight an embarrassed smile.

"Oh yes you were. And I don't wonder why." Brandon's face by now was red with blushing. "For the sake of Brandon, I'll change the topic."

"No, it's fine," Brandon said, and then looked at Travis still blushing. "Were you really drooling over me?"

Travis sighed. "Figuratively speaking, yes. I think the proper word to use would be that I was describing you and great detail and I began daydreaming in the process." Brandon smiled and Natalie noticed him very discreetly hold Travis's hand for a moment. When that moment was done, they released hands and remained friendly seeming once again. Natalie was really beginning to feel the frustration festering between the two.

"Was your date like this?" Natalie asked out loud.

"No," Brandon said quietly. "We were in Hoquiam during our date, so we didn't have to worry about anyone seeing us and telling my parents. We're still in my neighborhood and my mom makes a habit of befriending our neighbors. Someone might innocently mention that Travis and I were holding hands and that'll get me in trouble."

"So your parents really are that bad?"

Brandon sighed and Travis interrupted, realizing that Brandon was getting really uncomfortable. "Let's talk about something else."

"No, it's alright, Travis, I don't mind. Besides, she'll need to know anyway won't she?" Travis and Brandon exchanged a look that concerned Natalie. Then it dawned on her; they were going to need her as a confidante of sorts and possibly a scapegoat for them when the need arose.

"I've always helped you, Travis. You know I'll be more than happy to continue to do so regardless of what that entails."

Travis smiled. "I know you will, but I feel bad about it."

"Don't ever feel bad about it, Travis," Natalie assured. "I know the two of you are planning to use my help, so let me know what you'll need me to do."

"Nothing right now. I already told you about his parents and I'm confident we'll want to enlist your help later, but for now our concerns lie in being secretive while we're within Forks. Once we get to the reservation, then we can relax."

"Yeah," Brandon said. "Actually, I was hoping that Travis and I would be able to spend most if not all of our time in the reservation. It's my understanding that your family is aware of Travis being gay."

Natalie nodded. "The family is aware and we've never thought less of him for it, not even for a second. And once they know that you've not come out to your parents yet, they will happily keep quiet about it. After all, it's your business and your place to tell them."

"I'm not telling them. Not as long as I live under their roof. If they found out I'm gay, they'd send me to an ex-gay camp back in Utah."

"Would they really?" Natalie asked.

Brandon nodded, "In a heartbeat. When I was ten and we still lived in Utah, there was a couple at our church that found out their daughter was a lesbian. Not even a week later, she was signed up to go to Saint Hubert's Ministry camp at Salt Lake at the first of the summer. That Sunday after she left, my dad walked over to her dad and commended him for 'doing what needed to be done'. Those were his exact words if I recall."

Travis shuddered. "I hate saying this, but your parents make me really uncomfortable. I don't want to think how worse it would be if they actually knew I was gay."

"Don't bring it up to them and they'll treat you the same as they would were you any normal friend of mine."

It took the group about ten minutes to walk to the dirt road that led to the reservation. Travis and Brandon stayed separate halfway through the walk, but once they were only a few miles from the reservation, Brandon finally bolded and took a hold of Travis's hand. The atmosphere immediately became relaxed and the two spoke more freely than they had when they were in Brandon's neighborhood. It took them all another fifteen minutes to walk back to Natalie's house and when Brandon saw it, he went wide eyed.

"Wow. This place is huge compared to the other houses I've seen."

"It was a gift from my mom's side of the family," Natalie said. "My mom comes from a rather…..prosperous family to put it bluntly. They built this house as a gift for my parents' wedding."

"That's a pretty generous gift I'd say," Brandon said in awe.

"Wait until you see the inside," Travis whispered in Brandon's ear.

"The best part is I have my own room," Natalie said proudly as she let them into the house. "My three brothers have to share a room."

When Natalie, Travis and Brandon walked into the house, Brandon took a moment to look around in complete awe. Every part that he could see from the front door alone was glorious. He could see part of the kitchen and saw the stone and stainless steel and how clean it was. He could also see the living room which had a large TV, a fireplace and a piano around some comfortable looking leather couches and chairs and a door that was off to the side of the house that led to the garage.

"Would you like a tour?" Natalie asked. Brandon looked at Natalie at last and nodded awkwardly. He felt like a child in a showroom house and he was scared that if he touched anything he would break it and get in trouble.

Natalie brought Brandon to the dining room so he could see the immaculately made dining table and chairs that Natalie relayed had been handmade by family friends and told the same tale about the chandelier as they walked up the stairs. When they got upstairs, Natalie let herself into her brothers' room to let Brandon see. Nathan was on his computer and only glanced up and said hi before getting back to his Youtube movie. Then Natalie showed off her room, which looked comparatively larger than her brothers' room since she didn't have nearly as many bed crowding the room. Nessie and Jacob weren't home at the moment, so Natalie let Brandon and Travis into her parents' room to look around seeing as the master bedroom was the highlight of the house. Brandon was stunned at the elegance of the room that was equipped with a massive walk-in closet that had one wall that was devoted entirely to shoes. But it was the master bath that really floored him with the stone and granite with a large shower and a separate Jacuzzi tub. After the tour, they went back downstairs and Travis started fiddling with the channel changer looking for something worth watching together.

"Your house is stunning," Brandon said.

"Thank you, Brandon. I'll make sure I relay your compliments to my mom's family next I see them. Be sure to tell mom you think the house is beautiful when she gets back. Mom puts a lot of work into keeping this house spotless and nothing would make her happier than to hear someone compliment her hard work."

"I'll remember that." Brandon turned his attention to what Travis was doing. "Are you looking for anything specific?"

"I'm looking for something good." Travis looked a little longer before finding something on Starz. "Oh, _Ferris Bueller's Day Off_. Is this fine with everyone?"

Brandon smiled apologetically and took the remote. "I'd rather something else. I've seen this movie so many times that I'm sick of it. I mean, I'll take this over Veggie Tales any day, but still."

"Veggie Tales?" Natalie asked.

"You've never heard of that?" Brandon asked surprised. "It's a cartoon about vegetables that go on adventures. I used to watch it every single Sunday after church and I can't stand it anymore."

"Sounds vaguely familiar."

"Listen, Natalie," Brandon began, "if you don't know what they are, good for you." Natalie and Travis smiled and began to laugh while Brandon continued looking through the channels for anything good. A few minutes of looking produced nothing, so Brandon settled on the channel Travis had picked. "Ferris Bueller it is."

Travis smiled. "They have OnDemand if you'd rather see what else is on."

Brandon shook his head. "No, this is fine."

With that, Natalie stood and stretched a moment before looking at Travis and Brandon. "It's around lunch time, so what are you guys in the mood for?"

"Leftovers are fine as long as none of it is dairy," Travis said.

Natalie smiled. "I'm glad I'm not the only one with dietary restrictions."

"The ones due to your allergies or the ones due to your possessive boss?"

Natalie just laughed as she walked to the kitchen and looked through the fridge for something to eat that didn't have any dairy in it. As it turned out, the only leftovers that were in the fridge were some garlic green beans. Natalie turned to the freezer and, luckily, found one of those instant PFChang Chinese dinners and it was dairy-free. But then, as she read the ingredients, she realized it had peanuts and she sighed heavily and tossed the instant bag back into the freezer. After looking through the freezer more, she couldn't find anything else, so she walked back to the living room with the bad news.

"There's nothing good in the freezer, so unless you guys want to make sandwiches, there's no food."

"Let's go to the convenience store and buy something then." Travis looked at Brandon. "And don't worry, I'll pay."

"You don't have to Travis."

Natalie came up behind Brandon and patted his shoulder. "Don't be that way, Brandon. Besides, I should pay. I'm the one with a job. Speaking of which," Natalie remembered, then ran up the stairs to her room to get the tickets and came back downstairs. "Travis, being the wonderful man that he is, convinced me to front two tickets to _Evita_ for opening night next Friday."

Brandon took the tickets he was handed and smiled. "Wow. I don't know what to say."

"I can think of a few ways you could say thank you," Natalie said innocently. Travis looked at her.

"Shut up, Nat," Travis said shyly. But then, Brandon laid a huge kiss on Travis's lips and hugged him tightly.

"I can't believe you did this, Travis. You have no idea how excited I am. I never get to go to these kinds of things." Though taken off guard initially, Travis hugged Brandon back and kissed the top of his head.

"You said you wanted to go. I just pulled a few strings and broke a few bones," Travis teased, receiving very brief thumbs up from Natalie. Brandon released Travis so he could look closely at the tickets for the time and date.

"The show's at eight, so when should I be ready?"

"We don't have to get there until thirty minutes before the show. And my parents can drive us there."

"Since it doesn't start until eight, how about we spend the whole day together?"

"I'd like that." After that agreement was made, the trio left the house and made their way to the convenience store. When they got there, Kevin was behind the counter reading. When he glanced up and noticed Brandon, Kevin smiled.

"So you're Brandon Perry?" Kevin said as he put down his book and stood from his stool. "I'm Kevin Black, Travis's oldest cousin. I'll be working through dinner, so I'm glad I could still get a chance to meet you." Brandon shook the hand that Kevin offered.

"Am I really that infamous?"

"Mostly because of Natalie, yes. She told everyone about you last week and when she said Travis was all starry eyed over you, I knew I had to see the special guy. He really wasn't even this excited about Phil when they were dating."

"Yeah, so I heard," Brandon said with a small blush. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I met Kyle the other night. You two look a lot alike; I can tell you're brothers."

"Perhaps. Kyle's more like the slightly less and more tan version of me." Everyone laughed a little. "I'm just kidding. Kyle told me he'd met you. He also said you made him give you guys free tickets."

Travis grinned. "I didn't want to pay for a movie that I had doubts about and I told Kyle as much. That and I had to buy some dinner that night, so I wasn't really in a position to buy forty dollars worth of tickets and popcorn." Brandon smiled shyly.

Kevin smiled and looked at Brandon. "He's really cheap in case you haven't noticed."

"I'm not cheap; I just don't have a job." Everyone laughed and Brandon patted Travis's back and kissed his cheek.

"Don't feel bad. I don't have a job either."

After talking for a few minutes, Natalie, Travis and Brandon start wondering around the store looking for something they can have for lunch. When they all had their packs of ramen, Natalie paid for their food and the group started walking back to the house to go on with the rest of their day. When the group got back, they made their lunch and sat together in the living room watching what was left of the movie Travis had picked. They talked through the whole movie, though. Brandon was asking Natalie questions about the tango dancing he heard would be in the play and Natalie spent at least an hour raving about the tango practice and fawning over Caesar and how much of a gifted dancer he was. Natalie kept as much about Caesar secret as she could and never mentioning his last name just in case Brandon knew anything about tango stars and had any idea who Caesar Ángel Franco was.

When Nessie and Jacob finally came home from grocery shopping, Nessie took the opportunity to meet Brandon while Jacob put the groceries away. It was a brief conversation initially. They would have more time to talk later that night at dinner. After Nessie had a few words with Brandon, she went back to the kitchen to help Jacob with the rest of the groceries.

"It looks like he won't be having any mac-n-cheese," Nessie said as she put the cheese in a drawer in the fridge. Jacob gave Nessie a weird look.

"Brandon won't? Why not?"

"Turns out he's lactose intolerant."

"Oh," Jacob said solemnly. "I'm so sorry." Nessie smiled. "He can at least eat steak and potatoes right?"

"Yeah. I'll just need to refrain from adding cream to the mash."

Jacob sighed. "Well that sucks. I love the way you make mash potatoes."

"I'll make them extra garlicky and buttery to compensate. How does that sound?"

Jacob smiled. "I think I can live with that. What time did Rachael say she and Paul would get here? Max and Jason are coming too right?"

"I think Rachael said they were working. Max and Jason have already met Brandon anyway from what I know. According to Rachael, Travis had complained that his brothers got Brandon in trouble at home because they kept him so late talking. Brandon's mother is a bit of a stickler about being on time from what I can tell."

"No harm in demanding punctuality," Jacob said, putting the milk away. Jacob walked back to Nessie and glanced back at Travis a moment. "Compared to his brothers, Travis has been taking his time changing. Maybe he won't be concerned with it after all."

Nessie shook his head. "I wouldn't count on it. At least thirty percent of the Quileute boys in the tribe have changed. That's at least ninety percent of yours and the Uley bloodline and their extensions. My guess is that Travis hasn't been put under any form of stress that would bring about a change. Jason and Maxi both had something happen that put them under enough stress that forced changes."

"I would think the ever constant presence of your side of the family would be enough to change anyone it would happen to."

"I would be willing to bet that our effect on the tribe is wavering. My family still blows on glowing embers, but stress is what sets them aflame."

Jacob chuckled. "That's a pretty way of saying it. We'll have to keep that wording in mind for theories and explanations."

"Well think about it, Jacob. Wasn't it stress that caused you to change?"

"Not necessarily. I was in a great mood when it happened. I changed when Billy told me I looked like shit." Jacob smiled. "Not to mention, your family was gone at the time. The only vampire that was a constant annoyance at the time was that redheaded broad that had a beef with your mom and dad."

"Alright, but what about our boys and Natalie? None of them were feeling sick or really off around the time they changed. They all became wolves for the first time when they were under high levels of stress or irritation. It was the same with Maxi and Jason. Maybe the rules are changing along with the circumstances. And then what about the first wolf, Taha Aki? He certainly didn't change because of vampires; it was due to extreme anger at the time. Or is my history completely off?"

"No, that's about it I guess. Very technically speaking, but true enough all the same. We'll just have to wait and see what happens with Travis. If he changes, he'll be welcomed into the pack like anyone else. If not, then he's free to live his life as he sees fit."

"Do you suppose he'll ever imprint?" The air became awkward then. If there's one thing the pack as a whole doesn't completely understand, it's imprinting and how the process works. But there was one basic assumption that was unanimously agreed upon, and that was the assumption that imprinting served the purpose of producing a new generation that is stronger than the one before. Regardless of devotion, a man cannot easily produce heirs when they're not attracted to a woman. "Do you think imprinting would change anything?"

"Well, you know what they say. When you're gay, you're gay and that's not something that'll change. We've never had a circumstance where a wolf has been gay and I'm sure that's mostly due to the small number of wolves that remained in the pack let alone imprinted. The only reason imprinting has been so common now is because we have so much more option than just our tribe and the Makka tribe. Seeing as we've never seen this before, there's no telling what will happen."

"Maybe imprinting really is only meant for the happiness of the pack. You imprinted on a half vampire didn't you despite vampires being a natural enemy."

"All that proves is that imprinting brought us together to produce four children stronger than my predecessors. If he imprinted, I would assume it would be for the same natural reasons as the rest of us. If Travis imprints on a man, that'll leave the tribe with a lot to consider and leave us with more questions than answers."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see won't we?" Nessie walked out of the kitchen so the kids could hear her. "Brandon?" Brandon looked towards Nessie.

"Yes, Mrs. Black?"

"How do you take your steak?"

"Medium rare please."

"Medium rare it is." Nessie went back into the kitchen. When back, she started prepping the steaks.

"He's certainly polite. I like the kid."

"I'll never turn down a polite visitor." Jacob stayed with Nessie in the kitchen helping her if she needed him. They turned their conversation to the matter of preparing the trip to Connecticut. "To get accepted to Yale Law School right out of high school. Ranked as one of the top schools in the country and Kevin has the honor of being the first in either of our families to go to such a high ranking Ivy League school."

"Didn't your dad go to Dartmouth for a time?"

"Yes, but Dartmouth is no Yale." Nessie grinned a silly grin of pride. "I'm so proud of him. I just hope he's as proud of himself as I am of him."

"What happened with Megan doesn't change that Kevin accomplished something great. He knows that."

"I'm happy to hear it. I just don't want this to hinder him in any way. Kevin's too good for that."

"Don't worry, Nessie. He's wanted this for a long time and he won't throw this away because of a girl. Not because he wants to make us proud, but because he wants to make himself proud. We raised him to be a good man and that's what he'll be."

"Just like his father," Nessie said sweetly before giving Jacob a kiss.

Jacob shook his head. "More like you, Nessie. All Kevin got from me is being able to turn into a wolf, my physique and my face. Everything else is you down to his intelligence all the way to his green eyes."

"He got green eyes from daddy."

"That's what I said." Nessie giggled and hugged Jacob tightly and kissing him. "I love you."

"I love you too." Jacob hugged Nessie tighter and kissed the top of her head.

"He'll be alright, Nessie. It's alright to let the pup out of the den."

Nessie smiled reluctantly and they continued to hug for a while before continuing with making dinner. By the time dinner was finally ready Brandon had really relaxed and was feeling right at home. Nathan had come down about an hour before hand and got the chance to really talk to Brandon and Travis's parents showed up a half hour after that. Now that everyone was sitting down for dinner, Rachael and Paul finally had the chance to get to know Travis's new boyfriend, especially since they didn't get to know Phil all that well.

"Thank you for inviting me to dinner Mrs. Black," Brandon said when everyone sat down.

"It's a pleasure to have you, Brandon."

"So Brandon," Paul started as he helped himself to some potatoes, "How long have you and my son been officially dating now?"

"Not long," Brandon answered politely, "Only about a month at this point. Phil had introduced us at his party and we exchanged numbers," Brandon stopped a moment, "Well, Phil exchanged our phone numbers," Travis laughed, "And after Phil's party, we started talking and discovered that we have a lot in common and a few days later, Travis asked me out on a date."

Rachael smiled. "I'm glad the two of you had a good time. And I hope you didn't get in too much trouble for getting home late. Maxi and Jason just wanted to get to know their little brother's boyfriend."

"No, no, not at all. It wasn't a Saturday anyway, so she wasn't as upset. If we had church in the morning, than she would've ripped me a new one."

"Speaking of which," Paul chimed in, "Travis said you were Baptist?" Brandon nodded. "Don't take this the wrong way, but when Travis said you'd moved here from Utah five or so years ago, I assumed you were Mormon."

Brandon started laughing and shook his head. "No, no, I'm not Mormon, but I did know plenty of Mormons, especially in Moab. I used to go to school with a kid who was Mormon and his dad had three wives and thirty kids." Paul coughed a little as he was drinking his water.

"Thirty?" Paul asked with a shudder.

"Yes sir, thirty kids between three women. It's been a long time, so there're probably more kids by now and I can't for the life of me remember which one was his mom, but yeah, three wives and thirty kids."

"I don't suppose you or your dad ever asked how he handles that did you?"

"I never thought to ask, actually," Brandon answered with a chuckle. "He had an xbox360 and a Wii and that was good enough for me." The table shared a laugh at that, and then Brandon took a bite of his steak, then potatoes. "This is delicious, Mrs. Black."

"Thank you for saying, Brandon. I admit, normally I put a little cream in the potatoes, so I'm glad this worked out okay."

Paul looked confused. "Are you lactose intolerant?" Brandon nodded. "I'm so sorry."

Jacob smirked. "I said the same thing not two hours ago."

Brandon shrugged. "It's okay; I'm used to it by now. Sometimes when I'm in a self-destructive mood, I'll eat cheese on a pizza, but it's rare. I usually have to wait until I forget how sick it makes me."

"Well, at least now I know why you didn't take any mac-n-cheese. So anyway, you said you're from Moab, Utah. Where is that in comparison to Salt Lake City?"

Brandon thought a moment, "About south-east. Moab is between Canyonlands National Park and Arches National Park. We were also really close to some mountains, so I used to ski and rock climb with my dad. It took forever to adjust when we moved here."

"I imagine," Rachael said. "What made you guys take such a drastic move?"

"Work. My dad's a history teacher at Forks High."

"Does your mom work?" Rachael asked.

"No, she's always been a stay at home mom. Dad doesn't want her working, but I think they were intending to have more kids."

"Why didn't they?"

Brandon shrugged. "I don't know. I think I was too much for them and they decided to stop with me."

Rachael giggled. "I don't blame her. It was a lot taking care of three boys. Sometimes, one is enough."

"Jacob and I were only going to have three kids but those two," Nessie pointed at Nathan and Natalie, who were snickering, "decided to be twins, so Jacob got his way and got four."

Jacob smirked. "It worked out anyway. Nessie was hoping we'd have a girl and we did. Another boy just happened to come along with her."

The table collectively laughed for a moment, and then Paul turned to another topic. "So you're in track?"

"Yes sir, shot-put and discus. Sometimes Javelin when our coach lets us."

"Isn't your father a coach?"

"Yes, sir, the football coach. That's how Phil and I met."

"Do you not like football?"

"I just got bored with it honestly. That and I've been really uncomfortable with my dad the past few years."

With a small sigh, Travis spoke. "His parents don't know. You won't say anything right?"

Rachael smiled. "It's not my news to tell. Don't worry, Brandon, you're secret safe with us. Travis told us about your parents' feelings on the matter. Regardless, it's a sensitive matter and we have no right to intrude on that."

Brandon smiled. "I appreciate that, Mrs. Reis. I know this is inconveniencing but—"

"You're not being inconveniencing," Travis assured. "It's not your fault, so don't feel like you're being an inconvenience." Brandon smiled at Travis and held his hand under the table.

"Is Travis your first boyfriend?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah," Brandon answered, a little embarrassed, "Travis is my first boyfriend."

"This is probably a really stupid question," Nathan began, "But how do you know when you're gay? When did you realize it?"

Brandon shrugged. "Well, I remember realizing years ago that I wasn't really interested in girls. At the time, I thought nothing of it, but the older I got and the longer I went having no interest in women, it started dawning on me. But I wouldn't admit it to myself at first because I was raised to believe that homosexuality is a gross misconduct and a sin. I spent a good two years of my life just being ashamed of myself."

"Do you still feel that way?" Nathan asked. Brandon took a moment to think of the best answer he could give.

"I try not to feel that way. Phil was helpful. He saw right threw me and if it weren't for him, I'd still be denying it to myself and be miserable. But at the same time, I feel ashamed of myself because I know that one day when I do have to inevitably tell my parents that I'm gay, they'll be really disappointed in me. That's why I don't intend to tell them until I'm out of the house."

"Well don't worry, dear," Rachael interjected, "We won't say a word. As long as my son makes you happy and you make him happy, that's all I can ask for."

For the rest of dinner, everyone chatted and asked Brandon questions so they could get to know him. When it was around the time that Brandon needed to get home, Rachael and Paul left and said their goodbyes before leaving. Then, at opening night of _Evita_, everyone who hadn't had the chance to meet Brandon finally met him. Brandon had never felt more welcomed or comfortable in all his life and with complete strangers that he didn't know. Natalie gave one of her best performances ever and achieved the tango dances just as Caesar had taught, earning rave reviews and plenty of flowers.

When it was nearing the end of the summer, Kevin made sure to have all this things packed and ready and the fact that one of her babies was moving out, more than likely for good, was beginning to really weigh on Nessie. Then when Jacob and Nessie went to the airport with Kevin, Nessie could swear she was going to hyperventilate. When they were on the plan, she pretended to fall asleep, but really, she just lost consciousness. That afternoon they arrived in New Haven and took a cab to Yale University and were dropped off at one of the entrances. They stood there a moment in silence, but for three different reasons. Nessie was trying not to cry, Kevin was admiring what would be his new home for the next four years, and Jacob wasn't convinced they were at the right place.

"This looks like a giant church," Jacob finally said, breaking the silence.

"It was built in 1701 dad, what did you expect?"

"I expected statues of presidents and for it to look like a giant version of the white house or something, not like a cathedral. To tell you the truth, it looks really pretentious."

"Jacob, it's an Ivy League school. And besides, it looks like a church because when America was originally building these universities, they were meant more for the study of religion."

Jacob shrugged. "East coast people are weird." Nessie and Kevin smiled and they all made their way up to the dorms. Kevin signed himself in at the door and took the folder containing the school map with a Yale calendar and some small Yale paraphernalia. When they entered the actual dorm building, Kevin walked over to the front desk where they were handing out dorm keys and copies of dormitory rules, regulations and expectations as well as the name of the 'house parent' that kept an eye on the activities in the dorm and enforced rules. Along with giving him a key to the dorm and to his room, they had Kevin sit in front of a blue tarp and took a picture for his school ID. Once the ID was printed, Jacob took it to see the picture and started laughing.

"It looks like a mug shot."

Kevin grabbed his ID forcefully. "She didn't say cheese, okay." Jacob chuckled and hugged Kevin around the neck as they walked through the dorm until they got to the room Kevin and his roommate would be sharing. The door was open when they arrived, but there was no one there. So Kevin placed down his bags and other items. "Looks like he went out."

"What did you say his name was?"

"Heathcliff Fitzgerald Kensington."

"Please, just call me Heath. I know my full name is a little obnoxious." Kevin looked over his shoulder and saw his new roommate. He was shorter than him. Much shorter. About 5' 3" compared to his and Jacob's 6' plus feet. He was slightly tan with brown hair, brown eyes, and a polo shirt and khakis. Kevin, upon meeting Heath, suddenly felt extremely underdressed wearing only jeans and a t-shirt.

"It's nice to finally meet you. I'm sorry I didn't respond to your email earlier this summer. I've been working," Kevin fibbed. Truth was Kyle might have thought the email was funny, but in the mood he was in, Kevin thought it was a little obnoxious.

"No, that's fine. Honestly, I was trying to be funny. I promise I'm not that much of a prick. I did, however, tell you the truth about the mini-fridge and the moose tracks ice cream."

Kevin smiled. "I won't touch your ice cream." Kevin finally walked over and shook Heath's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too. I have to say, I was really excited when I found out you're Quileute. I wrote a paper on you guys three years."

Jacob raised an eyebrow. "Did you now?"

"Yeah. I have a Master's in American History and one semester we were assigned a research paper on Native American history, and I chose to do it on the Quileutes. For one, it was a tribe no one was doing and didn't know well and you guys didn't have as depressing a history. I actually laughed a few times. Mostly because my research claimed that your tribe had three encounters with foreign ships that wondered off course from three different countries and all three ships ended up slaves to the tribe."

Jacob snickered. "I remember that tidbit."

Nessie looked at Jacob. "I never knew that."

Jacob shrugged. "Things we learned about in the tribal school. Most settlers were all the way east and we didn't start having problems with them until the mid 1850's."

Heath nodded. "Yeah. That's when your tribe signed the Treaty of Olympia agreeing to relinquish the slaves you'd taken and swore to not take any slaves in the future."

"And that's when we were relocated to where we are now."

"I wish I'd known you three years ago, Kevin. I would've interviewed you."

Nessie spoke up. "You said you have a Master's in American History?"

"Yes, ma'am, I do. I was originally going to be a teacher. I have my teaching license and everything. But dad wanted me to follow in his footsteps and go into politics, so here I am somehow in Yale Law School. But enough about me. I heard you're right out of high school." Kevin nodded, earning a whistle from Heath. "You should be damned proud of yourself. Not many kids get into Yale right out of high school. Hell, I applied here right out of high school and the school sent me a figurative 'fuck you' rejection letter. Now that I'm 26 and have a Master's, though, now I'm suddenly a worthy addition."

Kevin smiled. "Don't feel bad. I think the only thing that made me really special compared to the several other valedictorians that apply to their college was that I'm Native American and able to prove it."

"And now you get to go to the third best school in the country for free. Good news too, since you'll be here about five years."

"Three to four if I can help it."

Heath chuckled. "So you'll be going to school non-stop then? No summer break or winter break? I heard from my counselor that Yale started offering winter classes that are dedicated to nothing but the volunteer work required to graduate."

"School over the summer, any classes I could take in winter and because of my GPA, I'm allowed to exceed 12hours worth of classes. As it is, for this semester, I'm signed up for seven classes."

Heath was stone silent a moment. "You sure you can take on all that? I mean, that's well over twenty hours."

Kevin chuckled. "You sound like my counselor. I know it's a lot, but I'm impatient. I just want to get through school as fast as I can."

"Is there a reason your rushing school so much?"

"No reason outside of wanting to earn my degree as fast as I can," is what Kevin told him. But more than anything, Kevin knew that the more he had on his plate, the more he would be focused on nothing but work, and the more distracted he would be from his still felt discontentment at the time.

"You're certainly an ambitious one, I'll give you that." Heath looked at Kevin's parents. "Please pardon my rudeness, I haven't even said hello to your parents." Heath walked over to Nessie. "I assume you're Kevin's mother?"

Nessie nodded and smiled, shaking Heath's hand. "Yes, I'm his mother."

Heath looked at Kevin then back to Nessie two times, then laughed. "That came out of you huh?"

Nessie laughed. "He used to be smaller, but yes." Then, Nessie started getting teary eyed again. Heath took a step back.

"What did I do?"

"It's okay, Heath," Kevin said, walking over to Nessie, "You just reminded her that I'm a grown man." Kevin hugged Nessie. "Stop crying mom."

"I'm not crying," Nessie said stubbornly. "I'm just proud of you."

Kevin smiled. "Be proud of me when I graduate with my law degree."

"Don't worry about him, Mrs. Black," Heath said kindly. "I'll take good care of your son and keep him out of trouble for you."

Jacob and Nessie stayed with Kevin for the rest of the day. They would need to get back so they could get back to the shop, but they wanted to spend as much time with Kevin before leaving as possible. Only two days away from Kevin starting his first day, Nessie and Jacob said their goodbyes and went back to Washington. When they got back, Nessie walked right to the boys' room and let herself in to stare at Kevin's bed. It was such a catch twenty two. She was proud of Kevin for his accomplishments, but she missed having her baby around. The empty nest syndrome was making her feel like she weighed a million pounds.

"You alright mom?" Nathan asked, interrupting her thoughts. He'd just gotten back from the convenience store. Knowing Nathan wanted a real job aside from helping at the police station, Kevin put in a good word for him so he could get Kevin's job once he left.

"Yes," Nessie said absently, "I'm fine." Then she hugged Nathan. "You guys are growing up on me, you know."

"We can't really help that, mom."

Nessie smiled a little. "I know, honey." Later that night, Nessie decided to treat herself and filled the rarely used tub with water and turned on the Jacuzzi jets so she could relax. Jacob came in a few minutes later after she stepped into the water. With a smile at Nessie, who seemed to be in another world and wasn't paying attention, Jacob undressed and stepped into the water with Nessie. Once he was in, Nessie finally came to attention. "Oh, Jacob? Sorry, I was miles away."

"It's okay, Nessie," Jacob said. With a loving smile, Jacob took a gentle hold of Nessie's foot and began rubbing. Nessie moaned contentedly. "You've been depressed since we got back."

"Have I? I'm sorry. I'm just realizing that my babies are getting older and soon they'll all be gone. I've been mommy for eighteen and a half years, Jacob. First it's Kevin, next year it will be Kyle, and then two years after, it'll be Nathan and Natalie."

"They're growing up, Nessie. That's what kids do." Jacob kissed Nessie's foot affectionately.

"I know. I just miss when they were little. They were such cute babies. Now they're grown-ups."

Jacob shrugged. "Do you want to have another baby?"

Nessie laughed. "No, Jacob, I don't want another baby. I said we were stopping at four and we've stopped at four."

"As I remember it, you said we would stop at three," Jacob said with a devious smirk. Taking her foot away, Nessie used it to flick water in Jacob's face.

"That's because Nathan and Natalie were twins. I was only pregnant three times and that's what counts."

Jacob smiled and took back a hold of Nessie's foot and continued to rub it. "Are you sure you don't want another baby? We could have another boy and name him after me."

"No more babies, Jacob. It'll just grow up on me just like the rest of them."

Jacob chuckled. "I don't know what you want me to do, Nessie. You're upset because our kids are getting older, but you refuse to have another baby to take care of. What can I do to make it better, Nessie?"

"We can just do the same thing all married couples do when their kids are out of the house: have a lot of sex and travel whenever we want."

"That first thing sounds especially interesting," Jacob responded with a grin. "Maybe the kids finally being out of the house won't be so bad after all."

"I just need to get used to the idea. Once I'm used to the idea, then we can enjoy ourselves."

"Or we could enjoy ourselves now," Jacob said as he reached over and grabbed Nessie to him, making her sit on his lap and causing her to giggle.

"I said I needed to get used to the idea of our kids being on their own."

"Just get over it and kiss me already."

Nessie laughed, but it was muffled as Jacob brought his lips to hers in a searing kiss. After a few moments of kissing, Nessie's laughter finally died down and she invested herself into the kiss the rest of the way. Now fully invested, Nessie gently maneuvered until she was straddling his lap and rubbing against his growing erection. Jacob groaned as he forced his tongue past Nessie's lips to make the kiss more passionate. The pair moaned together and moved their hands through the kiss. Jacob brought his hands from Nessie's thighs up to her breasts and squeezed them tenderly, occasionally pinching her nipples with his thumb and fore finger. Nessie's fingers wondered up to Jacob's hair and they began to massage his scalp, causing Jacob's eyes to roll into the back on his head. Jacob rested his head back, releasing them from the kiss.

"If I'd had a headache, you would've gotten rid of it." Nessie smiled and kissed the top of Jacob's head.

"What does it do to you when you don't have a headache?"

"It makes me harder," Jacob answered with a grin. Getting Nessie out of the water, Jacob lifted her onto the lip of the tub and faced her. He returned to kissing her while she wrapped her legs around his waist. When Nessie was steady, Jacob brought his right hand between them and rubbed his fingers between her folds, testing her readiness.

After testing, Jacob slipped two fingers inside and made Nessie breath sharply from pleasure. He took his lips away and began kissing her neck lovingly, still maneuvering his fingers inside her. Nessie moaned Jacob's name and stroked his erection in response. Jacob moved his lips to her breasts, giving them the attention she longed for, and continued to finger her. Before too long, Nessie tugged on Jacob gently, indicating that she wanted him inside her. Jacob complied to Nessie's demand and thrust inside her and wasted no time before increasing his pace. Nessie held onto Jacob tightly as he moved and never allowed herself to fall back into the water, keeping her moans at bay.

Nessie moved her hips along with Jacob's, increasing the pleasure. Their senses heightened as Jacob thrust and caused them both unable to think of anything but one another. When they got closer to release, Jacob moved faster and harder until they both were spent and went limp with sexual exhaustion. Nessie continued to cling to Jacob as he moved around, turning off the jets, unplugging the tub, and getting out. Jacob walked the two of them to their bed and let himself fall, Nessie landing on top of him. Neither of them spoke for a while. They just cuddled together and kissed each other absently. Jacob was the first to eventually break the serene silence.

"Do you feel better now?"

Nessie nodded with a content smile. "Yes, Jacob, you have momentarily made me forget that my babies are leaving me and I'm getting old."

Jacob huffed a sarcastic laugh. "Nessie, you're twenty eight years old. That's hardly old. For God's sake, I'm turning forty six this year. How do you think I feel? By the time Nathan and Natalie are out of the house, I'll be forty nine." Jacob smirked. "Which means your mom will be fifty."

Nessie snickered. "It doesn't matter how you phrase it, Jacob, you and my mom are both old." Nessie lifted herself onto her elbow and smiled at Jacob wickedly. "You're an old man, Jacob. A perverted, dirty old man."

"Oh am I now," Jacob taunted. Then he pulled her elbow out from under her, earning a giggle, and then turned so he was on top. "You certainly didn't have a problem with this dirty old man when we were in the tub."

"It was the fog from the bath," Nessie teased, "I had no way of knowing I was being seduced by a dirty old man."

Jacob smiled. "I can't wait for you to turn fifty, Nessie. I'll give you plenty of hell for it."

Nessie and Jacob shared a laugh before kissing each other until they brought themselves under the covers and cuddled the rest of the night. Meanwhile, back at the Cullen house, Emmett, Jasper, Edward, and Carlisle were sitting together watching the news. The news was focusing on the death of a semi-famous woman who was called Amber Dymek. At first (a week ago), it was a small case where news stations showed her picture and claimed she was missing. Then the story changed when the boyfriend got into the house and found her dead. Police were brought to Amber Dymek's home in Phoenix, Arizona and news stations reported that the home showed no signs of a break in and nothing was missing, but the police did find the phone line to her house cut and her cell phone cracked in half next to her bed. The injuries, upon the beginning of the investigation, seemed to be intensive blood lose that came from her vaginal area, leading the police to assume this was a murder rape. Crime scene photos were shown on the evening news and instantly, the Cullens knew what had happened. Knowledge that was supported when police reported to news stations that shortly after beginning the investigation, they'd found a small little girl that looked to be about two years old hiding in the closet of the small ranch house's master bedroom.

"What should we do?" Emmett asked Carlisle.

"What can we do," he answered solemnly. "That little girl is being kept in police custody. If she goes missing, there'll be a manhunt for her. If we leave her with the police, they'll wind up with more questions than answers."

"So just ignore it?"

Carlisle shook his head. "No, we aren't going to ignore it. But we can't act rashly. Maybe we'll get lucky and her father won't have any previous DNA records that could trace him. Or, at the very least, if they do find DNA or bite marks or whatever the case may be, he'll have been changed recently, that way the police can unknowingly begin a pursuit of a vampire."

"What of the boyfriend and family swearing that Ms. Dymek had never been pregnant? Once they perform an autopsy, they'll know that Amber Dymek had been pregnant and everyone who knew her and had seen her before she'd been murdered will all say with absolute confidence that she wasn't pregnant. What will we do when that presents itself as a problem?"

"I don't know, Edward." Carlisle sighed. "I just don't know." Carlisle thought a moment and Edward responded to his thoughts.

"I say we call them, Carlisle. We might not agree with what the former Volturi suggest, but at least we can begin to form a plan."

Carlisle nodded and, reluctantly, he called Demetri. He would be able to get a hold of the rest of the clan and he told Demetri what they'd learned from the news and what was certain. In understanding, Demetri promised he and the rest of the old Volturi would be at the Cullen home by the end of the next day. Having seen the news, Billy told Jacob about this, who told the rest of the pack, so by the time the former Volturi were expected, the whole pack was at the Cullen house waiting.

"Embry," Carlisle said, "How're the babies?" Carlisle wanted to dodge the topic for the time being and talking about Embry's new babies seemed a good way to do it. Just a few days ago, Brie had gone into labor and delivered two beautiful twin girls, Lauren and Jenna. Embry smiled.

"They're kicking." Esme walked over with a kind smile.

"Do you have any pictures to show us?"

Embry nodded and pulled out his wallet. "Yeah, I do. Brie and I are planning to do a family photo as soon as the two of us have some extra free time. Then we'll take more pictures of the twins together. But until then, we've always got their first pictures." Embry pulled out a small picture of the twins when they were still in the hospital. They were in the same little crib, Lauren wearing pink and Jenna wearing yellow, not really staring at the camera. The twins had brown eyes and black hair with their mother's nose and mouth, but with their daddy's eyes.

"They're beautiful, Embry."

Embry smiled as the rest of the Cullens walked over to look at the picture. "Thank you, Esme. Next time I get a chance, I'll bring them over and you guys can get better acquainted with them."

Alice jumped with excitement. "We'll even take pictures of them for you and Brie. Did Brie like all the onesies we bought for the babies?"

Embry nodded. "She did, but she still feels a little bad for letting you guys spend as much as you did."

"Nonsense," Esme said, "It's a pleasure to buy clothes for babies, especially baby girls. And you let us know the minute you two start running out of clothes that fit and we'll take them shopping."

Embry smiled. "You're too nice sometimes, Esme." Embry put the pictures and his wallet away. When he did, Jacob turned the subject to the more pressing concern.

"Has the news said anything new?" Jacob asked when it turned eight.

"Not yet," Carlisle answered. "So far, all we know is Amber Dymek died from massive loss of blood and the police are trying to find the little girl's parent's hoping that will lead them to the killer or killers and that an autopsy is underway."

"Why are they assuming it was murder anyway? I thought the cops said the only damage caused was vaginally. All that really indicates is rape."

"True, but that shouldn't be enough to kill her. True, there's injuries from rape, but usually not enough to cause that much bleeding and kill her with no other signs. I'm sure they'll find a lot more after the autopsy. That much is certain."

"You know more than anything how Demetri and the others would've reacted to this when they were still a coven together. I doubt they're going to make any suggestion that you would be comfortable with."

"Perhaps. Truthfully, I'm more so hoping that Demetri will be able to bring the child here so we can keep her safe. I'm sure, by now, they've noticed she's growing in an odd fashion compared to how a human child grows and I honestly feel that we should try to get her out of police custody before anything comes of that."

"Fair enough," Jacob said.

"Carlisle, they're talking about the case," Emmett said when he turned on the news. Everyone present watched carefully as the announcer spoke.

_"Tonight on King 5 News,"_ the announcer began, _"We return to the case of Amber Dymek, a resident of Phoenix, Arizona who is best known for her appearance on the famous TV series, __America's Next Top Model_,_ where she made it to runner up of the competition. She made a small niche for herself in the modeling industry and was known by family and friends as having ambitions of becoming a singer. Yes, Amber Dymek has worked her way up to fifteen minute stardom, but sadly, it was not enough to save her from a tragic fate. Earlier this week, Maricopa County Police received a frantic 911 call from James Cavattes, Amber Dymek's boyfriend, informing them that he'd found Amber dead and bloody in her bed. Do we have that?"_ The announcer asked someone off camera, who put up the actual 911 recording with a tape recorder in the background.

_911 Dispatcher: 911, what is your emergency?_

_James Cavattes: Hello? Someone please, Amber she's—_ The voice was shaky and seemed to be holding in sobs.

_911 Dispatcher: Sir, sir, calm down, tell me where you are and we'll send police to you._

_James Cavattes: 6002 W. Pueblo Avenue! Please hurry, she's not breathing!_

The news station cut off the recording and returned to the reporter who now had a picture of Amber Dymek on screen to the reporter's left. _"When police arrived, they found Amber Dymek in her bed, her lower abdominal area covered in blood. Police could find no signs of forced entry, which leads police to assume that Amber knew her attacker. However, neighbors claim they never saw anyone unusual near the house and that they never heard any strange activity coming from the house around the time that Amber was pronounced missing. It was at the two and a half week mark of Amber missing that neighbors claim they started hearing the TV going in the house. Upon police inspection, police found that Amber's blu-ray had been in use around that time by the little girl found at the scene upon Amber's discovery. An autopsy of Amber's body is scheduled and the little girl, currently identified as Jane Doe, has been taken into police custody. Her fingerprints have been taken as has her DNA. Police are hoping that Jane Doe will be able to lead to the killer. Up next we—"_ Upon the change of subject, Carlisle sighed.

"Nothing new," he grumbled, only looking around when Demetri and all the former Volturi were standing behind the couch. "So what are your thoughts?"

"Concerning which aspect?" Felix asked. "With regards to the child, we need to get here out of Maricopa and bring her here. What you do choose to do with her after that is your choice. All that's important is getting her away from humans. As far as whomever the father is concerned, I say we kill him. No ifs ands or buts about it."

Demetri nodded. "I agree. Whoever this man is, I wouldn't put it past him that he would do this again. We saw the news on the case. It seems like he knew exactly what he was doing."

Marcus's mate Didyme stepped forward. "I can go to the scene and find out exactly what happened. Then I'll know who the killer is or at least what he looks like."

_"This just in,"_ the group turned their attention back to the news, _"Maricopa County Police have just released an update on the case. The small girl recovered from the crime scene,"_ a mug shot like photo was put up to the reporter's left. It was a very sad looking photo. She looked starved and anemic, leaving Carlisle and everyone there with an odd and sickening feeling, _"has just been reported missing. Police claim the child disappeared from police custody just an hour ago. Surveillance of Jane Doe's cell shows that camera's had been covered for approximately three minutes before being removed, revealing the little girl was gone. Following the strange incident, Amber Dymek's namesake necklace, found around Jane Doe's neck when recovered, has been taken from police evidence. Police returned to the crime scene and found some of Amber's things suddenly missing. Missing items include: a blu-ray box set of __America's Next Top Model __featuring Amber Dymek, a large collection of CDs, a suitcase, and some clothes."_ The reporter continued by telling where the child might be and Carlisle stiffened for mere seconds.

"Didyme," Carlisle said.

"Yes?"

"When you know who the father is, if he's the same vampire that took her from police custody, then bring him here with the child immediately." Carlisle looked among the group and spotted, to his relief, Jane and Alec. "Jane, Alec, I want you both to join Didyme. That way, once you know who took the child, you'll have plenty of attack power and numbing power. Do the rest of you mind staying here until this child and her captor are here?"

The group nodded and Felix spoke. "We'll remain here."

Demetri stepped forward. "Carlisle, I realize you don't like it, but if this vampire is going to be a menace to everyone, then killing him is for the greater good. Aro may have allowed himself to get power hungry, but he was right on that account. And for the greater good, someone has to take on that role. I realize it's far from anything you want to do, but it has to be done and I commend you for not allowing your personal feelings on this to cloud your judgment."

Carlisle shook his head. "I never intended for Aro's role to fall onto me."

"Well, Stephan and Vladimir took that role when they killed Aro and Caius, but then they were killed. There's really no other option."

Carlisle sighed and changed the subject. "Here," Carlisle handed Didyme a cellphone, "contact me when you know who we're dealing with. And thank you for your help."

Didyme smiled kindly. "Jane, Alec and I will be in Arizona by tomorrow night."

Carlisle shook his head. "Sneak onto the next plane to Arizona. There isn't enough time to buy tickets and the sooner you find that little girl, the better. Edward will drive you to the airport."

Didyme smiled kindly and Jane, Alec and Didyme followed Edward to the garage and he drove them to the airport. They got there in time for a plane to Arizona that would be leaving within the hour. After Edward dropped them all off, the three ran to the plane and snuck into the baggage unit without the crew seeing them and they hid behind the bigger pieces of luggage. They were in Phoenix five hours later and they ran as fast as they could through the airport. They still had time before the sun came up and it was in the early hours of the morning, giving them privacy once they arrived at the crime scene.

The front door was locked by police and the house was surrounded by tape. Didyme stopped a moment and touched the door and closed her eyes. Memories fled into her head. It was the hand of a young woman walking to the door. The young woman's hand then reached for a small animal that was next to the door. It was a tiny armadillo lawn ornament that the hand lifted, revealing a house key. Didyme took her hand away from the door and opened her eyes and looked at the small armadillo to her left. She kneeled down and lifted the ornament and there was the house key. They let themselves in and Didyme put the key back where she found it before walking in. Closing the door behind her, Didyme closed her eyes and began walking through the house. They started in the living room and Didyme told Jane and Alec what happened through that night as she walked through the house.

"She arrived home at three in the morning," Didyme relayed, the woman's memory looking at the TV clock showing the time to be 3:14 a.m. "She was somewhat wobbly, so I imagine she was out partying with friends and was drunk when she got home." Didyme continued on the trail, walking through the living room to the hallway. She stopped at the small table where a lamp was on the ground next to it. "She lost her balance and tripped, causing the lamp to fall over." Didyme took her hand off the small table and put it back on the wall, following the memory. Didyme continued to walk through the hallway as Amber stumbled through her house trying to get to her bedroom. When Didyme touched the bedroom door, she opened it. "There was nothing in her room from what she could tell." Didyme walked into the bedroom, Jane and Alec following and listening. "She ran to the bathroom and vomited," Didyme continued, looking towards the master bath. "When she was finished, she started wobbling back to her bed." Didyme walked to the bed and placed her hand there. The remainder of the events flowed through her head vividly and Didyme described it just as vividly. "As she was about to fall down on the bed, she was grabbed from behind and slammed onto the bed." The sound of Amber screaming filled Didyme's head as she spoke. "Then her attacker turned her around to look at him." The man's face became visible. His eyes were a vivid red, so his thirst at the time of the attack was at bay. But the man's face was familiar. He was brunette with a strong jaw and a distinctive nose that appeared to be crooked from punches to the face.

"What did he look like?" Jane asked.

"I've seen him before on Dateline 20/20." Jane stiffened.

"Who is he?"

"It's Evan Krueger." Jane took a deep breath in exasperation. Alec looked at Jane concerned.

"Is he a recent criminal?"

"No," Jane said. "He was the rapist that was charged for the murder of a woman, Tracy Jean, in 1971. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1974. He escaped in '75 and he hasn't been seen or heard from since according to the press."

Alec groaned. "Figures. Do you think the police have DNA records of him that could pin him as that girl's father?"

"I certainly hope not, but seeing as it was the seventies, I doubt it. Either way, we know who we're looking for. Is he the one that kidnapped the little girl?" Jane asked Didyme.

Didyme had kept the bulk of her attention on the scene playing in her head. Didyme had wondered why, after Evan had finished with her, she hadn't tried to run to a neighbor and get help that way. Her questions were answered. As Evan was rapping Amber, he broke the bones in her legs and cracked three of her ribs, injuries that wouldn't be visible through her shirt and through the blood that covered her legs after the child was born. Evan had made quick work of her, holding her mouth closed so she wouldn't scream or call for help. Then the memory disappeared from Amber losing consciousness. So Didyme focused on Evan's memory of the event where he finished rapping her and dragged her more comfortably onto the bed after he was done. "Evan had broken her legs," Didyme finally said. "And according to his memory, he crushed her voice box so she couldn't scream. She was completely helpless." Didyme returned to Amber's memories and heard the mumbling of pain she was in and the small cry she released when she picked up her phone and realized the line was cut. Then the cry was louder when she saw that her cellphone had been cracked in half. Amber was stuck there for two weeks, not able to move and getting weaker and weaker with every passing day, the child inside her growing despite her immobility and lack of food, water, or blood. Finally, Amber's memory of the birth arose.

Amber felt pain and she couldn't do a thing about it. Finally, Didyme took in the young child's memory when she was finally able to pull herself out from Amber. She'd been weak and hungry because her mother couldn't sustain her during the pregnancy. From what Didyme could tell based on what she knew about half breeds, the child was born early due to that inability on Amber's part. Then Didyme saw an image that crushed her. The small child looked into her mother's eyes and what she'd seen in her mother's eyes was contempt before she gargled and finally died. The child cried and began pushing Amber over and over trying to get her to move and she couldn't get her to. The child was stuck on the bed for two days because she couldn't move on her own. Finally, the child managed to get off the bed and started moving. Didyme followed the memory and watched as the little girl started crawling until she got to Amber's closet and grabbed the first shirt she found. Then the baby began crawling from the master bedroom down the hall to the kitchen. The little girl started eating whatever was in the fridge, trying desperately to find something that would satisfy the hunger she felt but did not know how to alleviate. Alec and Jane followed Didyme as she walked through the house.

"That little girl," Didyme said, "Amber died giving birth to her and she had to fend for herself. As a last resort," Didyme walked back to the bedroom and saw the memory of the little girl drinking her mother's cold blood, "She drank her mother's blood. But it wasn't good and it didn't help her much." Didyme walked back to the living room until she was in front of the TV. "She started fooling around with her mother's blu-ray player. That's all she knew of her mother. It's how she learned to talk, to dress, everything that she learned in this setting. She loved her mother. She learned from her mother's box set that she wore a namesake necklace. The little girl went back to her mother and took the necklace and put it around her neck. When the police came a week later, she was very scared." Didyme, who'd walked back into the master bedroom, walked over to the closet. "She hid in here hoping whatever was coming in would go away. She heard a man scream, 'Amber', and then begin to talk to the 911 Dispatcher. She stayed hunched in this closet until the police woman found her about an hour and a half later. She was taken out, then, and that's when she was taken to the police station."

"What about the man that took her?" Alec asked. "Was it Evan?"

Didyme didn't immediately answer. She walked around the house looking for the memory. She finally found a memory of the man's face from Amber's point of view. Didyme shook her head. "No. It seems someone else took the little girl. I've never seen him before, but he doesn't have the look in his eyes that Evan does. He seems kinder, like Carlisle." Didyme finally opened her eyes and looked at Jane and Alec. "The little girl doesn't seem to be with Evan, only this other man. I'll contact Carlisle and let him know what I've found out. I'll let him decide how to proceed."

"I say we kill Evan before we look for the child and her captor," Jane said. "That's what Carlisle said for us to do."

"I know," Didyme said, "But he told me to update him and that's exactly what I'll do." Didyme took out the cellphone Carlisle had provided and called the number to the Cullen residence.

"_Didyme? What did you find out?"_ Carlisle answered on the first ring.

"I know who the father is, but he's not the same man that was with the little girl in the house when he was taking some things."

"_Alright. Who's the father? Do you think he's nearby?" _

"The father is Evan Krueger. Do you know him?" Carlisle sighed heavily. "I take that as a yes. I don't know the man that has the little girl, though. But I can trace the smell of both men and the little girl. How do you want us to proceed? Krueger first or the child first?"

"_Find the little girl first,"_ Carlisle said. _"We don't know who this man is or what his involvement with the father is and I want to know that girl is safe. Once the little girl is here and we know she's alright."_ Carlisle was interrupted by Demetri, who informed him that he and Felix would look for the father. _"You heard Demetri."_

"Alright, Carlisle. Alec, Jane and I will find the little girl and bring her to Washington and let Felix and Demetri deal with the father. Does Demetri think he hears the man's tenor?"

"_He says he knows which one to single out, yes. Just let me know what you've found her. And when you're on your way back, make sure that no one sees her. By now, the whole country knows what this child looks like. Airport security certainly does at least."_

"Yes, Carlisle. I'll call as soon as we've found her. Tell Demetri and Felix good luck." Didyme hanged up the phone and glanced back at Jane and Alec.

"We're ready when you are," Alec said. Didyme smiled and the three walked out after Didyme locked to door the door the house. The smell of the little girl was easy enough to follow, especially since Didyme was able to single out the smell of the man she was with when she was brought back to the house.

They three followed the trail for at least an hour, taking them close to the border of New Mexico. The little girl was still with the man from before, but Evan Krueger was not present. The man realized Jane, Alec and Didyme were there and grabbed the little girl and the suitcase and began to run, waking up the little girl. Jane wasted no time and used her power to cause the man extreme pain, causing him to fall to the ground in pain, but he did not let go of the little girl. The little girl started crying. She looked about two and, since having had her mug shot, looked slightly less anemic and starved meaning she'd finally fed on something. She was wearing clothes that were far too big for her. She was wearing a black bra that didn't fit, a white tank top that had the shoulders practically falling off, and a pink tutu like skirt that on an adult woman would be a miniskirt, but on her was normal. That pink tutu skirt she was wearing was being held up with a belt that was wrapped around the girl's waist twice and covered most of her midriff, the white top hanging loosely over it. She was wearing a pair of shoes that looked new, possibly stolen so she'd have shoes and socks that fit and the little girl was wearing a sparkly cowboy hat that was way too big for her. It was an outfit Amber Dymek wore in one of her music videos paying homage to Lady Gaga. Didyme remembered seeing the outfit on her when she was singing _Yoü and I_. And around her neck was a little necklace with the name Amber on it. Clearly, the little girl had copied what she saw and had changed before they left the house.

"Jane." Didyme said. "You can stop. If he tries to run again, let Alec use his power. The girl is getting disquiet."

Jane removed her power. "Yes, Didyme." The man started groaning, still feeling the left over pain and the little girl continued to cry. Didyme walked over to him and tried to take the girl. But the man stood and tried running, so Alec stopped him. When he went completely still, the little girl started crying more and hitting her little hand to his shoulder.

"It's alright, dear," Didyme coed as she tried to take the girl from the man's arms. Then the little girl started screaming at the man and wouldn't let Didyme take her. "Honey, please remain calm. We're not going to hurt you. You're safe now."

"No!" the little girl screamed. "No, no, no, no!" She kept crying and Didyme stepped back.

"Alec, get a hold of this man so he doesn't run away again. It doesn't look like we'll be able to get her away from him." Alec nodded and walked over the man and took a firm hold of him. "Now let me speak to him." Alec nodded and released his power. The man regained 'consciousness' and blinked a few times. "Who are you, sir, and what are you doing with this little girl?"

"Please," the man begged, "Please, I know her father went against our laws, but the girl is innocent. She's done nothing wrong."

"Calm down, sir, we won't hurt her. I asked who you are."

"I'm Robert Rouche." He said when he was sure the three people weren't going to do anything. "I heard about Amber on the news and I knew who her father was. I don't know what his intentions were in this, but I knew I couldn't let him have Amber."

"Wait. This little girl's name is Amber?"

Robert nodded, "I named her after her mother out of respect. Amber Lynn Dymek….Rouche."

"So you've adopted her?" Jane asked.

"Yes," Robert answered. "Please just let us go. No one will find out about this or about learn where Amber is now. She's done nothing wrong. She doesn't deserve to be punished. She's been through enough already."

"We aren't going to punish her," Alec said. "But we are going to take her with us to Washington. You can cooperate and come with us, or refuse and have her taken away. The choice is yours, Robert."

"Why Washington?"

"Which will it be, Robert?" Jane asked impatiently. "Pick or we'll pick for you, and believe me, you don't want us to pick."

"Jane," Didyme said sternly. Jane retracted and Didyme looked at Robert. "Just come with us and everything will be alright."

Robert looked reluctant. He looked at Amber, who was hiding her face in his shoulder. After thinking a moment and weighing his options, he finally agreed to follow them quietly and Alec released him so he could pick up the suitcase with the stolen items from the house. They stayed out of site and made sure no one noticed Amber as they snuck through the airport and snuck onto a plane. Didyme searched through the bags until she found a heavy blanket for Amber to use, otherwise the baggage unity might make her freeze to death. Robert managed to get Amber back to sleep so she wasn't making any noise while they were on the plane. Didyme had called Carlisle before they got on the plane and let him know when they were expected to land. It was light out when they landed, about midday. They ran out of the luggage unit and didn't stop until they saw one of the Cullens' cars and let themselves in. Edward drove them back to the Cullen residence and when they got there, Didyme went to Marcus and hugged him, allowing Carlisle to take over from here.

"Didyme said your name was Robert," Carlisle said as he walked over.

"Yes," Robert nodded. "This is Amber."

"Yes, Didyme told me. She told me you knew her father is Evan Krueger."

"Yes, he is. I'm sure you know who he is."

"Indeed and I thank you for apprehending Amber so she's out of harm's way. That's what I was concerned about. How is she?"

"She's better," Robert said, looking at the sleeping little girl. "She isn't as pale as she was before and she's finally growing normally. I've heard of how half breeds are supposed to grow and she wasn't doing that. I admit, we killed a human, but I was desperate to get her some blood."

"I understand," Carlisle said, even though he noticed the pack was somewhat uncomfortable. "I'm to understand then that you've taken up the responsibility of caring for her?"

"Yes." Robert said. He looked at Amber and smiled a little. "I've always wanted a child of my own. When I was human, I didn't have a wife. Even as a vampire I haven't had much luck romantically with other vampires, though children with a vampire isn't really an option anyway. I heard about her on the news and I knew that if I didn't get her away, the police would either figure out what she was or a number of other things. And as I told Didyme, I don't know what her father's intentions were with her, but I don't want to find out. He's a dangerous vampire and I'm glad I got to her before he did."

"As am I," Carlisle said with a smile. "Please, stay here for a while. At least until we know she's healthy."

"I'd heard you were a doctor," Robert said. "Please do look at her. I think she's getting better, but I want to be certain."

"Of course. And don't worry about her father. Felix and Demetri are taking care of that. My wife and Alice would be more than happy to help you procure some appropriate clothes for Amber as well. While she looks adorable," Carlisle looked at Amber's clothes, "They are rather too big for her."

Robert smiled and followed Carlisle up to his office so he could check Amber's health. With the little girl safe, all that was left was to wait for Felix and Demetri to get back to them about her father. Even though this whole thing had caused a great big mess, it was at least an excuse for Evalina to come with Demetri and Heidi to the US to see Kyle. Kyle, Nathan and Natalie had started up school again and they were all working a lot, but Kyle did his best to make time for him and Evalina to spend time together. Kyle called work so he could get Monday off from work and after school was over he called Evalina and she came right over so they could spend the rest of the day together.

"How long do you think it'll take Demetri and Felix to find that Evan guy?" Kyle asked Evalina. They were sitting together in the living room with the TV on. They had on a movie that Kyle had wanted Evalina to watch since she didn't want to read the play: Kenneth Branagh's _Hamlet_. He simply neglected to mention that the movie was four hours long.

"It takes as long as it takes. The longer they take, the longer I stay. Isn't that what's important?" Evalina smiled at Kyle, who had his head resting on her lap. Evalina had initiated the contact because she wanted to pet Kyle's hair and because she'd decided it would be a good way to help Kyle out of his shell. It annoyed her that he was still so shy with her, so she was trying to make him more relaxed.

"It is," Kyle said with a smile.

"So how's Kevin doing? Has he said anything about how he likes Yale?"

"I got a chance to talk to him a few days ago, actually. He says that out of the people he's met, he's one of few that isn't virtual American royalty, a Politicians kid, or an actual child of a diplomat. According to him, a prince of England is going there."

"You don't say?" Evalina said, impressed.

"Yeah. Prince Charles."

"How many Charles does that family have? It feels like they're all named Charles."

Kyle smirked. "I don't know. I just know what Kevin told me. He did say he and his roommate Heath are getting along well. And apparently, Kevin is also one of the few in the University that is only eighteen. Everyone else is in their twenties and already have master's degrees. Apparently, one guy in his Basic Law class already has a PhD in genetics and is planning to become a malpractice attorney."

"My, my, my, aren't we in high company. Does he like it there at least?"

Kyle nodded. "Yeah, he says he loves it. He told me he's never argued with so many people in one day." Kyle chuckled. "Apparently, one of his classes requires that they just argue about a topic they've been told to research and they keep going until someone wins their case. Or it was an exercise they did once. Either way, he likes it there."

"I'm glad to hear it. He hasn't had any trouble has he?"

Kyle knew what she meant and shook his head. "He's still sad about it, but he isn't letting it interfere with his studies. In fact, it's making him work harder. I'm not sure it's quite for the right reasons, but he's doing okay."

"I'm glad to hear it."

"So what about Amber?" Kyle asked. "How's she been doing these two past two days?"

"She's doing fine. She's still skittish and doesn't really go around anyone but Robert, but she's looking healthier. She's usually glued to the TV, though. She's always watching either her mother's homemade music videos or the _Top Model_ box set she took with her."

"It's the only way she has of knowing her mother. It's only natural. Also, the way her mom looked at her," Kyle stopped. Didyme had been thinking about it and Kyle saw the image all too clearly, "It was so hateful. I think she's trying to get that image out of her head even if she can't do it. I feel so bad for her."

"Don't, Kyle. She doesn't need our pity she needs support and care so that she can recover from being left alone for a week."

Kyle sighed and nodded. "You're right."

"Of course I am." Evalina looked back at the screen. Kenneth Branagh was currently giving a speech.

_"To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them. To die, to sleep – no more – and by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to."_

"My God," Evalina said as Kenneth Branagh spoke, "How much longer do we have in this play? It's been at least two hours."

"We're in act 3 scene 1 I think, so we've got two more acts to go."

Evalina groaned. "This is boring."

"No it isn't," Kyle said. "Hamlet has been told by the ghost of his father that his Uncle Claudius has murdered him and possibly Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, is in on it and he's trying to plot revenge but everyone thinks he's crazy. This is exciting stuff."

"It might be if they spoke God Damn English." Kyle couldn't help but laugh at the sincerity of her statement. "Don't laugh at me, English isn't even my first language. I'm at an unfair disadvantage."

"You're right, Eva, forgive me for laughing." Evalina looked at Kyle with a weird smirk. "I'm sorry. Do you not like Eva?"

"Yes, I like Eva?"

"Okay," Kyle worked up the courage to lift his head and kiss her chastely, "Eva."

Evalina smiled and kept petting Kyle's hair as they watched the rest of the movie together. It took Demetri and Felix three days total to find Evan Krueger, but when they did, they killed him without a word. Carlisle had told them to, 'do what you think is best'. He didn't want to think about ordering the death of another vampire regardless. He knew what Felix and Demetri would do, so he just let them do just that. When he was dead and burned, Felix and Demetri returned, letting Robert know that Amber was safe now. At least from her father. Robert left with Amber after that and thanked Carlisle, who'd given Amber a clean bill of health and assured him that there was nothing further to worry about. With new clothes and a new suitcase, Robert ran into the woods with Amber. The news was still shelling out the story of the missing girl they called Jane Doe and also reported that the autopsy revealed a more vicious attack than was previously visible and that, despite having Jane Doe's DNA samples and a whole database to work with and after going through all the medical records police could find, they could not find who the father was. They did report, however, that Jane Doe was DNA compatible with Amber Dymek, the murder victim. There was an uproar of questions that were never really answered no matter how many experts there were that investigated the evidence. It became known by Maricopa county police as The Mystery of Jane Doe and eventually, Amber Lynn Dymek's murder went cold and was never solved.

A few months went by without incident after that. Kevin called occasionally, telling everyone he was working hard and that he was doing all right and that he and Heath were getting along just fine. When it was closer to November, Kevin dropped the bomb that he wouldn't be home for Christmas because he would be taking winter classes. Nessie tried convincing him otherwise, but the class was already paid for and he already had his books for it and there was no pulling out. At least, Kevin wasn't willing to pull out of the class. Since Kevin wouldn't be home, the family just sent all his gifts to him in New Haven and wished him good luck for the winter. When winter break finally came, Nathan, Kyle and Natalie all invested the bulk of their time in working. Red Night Theatre was doing _A Christmas Carol_ for the season and Natalie was cast as the Ghost of Christmas Past.

Nathan spent most of his time at the convenience store and when he wasn't working at his real job, he was volunteering at the police station. Since he and Nat had only just turned fifteen, he wasn't the shop owner's first choice of people to hire for the job once Kevin left, but Kevin practically begged the manager to give Nathan the job and finally the owner caved and agreed to let Nathan work there. It was December now and Nathan had come to work as soon as the shop had opened. He normally worked the afternoon shift, but the other guy that worked there needed to switch with him. Nathan was sitting behind the register reading a magazine since the customer that was there was browsing through the candy section. The customer finally walked over to the counter and Nathan rang him up. He didn't initially look up when he heard the bell ring from the door opening and the breeze from outside came in. Nathan finally looked at the new patron as the previous one left the establishment and it was then that Nathan realized it was Ada María.

"Ada? What are you doing here? I thought your family wasn't coming to Christmas this year."

Ada María shrugged. "I decided to come all by myself," she said suggestively. "I'm a big girl, after all. I don't need my parents' permission to travel and move around if I so wanted."

"I guess that's true. Are you staying with my grandparents then?"

"No, actually, I'm staying in Forks. The single hotel the Podunk town has. I assume you know which one I'm talking about?"

Nathan smiled. "Yeah, I know which one you're talking about. It is the only one after all. Why aren't you staying at the Cullen house? It's free."

"It's not a matter of being free," Ada María said as she walked around the counter. "It's a matter of being private." Nathan lost his smile. "So when do you get off work?"

"Um….Not for a while. I'll be working until two this afternoon. Maybe after, we could go downtown and walk around for a while?"

Ada María snickered. "Oh, Nathan, I've walked around and gone shopping down town a million times. There's nothing interesting about it." Ada María closed the remaining distance and bent down before Nathan, showing off her cleavage through her sweater and looking at him with wanton eyes. "How about you meet me at the motel when you get off work? We can chat then. What do you say?" Nathan didn't answer. He was in too much of a dumbfounded state to answer. Ada María grinned wickedly and answered for him. "I'm in room 14. I'll see you when you get off work."

Before Nathan could agree or reject the idea, Ada María was gone. Nathan looked at what time it was: 12:45. He had just over two hours of nervous anticipation to look forward to and it wasn't even positive. He'd decided on a method to win Ada over in a more romantic way, but she was certainly making it a lot harder to hold onto his resolve. Fifteen or not, he was still a man and looked like one too. Out of nervousness, he called Kevin. Kyle wouldn't know what to do and if he called dad for advice, he would tell mom, and mom would go nuts. And even if Kyle might know what to do, he wouldn't be able to talk anyway because he was at work. She was already uncomfortable with Nathan imprinting on Ada María and if she found out about this, she'd skin her alive for her audaciousness. Kevin answered and there were a lot of voices in the background.

"_Nathan? Is something wrong? Try to make this fast, my class starts in a few minutes and my instructor is a bit of a cellphone Nazi."_

Nathan sighed, "If class is about to start, then just call me when you're done. It's about Ada and I think I'll need more than a few minutes of your time for this one."

"Are you sure? My class doesn't let out for another 3 ½ hours."

"3 ½ hours?" Nathan yelped, and then he sighed heavily. "I have until two. I don't have that kind of time."

Kevin sighed. _"Hold on a minute."_ Nathan listened as he heard Kevin get up from where he'd been sitting. He heard Kevin tell the instructor there was a family emergency but that he'd handle it quickly. The instructor made a snarky remark, but let Kevin go. Kevin finally answered when he was in the hallway. _"Alright, I can talk. So what's the problem?"_

"Well, long story short, Ada came to the store and told me to meet her at a motel she's staying at when my shift is over. I don't think anyone but me knows she's even here."

"_Ah," _Kevin said with a chuckle, _"She's certainly playing hard to get isn't she?"_ Kevin said sarcastically.

"Please don't tease me, Kevin. I don't know what to do. If I let her have her way, then she won't fall in love with me eventually, but she's told me to meet her at a motel. I can't just stand her up. That would hurt her feelings."

"_Nathan, I don't think hurting her feelings is anything you need to worry about. Think about it, Nathan, did she even have a real conversation with you before inviting you to her room?"_

"No, but—"

"_There you go,"_ Kevin interrupted. _"Look, Nathan, there really isn't much I can say that would be helpful. It'll have to depend on whether or not you feel confident enough in your own self control. You've made your plan and it's a good plan. Now you just have to follow through. I say call her and don't go."_

"I don't have her number."

"_Call her room then."_

"I don't have the number to the motel."

"_Then look it up. Now you're just making excuses and you know it." _ Nathan groaned. _"If you really want to go, then go. Just remember that you have a plan and stick to it no matter what."_

"Should I bring her a present?"

"_No, absolutely not. That'll give her the wrong impression. She'll take that as an indicator that you want things to go further than what you really want them to. Just show up and stand strong. If all else fails, just leave without a word. Can you do that, Nathan? If you really want to make it clear you're not there for sex, bring a board game or something, okay?"_

"Do you think that'll work?"

"_You'll have to make it work, Nathan. I better go, class started a minute ago and I don't want to get in trouble. I'll talk to you later to see how you're doing. Bye."_ Kevin hung up the phone and so did Nathan.

_This will work_, Nathan kept telling himself over and over again. He had to or he'd start getting nervous and thinking of every possible way this wouldn't work out. Nathan forced himself to take a deep breath and read his magazine like nothing was bothering him and waited until his shift was over and the other guy came in to take over. When it turned two, Nathan felt his phone vibrate and he looked at the text he got from Kevin.

_Good luck, Romeo. And remember, don't screw it up._ Nathan sighed and didn't answer. He just started walking to the house to grab a board game like Kevin suggested. He grabbed the _Guess Who _game that was older than his dad and yet still playable and started making his way to Forks as fast as he could, but at a human's pace. He wanted the chance to relax. By the time he got to the motel Ada María was at, Nathan looked for room 14 and got nervous when he saw the door was slightly ajar. Scared something might have happened, Nathan opened the door slowly and kept up his guard.

"Ada?" Nathan called out cautiously.

"In here," Ada María called back from the bathroom. "Make sure you close the door, it's getting freezing in here."

Nathan relaxed when he knew nothing was wrong and walked towards her voice. "Why did you leave the door open? I could've knocked." But when Nathan reached the bathroom door and saw Ada María in the tub surrounded by bubbles and a wicked grin, he knew exactly why. "Oh."

"I can't very well answer the door naked now can I? Not in this weather at least. It's freezing outside! It never gets this cold in Brazil."

Nathan nodded awkwardly and smiled. "I don't know. Natalie answers her bedroom door without pants on all the time." Ada María looked confused.

"I'm sorry?"

Nathan was amused. "Not many people know this about Natalie, but she loathes wearing pants. She'll only wear yoga pants, even at school. In fact, one time on patrol, Uncle Paul confronted Nat about it and I believe her exact words were, 'I don't like pants, I don't like people who wear pants, that's why I wear yoga pants. They don't count.'" Nathan chuckled. "She's really never liked wearing pants."

"What are you holding?" Ada asked eagerly, trying desperately to stop talking about Natalie and her aversion to pants. Then her face seemed to fall when Nathan lifted up the game so she could see it.

"It's _Guess Who_!" Nathan said with excitement. "And it's the version from the nineties," Nathan looked at the back of the box, "I think. Maybe the eighties. I don't know, it's old and it's awesome."

Ada María looked at Nathan like he was insane. This was hardly what she had in mind when she invited him to her motel room. Ada María managed a seductive smile eventually and she leaned her bare breasts against the lip of the tub, covering her nipples to tease him with bubbles surrounding her.

"I was thinking we could get to know each other a little more. It's awfully lonely in this tub all by myself. Would you like to join me?"

"In that?" Nathan asked. "I'm six foot five, Ada. I can't share a tub as small as this," Nathan said innocently. He wasn't lying and he was averting disaster. "I can stay in here with you if you want. I know it's freezing outside, so a hot bath is comforting."

Not exactly the answer she was looking for. "Well…..How about we take a hot shower together? Or I could just sit on your lap while you're in the tub."

"Oh, no, that's fine. I don't have any of my soaps. No offense, you smell beautiful, but I don't want to smell like," Nathan looked at the edge where the body wash was, "Velvet Bliss. I could smell that from the front door." Ada María grinned and lifted herself up out of the water so she could reach for her toiletry bag. When she did that, Nathan saw her breasts in all their glory and he looked away at the bag she was reaching for. Ada pulled out some Old Spice body wash.

"Don't worry. I thought of you."

Nathan chuckled. "You're persistent, I'll give you that."

"I'm many things, Nathan. Some are bad," Ada María lifted herself out of the water even further and sat against the tile wall of the shower so the rest of her body, though covered in bubbles, was in view, "But most are good."

Nathan stopped breathing a moment. "I won't argue that point." Ada María gave Nathan her seductive smile that was becoming her trademark smile. "I'll wait for you in your room with the game. I warn you, Ada; I'm a master at _Guess Who_."

Ada María was dumbfounded as Nathan walked out of the bathroom and took a seat on the bed to begin setting up the game. Ada María sat against the wall for a few minutes before it really sank in that Nathan was completely rejected her sexually. She was so confused. He'd flirted with her when they'd met the year before at his family's Christmas party and he'd asked her out hunting, he'd allowed her to grope him, and now, suddenly, he was completely ignoring her. Ada María stepped out of the tub and wiped away all the bubbles that remained on her body, and then she put on a peignoir before walking out of the bathroom. When Nathan looked up at Ada María and saw the sheer white garment, he licked his lips and ignored it.

"So are you ready for _Guess Who_?"

"Are you gay?" Ada María asked suddenly.

Nathan gave her a weird look. "No, of course not."

Ada María let her peignoir fall open, revealing her body yet again. "Are you sure?"

Nathan looked her over once and smiled. "Yeah, I'm sure." Nathan held up half the boxes holding the face cards. "Pick a person?"

Ada María sighed heavily. "Forget the damned board game. I didn't invite you here to play a board game." Ada María never bothered closing her peignoir as she kneeled down next to Nathan on the floor. Ada María put back on her seductive smile. "I think we both know you didn't come here for that." Ada María placed her hand on Nathan's. Nathan should've taken his hand away, but he didn't. Instead, he brought Ada María's hand to his lips and kissed it.

"I guess we can do something other than play a board game." Ada María grinned and moved closer to Nathan for a kiss. But Nathan stood up and went to the chair in the corner to get his jacket. "Why don't you get dressed and we'll go see a movie together. I hear there's a Batman remake and I'm a little excited about it."

"What?" Ada María said flatly.

"You don't want to see Batman? That's okay, we can see what else is in theatres right now."

"It's winter, Nathan, nothing good is in theatres." Ada María shook her head absently a moment. "I don't want to go to a movie. Let's just stay here."

"Okay, sure. I hear this motel offers OnDemand for extra money. I'll go to the front desk so we can have it for the rest of the day."

"Nathan," Ada María said to stop Nathan from leaving. "What's wrong with you? I thought you wanted to sleep with me. Why are you being so avoidant?"

"I'm not being avoidant," Nathan lied, "I'm just trying to think of something we can do for fun. You said you didn't want to play a game and you don't want to go out, so watching a movie here is the next best option."

Ada María sighed heavily and finally closed her peignoir. "What the hell are you doing? Are you going to sleep with me or not?"

Nathan finally ditched the act and lost his innocent smile. "Look, Ada, I really like you. I want to get to know you and not just in a sexual way." Ada María didn't say anything at first. She looked really confused and seemed like she was stopping to think. When she did answer, her tone was a little condescending.

"Why?"

"Does there need to be a reason for me to like you?"

Ada María became even more confused. "Yes, yes there does. Nathan, I came here under the impression that you were attracted to me. If that's not the case, then I may as well just go back to sunny Brazil now."

"I didn't say I wasn't attracted to you. I'm extremely attracted to you."

Ada María finally smiled again. "Then what's the problem?" Ada María asked as she walked closer to Nathan and leaned against him when she was close enough. She let her peignoir open again and she brought her hands up to his face. "Because I'm certainly attracted to you." Her hands moved to Nathan's chest and she began to nonchalantly unbutton his shirt. "Extremely so in fact." Ada María was beginning to bring her lips closer to Nathan's, but suddenly, Nathan ripped himself away from Ada María and began buttoning back up his shirt.

"I've got to go," Nathan said before he ran out the door and left the motel in a huge hurry. Wide eyed, Ada María stood before the door long after Nathan left, not completely sure what the hell just happened.

Nathan ran right home and went right up to his room and took a seat on his bed. He took several deep breaths and tried everything he could to stop his heart from pounding. He'd managed to keep himself from getting an erection while he was at the motel, but he's not completely sure how. Either way, the visit hadn't gone as planned and now he was paranoid that he'd screwed up his chances with Ada María by ditching her like that. He was actually hoping that she'd call him demanding an explanation for what was wrong with him, but she didn't call. When his phone rang and Nathan had answered it hurriedly, it turned out to just be Kevin asking about how his date with Ada María had gone.

"I ran out on her," Nathan answered.

"_Did you?"_ Kevin said heavily. _"I take it she got persistent?"_

"Extremely. When I got there, she was naked in a tub."

Kevin was silent a moment. _"Ah,"_ he finally answered, _"Taking a bath or just sitting in the tub naked?"_

"She was in a bubble bath."

"_So she's a tease, is she?"_ Kevin started chuckling.

"Kevin, please stop laughing at me. She's not making this easy and I need help."

"_I know, Nathan, I know, but do you have any idea how lucky you are? Do you know how many men in our pack wished their imprints had been this easy to win over?"_

"No, I'm not lucky because I haven't won her over. She's just physically attracted to me. That's hardly enough to make her love me."

"_I don't know. You'd be surprised what physical attraction can do. Just relax, Nathan. You're getting ahead of yourself. Is it safe to assume you haven't spoken to her since then?"_ Just then, the doorbell to the house rang.

"Someone's at the door, Kevin. Can I call you back?"

"_Yeah, sure. I'll talk to you later, Nathan."_ Kevin and Nathan hanged up their phones and Nathan made his way downstairs to answer the door. When he answered, there was Ada María now wearing a heavy low cut sweater, dark wash jeans, furry boots, and a fur coat, holding the _Guess Who_ box in her hand.

"Ada?" Nathan stepped aside and motioned for her to come inside. "Come in. It's freezing out there." Ada María tapped her shoes on the mat to get rid of the snow on her boots before walking in. "What are you doing here?"

"You know, I was trying to figure that out on my way here." Ada María tossed the game on the floor next to the front door and turned around to look at Nathan. "To be frank, I'm mad at you. I wasn't planning to come over, but when I started packing my things and getting ready to leave, I felt a need to."

Nathan smiled awkwardly. "I guess I did run out rather suddenly."

"You guess?" Ada María said harshly. "I leave my door open and draw a nice bubble bath for the two of us and you rejected me like day-old meat. Yes, Nathan, I'd say you ran out rather suddenly."

"You came on a little strong, okay? I panicked and left. I'm sorry that I offended you or hurt your feelings."

"I thought that's what you wanted. What else could you want with me?"

Nathan looked at her oddly. "I already told you I like you. Why is that so hard for you to accept?"

"Because no one ever just likes me, Nathan. I'm not a naive little girl."

"What, has no one ever expressed interest in you like this?"

"No. I never wanted them to and I don't want you doing it either. Just because I'm attracted to you doesn't mean I think of you that way."

"Okay," Nathan began boldly, "If you really think so little of me, why do you feel the need to explain yourself to me? You could've easily just left without a word to me, but here you are."

"I'm not explaining myself to you, I'm giving you my two cents."

"Okay, whatever, it's the same thing." Ada raised an eyebrow at Nathan in an irked manner. "I'm not trying to argue with you. I just wanted to spend some time with you and I wasn't planning on us doing more than that."

"Alright, fine, you weren't planning on it, but the opportunity arose. For fuck sake, Nathan, I'm handing myself over on a silver platter!"

"Exactly!" Nathan yelled back. "Ada, I don't just want sex from you. Why is that so hard for you to grasp?" Ada didn't answer him.

She just looked at him, the irritation evident in her eyes and it was beginning to weaken Nathan's resolve. He didn't think rejecting her would make her this angry this quickly. Nathan stayed quiet and the two kept looking at each other. In Ada María's case, she was staring him down. The grandfather clock in the entrance started chiming, disturbing the silence but not bringing the two out of their staring contest. Ada María finally took a deep breath, rolled her eyes, and started walking to the door so she could leave. When her hand was on the doorknob, Nathan took a hold of her forearm and pulled her in front of him. He wasn't sure what look he was giving her. Either way, her face had softened after the initial gentle pull.

Neither of them were speaking, but Nathan just focused on Ada María's face. She looked a lot different from Marcelo. Ada María's hair was black now. She looked more indigenous than Marcelo did, who looked more Portuguese than Incan. Ada María was the opposite. At first glance, the average person would never guess she was half white, like Nathan and Natalie. She's fed recently, so her eyes were their vibrant brown. That part of her fascinated Nathan. Unlike normal vampires, who's eyes turned red when they fed, Ada María's and Marcelo's eyes turned from black to brown. She had a sharp, angular nose that she got from her father and full lips from her mother. She was also short. Much shorter than her mother, father, or brother. She was only 5' 3". It made him think of Seth's wife and how cute they were together because of their height difference. Ada María's face was at his chest, which meant she had to hold her head high just to look him in the eyes. It made him smile. Taking Nathan's smile as a taunt, Ada María grabbed the collar of his shirt in her hand, twisted the fabric around her fist, and pulled Nathan down to her level.

"This is the part where you kiss me."

Nathan didn't argue with her because he just didn't feel like it. A kiss was nothing bad and he was more than willing to oblige. When their lips met, Ada María finally released his shirt and wrapped her arms around his neck. Nathan's arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her off her feet a good foot or so into the air. Ada María wrapped her legs around Nathan's waist as they continued to kiss each other. Nathan's hands stayed rather still, holding her at her back, while Ada María's hands started moving around his scalp, his face, and finally his chest where she began unbuttoning Nathan's shirt yet again. Ada María managed to undo four buttons before Nathan pulled her away and placed her back on her feet. Ada María looked dazed and her eyes were glazed with passion and confusion.

"What's wrong?" She asked. Nathan smiled and cradled her face in his left hand.

"Nothing," he finally answered.

"Then why did we stop?" Nathan sighed a little bit. He decided not to answer her. Instead, he took a hold of her hand and walked her to the living room. When they were at the couch, Nathan pulled her down to sit with him. Ada María gladly sat down with him and was pleased to notice that Nathan hadn't buttoned his shirt back up.

"Were you planning to stay for Christmas since you're here?"

Ada María looked back at Nathan, surprised by the change. "I wasn't planning on it. I was only planning to be here two days at most," Ada María finally dipped her hand into Nathan's shirt. Nathan decided to let that go for now.

"Then let's make the most of those two days. I didn't get to know you very well when we'd gone hunting together last time. Tell me what you do."

"I don't really do anything," Ada María said flatly. "I don't really need to."

"Why not?" Ada María smiled a little and Nathan got her drift. "I see. I take it your involved with someone then?"

"Not really," Ada María answered. "I just steal money from my victims and that's usually enough."

"Oh," Nathan said. "I thought you were implying that you were living with someone."

Ada María laughed. "Of course not. I don't date. Why on earth would I live with someone?" Nathan's smile turned uncomfortable. "Does the thought bother you?"

"I guess it shouldn't," Nathan said coldly. He was getting really frustrated. He may have imprinted on her and already loved her, but what little romantic attachment to him that she had was extremely shallow and superficial. With anyone else in the pack, there may have been conflicts for some, but uniformly, all the women that'd been imprinted on said they'd always felt something for the imprinter. Even Emily admitted that she had a great deal of love for Sam even when she pretended to hate him because of the guilt she felt for betraying Leah. This didn't seem to be the case with Ada María. She didn't seem to have any love for him at all and it was crushing him.

"You look upset," Ada María finally says after a moment of silence. Nathan didn't say anything, so Ada María sighed. "Just tell me that it bothers you."

"What's the point of me telling you that it bothers me? If you don't live with anyone, then you don't live with anyone. So if you don't work, then what do you do all day? Do you still travel with Rafael and Yaretzi?"

Ada María scoffed at Nathan's question. "Please. I haven't lived with my parents for years. I stopped living with mom and dad when I started being sexually active. Mom was upset with me because I was acting so much like Marcelo and father had just given up on me."

"I'm sure he hasn't given up on you."

Ada María shook her head. "No, he did. He told me that Marcelo had already been difficult but apparently I'm worse and he just gave up on me. My father was never very involved with me. If I spoke to dad, it never lasted more than a few minutes and when I stopped traveling with my parents, what little interactions I had with him came to a screeching halt. Now the only time I talk to dad is when I'm with mom. Even then, he doesn't usually talk to me."

Just then, something clicked in Nathan's head and he looked at Ada María with surprise. "You don't get along with Rafael?"

"Not even remotely. He's such a hypocrite! When Marcelo womanizes and has a million lovers at a time, it's just fine because he's a man, but because I'm a girl, me doing the same is simply unacceptable. He's in no position to tell me what to do, frankly. Mom was the one who raised me and Marcelo. Dad just stood there and looked pretty," Ada María said bitterly.

"Do you ever wish your dad paid attention to you?" Nathan asked. Ada María looked at Nathan sharply at the question.

"I don't want to talk about dad. If you're going to insist on talking, why don't we just talk about you?"

"Alright then," Nathan said, having perked up a little. It didn't fix anything at the moment, but Nathan thought he might know what the root of Ada María's problems were and why she was so promiscuous. Daddy issues: the oldest problem in the book. "You already know I work at that convenience store. I'm on winter break right now so I have a lot of time on my hands that I can devote to work."

"Are you still becoming a cop?" Ada María asked. "I've got a soft spot for men in a uniform."

"Yeah, I'm still planning to become a cop. Whether it'll be here in Forks or in the city, I've yet to decide. It's funny, but out of my brothers, I'll be the first one to be set in a job. Kevin will be in school at least a year or so after I graduate from high school and Kyle's looking at 8 to 10 years of schooling so he can get his PhD."

"I've never been to school. I've honestly never cared for the idea of going to school. I can read, write, and count and that's good enough for me. When I'm able to just collect money from victims to pay for things, there's really no need."

"I take it Marcelo doesn't work either?"

Ada María shrugged. "No, he works. Both he and Laura work at night jobs. Marcelo's been a bartender for about," Ada María thought a second, "two years now. Laura works for an insurance company or something doing the night shift. Wait, no, it's not an insurance company, it's an On Star company. Either way, they manage. And Laura's a vampire, so it's not like she has to worry about getting pregnant."

"Have they ever talked of trying to have kids? I mean, surrogacy is always an option. That's what my Aunt Rosalie and Uncle Emmett did."

"Goodness no. Marcelo doesn't want kids, never has. If Laura ever wanted kids, she never brought it up to me."

"Well, you're able to have kids. Would you ever want kids later in life?"

Ada María gave Nathan a strange look. "I've never really thought about having kids. I mean, I've had unprotected sex so many times in my life and to this day I've managed to never get pregnant. Honestly, the idea of getting pregnant doesn't sit well with me. Why have a baby when I don't know who the father was and even if I did, he wouldn't be there to help?"

"What if he would help?" Nathan asked, making absolutely sure he kept this scenario hypothetical. "What if you got pregnant by a guy you really like?"

Ada María started looking more and more uncomfortable and suddenly, she scooted away from Nathan on the couch. "I don't know. I've really never cared to think about it. Why do you ask?"

"Just a topic of conversation," Nathan said, trying to dodge her tone. "Let's talk about something else. Is it safe to assume you don't like snow?"

"I don't mind it." Finally, Ada María seemed to relax again. "I'm used to weather upwards of 114 degrees, so a nice cold day is refreshing."

"Yikes. It rarely gets that hot here. It usually gets humid."

"It gets humid in Brazil too. At least in Salvador, it gets humid because it's right on the beach. My parents are usually in Brasília and so are Marcelo and Laura. Laura doesn't like living at the beach because she can't enjoy it the way she used to when she was human."

"Same here with Forks and the reservation. We're so close to First Beach that it gets really humid in the summer. Of course, it rains a lot here too."

"I've noticed that in past visits."

"It's hard to miss." Ada María finally smiled and giggled a little. She wasn't scooting back to his side, but at least she was smiling. "So do you have any pets?"

"No. They smell," she said frankly.

Nathan chuckled. "That didn't stop Evalina from adopting a kitten."

"That's her choice," she said, this time with humor and Nathan chuckled. Just then, Kyle came in through the front door, back from work early. The sudden presence startled Ada María and she stood from the couch. "If we're done here, I think I'll just go."

"Are you still staying another day?"

"No, I'll just go home," she said as she practically ran to the front door. "Merry Christmas Nathan," Ada María looked at Kyle, "Kyle." Then Ada María closed the front door as she left and Nathan, who'd stood from the couch, looked at Kyle.

"What just happened?" Nathan asked Kyle. Kyle sighed and opened his mind long enough to find out the problem before Ada María got too far.

"She was trying to do things your way and get into bed with you after talking for a while. Now that I'm home, it wouldn't work the way she wanted it to so she decided to abort mission."

Nathan groaned and fell back down onto the couch. "You know, when I came up with this holding out plan, I didn't exactly picture it being this much of a pain in the ass."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, it's working."

Nathan's head shot up to look at Kyle hopefully. "It is? Really?"

Kyle nodded. "Yeah, it's working. To put it bluntly, she's hot and bothered and is now determined. And that kiss you guys had before is helping."

"She was thinking about that?"

"Yup. She was shocked at the spark she felt. Here's the thing with Ada, and I'm basing this on what I've read of her mind and what she's told you. For starters, seeing as Rafael isn't exactly the most attentive father, she's been seeking attention from men the only way she's learned how. You've figured that out already and I'm more than confident that's a good assumption. That aside, the other reason lies in the fact that, like most sex addicts, she's addicted to the release of endorphins that come with an orgasm. Now here's something I've noticed about the pack and their imprints compared to Kevin and his relationship with Megan and Embry's relationship with Brie. I've noticed that, even though it was always enjoyable and the endorphin release was definitely there, it isn't nearly as extensive as the endorphin release pack members feel with their mates when they have sex. The amount of chemicals released in the brain his about three or four times greater than a typical romantic relationship like that of Embry and Brie. That doesn't mean that there isn't love there, it's just the chemical release in the brain that causes love isn't as strong. For us, it's an instantaneous love where as with the imprintee, that attraction comes with that added release of endorphins."

"Spare me the psych lesson and just get to the point please," Nathan pleaded.

With a sigh, Kyle obliged. "It means that she had an explosive release of endorphins with a kiss alone and she's never had that happen before. Because of this, she's all the more eager for a romantic relationship and after a kiss like that, she's not going to give up on you without a fight. It might take a while for her to admit being in love with you once it happens, but don't you worry, you're on the right track."

"That's all I wanted to hear."


	22. A Year and a Half

**A Year and a Half**

As Kyle promised was the case, Ada María was genuinely 'hot and bothered' about Nathan's sexual aloofness combined with the memory of their kiss and she was inexplicably (inexplicable in her mind anyway) beginning to want to be in his company. In fact, that summer after Kyle graduated, she'd spent three months in Washington and despite her being persistent as ever, they really got the opportunity to get to know each other. Ada María had finally let Nathan take her on a real date and she admitted at the end of the night that it was the best time she's had with a man ever. It was the summer, so Ada María was more agreeable to the idea of walking around together downtown. The pack, of course, knew about the little motel incident, but Jacob decided not to tell Renesmee about it. He didn't like keeping things from her, but he knew that Nathan had a lot of work ahead of him with an imprint like Ada María and knew he needed to do everything he could. If Nessie knew about the motel incident, though, she may hurt Ada María out of anger; perhaps not seriously, but it would result in a huge fight and Nathan couldn't afford that right now. Even though things looked to be going well, what Nessie took the most issue with was the fact that a 24 year old woman was actively trying to sleep with her freshly seventeen year old son! This woman was only five years younger than Nathan's mom. At the very least, Kyle and Evalina were pretty much the same age and even if they hadn't been, Evalina was a lady and never pressured Kyle into anything except forcing him to become more comfortable with her. Yes, it was difficult since they didn't get to see each other often, but when they did, Evalina made sure that Kyle opened up to her more and more with each encounter.

Tonight, Nathan and Ada María were out bowling together. She'd admitted to having a fondness for the game and he offered to treat her to a few. It was approaching the end of the two and a half months of summer that Nathan had and they'd spent the bulk of his break together where he wasn't working. He took her on every date possible; even cliff diving. She'd insisted on doing that commando and Nathan wore a bathing suit despite her persistent attempts to convince him otherwise. Nathan did, however, start allowing their kisses to progress just a bit. Even with that, though, their kisses never stayed passionate long because she'd make an intimate move (try to take off his shirt, grope him, try unbuttoning his pants and so on) and he'd be forced to stop their making out. He did notice something begin to develop, though. They were rare, but occasionally, they would have a tender kiss, something soft, sweet and compassionate. The first time it happened, Nathan thought he'd been dreaming and his mind had gone completely dizzy. Ada María had been the one to end that kiss abruptly and it was she who ran out after that without a word and said nothing about it when they had their date the next day. He'd wished Kyle had been around so he could've asked Kyle what she was thinking, but alas, he wasn't home. Since then, there had been more tender kisses, but very few.

"I can't believe you never bowl," Ada María said as she filled in the information for their game.

"I've bowled maybe a handful of times in my life and I never do well. Forgive me, but I may have a somewhat negative association with this game."

Ada María snickered. "Well, if that's the case, you're opinion of the game is about to get worse. I've never been beaten at bowling and I'll tell you another thing," Ada María brought her face a little closer to Nathan's as she started the game, "I'm a vicious competitor."

Nathan smiled and let Ada María kiss him. They kissed a few seconds before Nathan pulled away. "Somehow I figured you'd be the competitive type." Ada María smiled and gave Nathan one more kiss on the lips before she took her first turn. Ada María didn't really have a special form that would appear she was a professional bowler. She just found a center spot and threw the ball to the lane and she somehow got a strike. Ada María made a small jump and looked right at Nathan triumphantly.

"I believe that's a strike."

Nathan chuckled. "Show off." Ada María ignored the jab and went to the dispenser to retrieve her ball so she could make her second strike of the game.

"Would you look at that," Ada María said as she walked over to Nathan where he was sitting behind the score keeper. "I believe it's your turn, Nathan." Nathan grumbled a little at Ada María's playful taunting and went to the dispenser to get his ball. When the pins were settled, Nathan threw his ball and managed to knock down six pins. Ada María only smiled and let Nathan concentrate on getting the rest of the pins. With his second throw, Nathan still only managed about two of the pins, causing one to only sway back and forth, but ultimately staying up.

"Damn it, I hate this game," Nathan mumbled, even though he was smiling, as he walked back to the bench. Ada María didn't get up from the bench immediately after Nathan sat back down.

"Don't worry it's only the first throws. There's still a whole game ahead of us." Ada María left the bench after her words of encouragement and went to the dispenser to retrieve her ball. Before throwing the ball, she looked over her shoulder to see Nathan's face. He was smiling at her kindly, but she could tell he wasn't in the best mood. He'd only agreed to go bowling because it was something she liked. Normally playing bowling with a person that hated the game would irritate her and she'd ultimately vouch to just practice alone but with Nathan, the fact that he was willing to do something she liked, even if he didn't like it, touched her. It didn't even bother her anymore; realizing these little things about him. Ada María smiled back at Nathan before throwing her ball and getting a gutter ball, another thing she would normally never do for anyone: except Nathan. She turned to look right at him. "Whoops. Looks like I missed."

Despite himself, Nathan chuckled. "You don't have to lose on purpose, Ada."

"I know," she said before going back to the dispenser and getting her ball. This time, she hit a strike. "That should even us out for now."

Nathan sighed heavily and just went about the game without another word. Nathan didn't play a bad game, but he only got two strikes to Ada María's near perfect game, having thrown only one gutter ball. Nathan agreed to two more games together, both of which he lost. Despite the loss, Nathan was happy to see Ada María unwind and sincerely enjoy herself when they were together. After three games at the bowling alley, they called it quits and went back to the car. It was only seven in the afternoon and since it was the summer, the sun was still bright out. This date was really the first time they'd been able to go anywhere on their own. Nathan may have had his license for a while, but it was only recently that he was able to afford to get his own car. Natalie had bought her own car the day after she earned her driver's license with the money she'd been saving up since she was little. She'd bought herself a used 2010 red Volvo S40 for about $9,000 and Jacob took the liberty of bringing the radio, air conditioner, and other things up to date in the car as well as replacing the black leather, which had suffered some wear and tear over the years.

Nathan, on the other hand, had taken a Jacob approach to getting himself a car. He and Jacob had gone to a junk yard and found a trashed BMW who's framework was present enough to be fixed up. It took all winter long and a lot of money for parts, but eventually Nathan had his very own silver 2006 BMW. Kyle waited to get his first car until after he applied to the University of Seattle. He would be moving into the dorms, but he still needed a car so he could get to and from work. The movie theatre was nice enough to find him a job at another IMAX theatre that was in Seattle so Kyle would still have a job even when he would be living in Seattle. Kevin had never bothered with buying a car during high school. His job was within walking distance and so was the school, so there really wasn't a reason to bother with it. If he'd ever wanted to go out, he'd just borrow his parents' car. Now that he was in New Haven, he was living on campus and had more than enough friends that were equipped with cars that would let him tag along on their excursions. The only downfall was that he wasn't allowed to drink just yet. Another year and a half and he'd be twenty one, but until then, he'd have to hold out.

When Nathan and Ada María reached the car, they got in their designated seats, but Ada María didn't stay in hers. Once Nathan had closed the door to his side of the car, Ada María climbed over the seats and landed in Nathan's lap. Nathan had really long legs, so his seat was pushed back far enough that Ada María didn't hit the steering wheel or hit the horn of the car. When Ada María was straddling Nathan's hips, she brought her hands to Nathan's face and touched her nose to his.

"For someone who doesn't like bowling, I think you did a pretty good job." Ada María rubbed her nose against Nathan's back and forth for a moment. "With a little practice, you could end up almost as good as me."

"I can live without learning how to bowl like you," Nathan kissed Ada María's nose. "Is that the only reason you hopped onto my lap, Ada?"

Ada María's arms wound around Nathan's neck and she gave him her wicked smile. "What do you think?"

"Ada," Nathan said before their lips could meet, "We're in a parking lot."

"And?"

"Someone might see us in this compromising position."

"And?"

"And I still want to get some real food and we aren't making out in the middle of a parking lot," Nathan said, getting exasperated. With a small groan, Ada María went back to her seat so Nathan could turn on the car. They drove to a pizza place near the bowling alley and Nathan ordered a sausage pizza. Ada María pretended she would have what Nathan was having and cuddled up to Nathan when the waitress left. "Did you want to go to Red Night before I took you back?"

"I went yesterday. I'm alright on blood. I would rather spend the rest of the night with you, actually."

"We can do that until about ten," Nathan said with a smile. "I promised that I would go on patrol tonight."

"Oh, no, no, no," Ada María said suddenly, "You are not getting off that easily this time." Ada María scooted closer to Nathan in the booth and took a hold of Nathan's hand. "Don't think I don't know what you've been doing. You're trying to keep yourself busy at night so you can avoid me."

"I'm not trying to avoid you," Nathan said hurriedly.

Ada María smirked, "Oh yes you are. I'm not stupid, Nathan. I figured out what you've been doing a long time ago. You're playing hard to get and this is one of your little tricks." He didn't see the point in denying it. If anything, he was hoping that admitting it would lead to her admitting that his methods had been working. Yes, Kyle would tell him Ada María was falling for him, but he wanted to hear her say it.

"Did you figure out why I'm playing hard to get?" Nathan asked.

"You mean besides the fact that you're scared of what your mommy will say?" Her tone was teasing and even somewhat condescending.

Nathan sighed. "I'm a grown man, Ada. I don't need my mom's permission to date. You know what her issue is with you. I have nothing to worry about. You, on the other hand, have plenty to worry about."

"I'm not scared of your mother," Ada María said with a giggle. "I may be younger than her, but I've got more vampire in me. I've got an edge on her."

"When dealing with her kids, it wouldn't matter if you were a full fledge vampire, she'd still skin you alive. But this has nothing to do with my mom. She's not the reason I'm playing hard to get. Did you want to take another guess?"

"Is it because you wanted to have me all to yourself?"

Nathan smiled, "In a manner of speaking. It's a little more than that to be honest." Ada María sat up a little straighter, but she didn't move away from him either so that was reassuring. "How about we have this conversation in private? When we're done with dinner, we'll talk about this in the car."

"What do want to talk about that we can't talk about here?"

"It's a personal matter and I don't want anyone overhearing something personal."

Ada María sighed, "If you say so. We'll talk about this back in the car. What shall we do until then?"

"Wait for my pizza; that's what we're going to do," Nathan teased. Ada María sighed and kissed Nathan's cheek.

"Seriously, Nathan, what do you want to talk about that's so serious? You're starting to make me nervous."

Nathan looked at Ada María cautiously, but decided they could at least open the conversation. "Well, like I said, I have more in mind than just having you to myself. It's more complicated than that."

"How much more complicated?" The waitress came with his pizza, offering a small distraction so Nathan could think of the best way to answer Ada María. She stopped the waitress suddenly. "What's your beer selection?" The waitress pulled out a small drink menu and read the beer selection off for her. Ada María sighed heavily. "I guess Blue Moon will do."

"May I see your ID?"

"A foreign ID alright?" The waitress nodded and looked at her ID before walking away to get her the beer.

"You like beer?"

"I hate the stuff, but the tone you're giving off gets me thinking I'll need a drink. Be discreet and I might let you have some."

"That's okay, Ada," Nathan said as he took a bite of his pizza. "Am I really making you nervous?"

"A little bit." The waitress brought Ada María her beer and left them alone again. Ada María drank her beer in one swig before she took a deep breath and looked at Nathan, "Alright Nathan, why is this complicated?"

Nathan took another couple bites of pizza before finally beginning his explanation. "I want to make it clear Ada that I've always intended and still intend for our relationship to be more than a casual affair. I want more out of this relationship than just sex."

"Yes," she nodded, "you've made that very clear already. What I don't understand is why you're bothering going through all this effort for me." Ada María said the last part with a hint of cold humor, as if she were insulting herself.

"I think it would be best if I just came out and said it." Nathan took a deep breath. "I imprinted on you." Ada María stayed quiet as she looked at him and her face became a hard line. "You know what I mean, right? You know what imprinting is?"

"The rapid learning that occurs during a brief receptive period, typically soon after birth or hatching, and establishes a long-lasting behavioral response to a specific individual or object, as attachment to a parent, offspring, or site?"

Nathan chuckled. "That's the dictionary definition, yes, but that's not the imprinting that I'm referring to. I'm referring to the imprinting that happens to a Quileute wolf."

She sighed, "I knew what you're referring to Nathan. I was dodging your question." Ada María rubbed her face and Nathan lost his smile. "I guess I should have figured it out a long time ago." 

Nathan nodded. "That's why I've been so avoidant romantically. I wanted you to get to know me and….you know."

"You were hoping that if you held out on me and didn't tell me that you'd imprinted on me, you would be able to make me fall in love with you. Is that correct?" Nathan nodded. "You knew that, if you told me you'd imprinted on me, I would've avoided you from then on and you would never see me again." Nathan nodded again. "So basically, you thought you could trick me into falling in love with you."

"I wasn't trying to trick you," Nathan said hurriedly.

"Yes you were," Ada María said. Then, to Nathan's surprise, she smiled at him. "I have to say I'm impressed. You knew what you wanted and you figured out really quick how you would do it." Ada María finally relaxed and took a hold of his hand. Nathan was nervous, only because he didn't know if she was genuinely happy or if this was the calm before the storm.

"So does that mean that it worked?" Ada María didn't answer him. Instead, she scooted away from him by just a few inches and Nathan felt his heart sink to his stomach. Then, when Ada María was situated as she wanted and had sighed, she began to talk.

"I never really wanted a relationship. I know you figured that part out, but did you ever know why I didn't want to be in a relationship?" Nathan looked up at Ada María solemnly and only shook his head. "It has to do with my parents' relationship."

"Why?" Nathan asked flatly, feeling extremely defeated. "Your parents have a great relationship."

Ada María rolled her eyes. "Of course they do. Mother is a classy wife and my father is the one in charge."

Nathan noted the hint of sarcasm in Ada María's voice. "So your parents don't have a great relationship then?"

"No, they do," Ada María said as she gently shook her head. "They're a very happily married couple, but I never wanted what my parents have. My father is a very dominant personality and mother is very submissive. Father says that he loves that about her because he feels that's how a lady should act. Father fell in love with mother because she had the lady like-ness and class of a noblewoman in a world of peasants and savages."

Nathan cringed. "That's quite a backhanded compliment."

Ada María nodded, "Extremely. That's why my grandpa didn't like him according to Aunt Atzi and Citclali. You know my father is of noble birth right?" Nathan nodded. "Well, father always made a point to carry himself well and act the way a nobleman is supposed to act and he expected me and Marcelo to act the same way. When we didn't, he got frustrated with us and pretty much lost interest in us. But anyway, father always said that I should act more like mother. I should be more demure, quiet, lady like, polite; everything that my mother is naturally. But I'm nothing like my mother and I never want to be."

"I don't want you to be like Yaretzi," Nathan said, taking a hold of Ada María's hand. "I would never expect you to change for me or to be something that you're not."

"You've already made it clear that you do expect me to change."

Nathan looked at Ada María defensively, "How?"

"Like you said, you want me all to yourself. I've never wanted to be tied down to one man that would tell me what a woman should be like and that's exactly what you're trying to do to me now."

"No I'm not!" Nathan yelled suddenly. Ada María leaned back in surprise by Nathan's outburst. She hadn't expected that and neither had Nathan. Embarrassed, Nathan pulled out his wallet, placed thirty dollars on the table, and made Ada María let him out of the booth. He left the restaurant without a word to Ada María and went right to his car. The time they'd spent together began flashing through his head. He'd thought Ada María was finally starting to open up to him or even love him, but he'd accomplished nothing and he felt stupid for thinking otherwise. He knew leaving Ada María was rude and inconsiderate, but he was so embarrassed and crushed that he couldn't bring himself to stare her in the face. He was about to put his key in the ignition when Ada María was suddenly in the passenger's seat and grabbed a hold of his hand, stopping him from starting the car.

"What the hell was that? Why did you storm out like that?"

"Why the hell do you think? You're accusing me of trying to force you to be something you're not and you know damn well that's not true. Sure I said I wanted you all to myself, but that's hardly an unreasonable request to make when I'm hoping to be in a relationship with you that's more than just fuck buddies!"

"You didn't let me finish, Nathan," she said as she pulled the keys out of Nathan's hand, closed the passenger door, and practically leaped back into Nathan's lap in the driver's seat. Nathan became very aware of her nearness and, despite himself and his mood, he felt relaxed and a little happy. "Will you let me finish or do you still intend to leave me here without a ride?" Nathan looked at Ada María, unsure what to do. He wasn't sure if he wanted her to finish if all she was going to do was tell him that he simply wouldn't be enough. Despite his fears, though, Nathan nodded his head and rested his hands on Ada María's thighs in the hopes that it would seem reassuring. Whether that reassurance was for him or her, he wasn't sure. "Now as I was saying, I never wanted to be in a relationship because I didn't want a man like my father that expected what he expects of my mom."

"So you think I'm like your father?" Nathan asked. Ada María placed her index finger on Nathan's lips.

"I said let me finish." She didn't take her finger away until Nathan nodded in agreement. When he did, she finally continued. "You admitted something to me, so I'll admit something to you." Ada María brought her face ever so closer to Nathan's. "Do you remember the first time we kissed?" Nathan nodded, "Good, because I certainly do. No one had ever made me feel that way with just a kiss and you piqued my interest. Of course, when your brother interrupted us, I went back home with every intention of going back about my normal routine."

"You mean—"

"You said you'd let me finish," Ada María interrupted. "And yes, when I say I went back to my usual routine, I mean that I slept with whom I pleased, when I pleased, whether it was for fun or sustenance. The night I got back, I went to a bar so I could get a victim and we went out behind the bar and started making out. When we started, I didn't feel the way I normally do. There was no excitement, no spark from the risk of being caught in public, nothing. When we actually got around to having sex, he didn't feel right and ultimately I was bored. I didn't even climax, Nathan! I always climax, even if I end up needed to do it myself, I always climax. That night I just couldn't, so I faked it, let him finish, then drank his blood."

"Is there a point to this Ada? Because all you're doing right now is making me feel shittier."

"Yes Nathan, there's a point, but if you keep interrupting me then you'll never know what it is. It didn't end with that guy. For two months I went about business as usual but it was always the same. I either didn't finish or the climax was so abysmal that it wasn't worth it. After two months of consecutive failures and unsatisfactory encounters, I remembered how our kiss had made me feel and I wondered if it was your fault this was happening. I haven't had sex since then and I have to tell you, Nathan," Ada María's lips came impossibly closer to Nathan's, "I'm getting really frustrated."

"What does this have to do with not wanting to be with a man that's like your father? I'm not a stud Ada, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't treat me like one."

Ada María pulled away with a heavy sigh. "Nathan, the point is that I began to see you in a new light. I did things your way with the hope that I would eventually get you to cave, get you out of my system and move on. But you never did cave in. You kept holding out on me and getting me more and more frustrated. Consequently, you forced me to get to know you by doing that to me and no matter how annoyed I am with you," Ada María began moving closer again, "I've had fun with you."

"You still didn't answer my question."

"And which question are you referring to?" Ada María asked with her lips mere inches from Nathan's again.

"The question about whether or not this was working. I admitted that I've imprinted on you and that I love you. All you've _admitted_ to me is that you haven't had sex in over a year and that you're blaming me for it."

"Oh, but it is your fault Nathan. I would assume that would make you pleased. I'm telling you that no man has been good enough for me since our kiss and you're acting as if that's a bad thing."

"All that means is I'm another conquest; not that all this work I've put forward accomplished what it was supposed to." Nathan's hands fell from Ada María's thighs and rested on his seat. With a deep breath, he rested his head against the headrest. "I shouldn't have brought this up."

"Fihlo da puta,"Ada María mumbled under her breath as she pulled away again. "You're not listening to a word I'm saying, Nathan." Nathan didn't move. He just kept his head laid back and his hands down. Instead of being discouraged, Ada María rested her left hand on Nathan's chest and used her right hand to thread into Nathan's short hair and force his head upright to look at her. "I never said you were like my father. You're nothing like my father. You expected me to change a routine part of me that's been a part of me for over twenty years, but you never voiced that expectation, nor did you ever need to. You've caused me to change simply by forcing me to want you more and more. I've spent more time here in the US this past year than I have in my whole life. No man has ever treated me the way you do. No man has ever looked past my 'openness' and saw the real me or made me want things I never wanted before." For the briefest of moments, Ada María took her hands away only to put Nathan's hands back on her thighs before returning her own to where they'd been. "No man has ever been you or ever will be you." Their noses touched. "You have to realize Nathan that this isn't something I ever planned for."

Nathan looked at her hopefully. "Do you love me?"

"Yes," she said frankly.

Nathan let out a breath he'd not realized he was holding in. "Why didn't you just say that then?"

"I was working up to it. This whole thing is a bit new to me, so you'll have to bear with me."

"Haven't I been doing that?" Ada María smiled and kissed Nathan sweetly. It was the tender kiss! The kiss that he always craved because it was a sign, in his mind, that deep down she loved him. Her hands never moved to remove his shirt like was her habit. Instead, they went into his hair and her fingers gently rubbed over his scalp. Nathan's hands stayed on Ada María's thighs, scared that this might be too good to be true. What if she was only telling him what he wanted to hear? But if that were the case, why would she wait this long to do that? Maybe she was being sincere. He desperately hoped she was. Kyle would tell him what she was really thinking. After they'd kissed for a few minutes, Ada María pulled away and started sprinkling kisses along his neck with her hands on his shoulders. Nathan brought his arms up and wrapped them around her waist in a hug.

"So what happens now?" Ada María asked as she planted her kisses. Nathan took a deep breath.

"We keep going."

Ada María sighed. "I'm not sure I'm open to moving here permanently. It's sunny and beautiful in Brazil. Here it's so cloudy and frigid." Ada María kissed Nathan's ear. "Maybe you could come to Brazil and be with me?"

"You know I can't do that, Ada. This is where my family and life is. You've been more of a nomad and are free to move around on a whim. I don't have that option." Trying to be persuasive, Nathan trailed his hands over Ada María's butt lovingly and shoved his hands into her back pockets. "You've said yourself that you don't talk to your family members that often. You're the one who's free as a bird."

"Free as a bird in Salvador, my love." Nathan couldn't fight a smile when she said, 'my love'. He gave her a kiss and hugged her tightly. There would be time to convince her Washington wasn't so bad later.

"Let's get back to my house. Kyle's probably still at work and I know dad's on patrol tonight. Natalie will be in the next room, but other than that, we'll have the room all to ourselves."

Ada María grinned wickedly. "I thought you had patrol tonight."

"I lied." Ada María giggled, smacked a kiss onto Nathan's lips and fell into the passenger's seat so Nathan could drive them back to his house. When they got on the highway, Ada María brought her hand to Nathan's knee and started rubbing it, gradually moving up to his thigh. Nathan stopped her and put her hand back.

"Get off my back, woman, I'm driving," he said teasingly and earned a laugh from Ada María. When Nathan and Ada María got back, they walked to the front door together without a word between them. They stayed at the front door a moment just looking at each other, Nathan's hand resting on the door handle. They didn't say anything for a bit. Ada María assumed that Nathan had something to say and was waiting for him to say it. Eventually, Nathan reached out to take Ada María's hand and thumbed her fingers and asked, "Did you mean it?"

Ada María knew what he meant and answered, "Yes." Nathan laced his fingers through hers.

"Then say it," he said with an authoritative voice. Somehow, he knew the tone would please her and it did. She might not want a man to tell her what to be, but when the outcome had a sexual prospect, she certainly didn't mind being told what to do.

"I love you, Nathan."

Nathan smiled. "Say it again and I may just give you a kiss."

Ada María giggled. "I love you, Nathan." His grin widened before he fulfilled his end of the bargain and brought his lips to meet hers.

Ada María wrapped her arms around Nathan's neck and Nathan's arms wrapped around her waist, bent over so he could reach her. Here was this kiss again; that tender and slow kiss that didn't force anything along and just allowed feeling. Ada María did eventually progress the kiss slightly by pushing her tongue past his lips. Nathan accepted the advance and with the kiss becoming more passionate came that lightheaded feeling that made him feel like he was on cloud nine. Deciding he was sick of bending over, Nathan tightened his hold around Ada María and lifted her up so that her feet were dangling high above the ground. When she moaned, Nathan's whole body tightened with desire. When her right hand delved into the back of his shirt so she could rub and gently scratch his bare back, he almost lost his balance. Ada María was thrilled when Nathan didn't stop her. In fact, he took the intimacy further and brought one of his hands down to the hem of her sweater and began moving his hand underneath until he was touching her bare skin. Nathan was leaning against the front door now and completely lost in the kiss. They were both forced out of the kiss when the front door was opened behind them and they both fell to the ground. They both looked up and saw Natalie staring down at them.

"Just couldn't wait until you got upstairs could you?" Natalie asked sarcastically. Nathan was the first to try getting to his feet, a little embarrassed that his sister caught them in such a precarious position. Ada María stood up, but she wasn't embarrassed, just extremely irritated. It was better than Nessie catching them like this, yes, but being interrupted at all was infuriating.

"Where's mom," Nathan asked, looking around.

"She's out hunting with grandma and grandpa." Nathan sighed in relief.

"Okay, good. Don't tell her about this okay Natalie? I don't want her getting mad at Ada. She was just doing what I wanted her to."

"Sure she was," Natalie said doubting Nathan had any say in that. "Well, you two do what you want. I'm leaving."

"Where are you going?" Nathan asked as Natalie grabbed her keys and started walking out.

"I'm going with Travis and Brandon to the movies."

"Why would you go with them on their date?" Nathan asked.

"Because I'm Brandon's scapegoat remember? His mom was saying she thought it was so strange that Brandon and Travis were always hanging out. Brandon panicked and said something along the lines of spending all that time with Travis so he could get to me and then made up that he would ask me out on a date. I'm sure I've told you about that. I mean, come on, that was months ago."

"Oh," Nathan answered, "Right. I guess I forgot." Nathan was still a little dazed, so Travis's immediate dating problems weren't at the forefront of his mind. "So does that mean you'll be gone most of the night?"

"Yes, Nathan, I'll be gone most of the night." Natalie's hand was on the doorknob and she looked intently at Nathan. "And just so you know. Kyle will be home by ten and mom left about five minutes ago, so I'd say you have at least an hour before either of them get back, so….make it a quickie.'" With that, Natalie closed the door and left for Brandon's house first, then Travis's house. Nathan was a little embarrassed, but Ada María was all too eager to pick up where they'd left off before they'd been so rudely interrupted. Without a word, Ada María took a hold of Nathan and pulled him with her up the stairs. She was about to walk into the bedroom before she glanced at the bathroom and got an idea.

"You know, Nathan," she said as she looked up at Nathan wickedly, "I don't much appreciate being put under a time limit." Nathan smiled weakly. He was starting to get extremely nervous. He didn't want to be nervous, though. This was his imprint; not some random fling where he was stepping into this casually. Ada María noticed that Nathan was getting edgy. In one respect, she was happy because it meant he wasn't planning to stop her. On the other hand, it bothered her that he was so nervous about something so natural. Natural for her, she corrected herself. Wanting to ease his nerves, she took a hold of his other hand and looked up at him, losing her wicked smile. She had a feeling it was only making him more nervous and she didn't want Nathan doing that stupid turn-into-a-vampire-because-he-was-nervous crap that Kyle pulled with Evalina. "In fact," Ada María continued her thought so that it would be more reassuring, "I think we should enjoy a little foreplay."

"Like what?" Nathan asked before he began to bite on his bottom lip. Ada María brought her hand to his lips so he would stop the nervous biting. She wanted him to relax and she had a feeling she knew exactly how she was going to do it. When Nathan stopped biting his lip, she pulled him with her to the guest bathroom. She glanced in and saw a tub that was much bigger than the one at the hotel. This pleased her immensely.

"How about you and I have that bath together?" She began leading him in and reached behind him to close the door when they were both in. Nathan kept taking deep breaths so he wouldn't get shaky. His nervousness wasn't fading from what Ada María could tell and a crushing thought crossed her mind. "You don't want to tonight."

Nathan was out of a daze he hadn't realized he was in and shook his head. "That's not it, Ada. I'm just…" Nathan trailed off and rested against the door. Ada María closed the distance and brought her hands to his shoulders so she could start rubbing them. When her fingers began their massaging movements, Nathan finally relaxed a little and rested his hands on Ada María's hips. "I don't want to screw this up," he finally admitted. He'd been waiting for Ada María to admit that she loved him and he wanted to complete the night. He'd fantasized about it a million times in his head, but his fantasies never included him getting stiff with nervousness.

"Nathan," Ada María said in a calming voice, "believe me, screwing up isn't going to be an issue." She went up on her tiptoes and kissed his nose. "Try not to over think it. Sex isn't about over thinking, it's about feeling and doing what feels good. It's not about rushing into it, especially not for you and me." Ada María kissed Nathan's lips before breaking away from him. Nathan looked up to watch her as she started fiddling around with the tub trying to get the water nice and hot. When she was pleased with the temperature, she plugged the tub and stood from the lip, looking at Nathan as she dried off her hand with the towel hanging from the wall. She started approaching him again and was about to lift up her sweater, but Nathan reached forward, took a hold of her hands, and stopped her.

"Can I do it?" Ada María nodded her head and let her hands fall from the hem. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Nathan reached for the hem of her sweater and began to lift it upwards. Sure, he'd seen Ada María naked many times from her persistence, but this was special. Nathan took his time taking off her teal blue v-neck sweater. Like she'd said, this was no place for rushing, and he made sure he would not rush. Ada María lifted her arms so Nathan could get her sweater all the way off and tossed it to his right so it landed in the laundry basket. The sweater had been all she was wearing besides her bra, which was the same teal color as her sweater, and a beaded choker necklace given to her by her Uncle Nahuel. The bra was lacy and see-through. Nathan couldn't stop himself from smiling at her boldness. She was prepared, he'd give her that. Nathan reached up to undo the necklace, but Ada María stopped him.

"This can stay on. It's old Incan jewelry; it can withstand water. Besides, taking it off and getting it on is a pain in the ass."

Nathan smiled. "You said Nahuel gave you this right?" Ada María nodded. "Did it belong to anyone?"

"His mother, actually. She was wearing it when she died and his aunt took it as a way to remember her. She gave it to Nahuel so he'd have something of his mother's and he gave it to me one day when he was upset with my father. 'Remember your roots,' he'd said to me. 'Just because your father has a noble Portuguese stick up his ass doesn't mean you have to'. He'd given Marcelo an old relic too that had belonged to my grandpa. It was an old knife made from stone. He has that hidden away in his and Laura's house somewhere. He used to say that grandpa was a stern man. He never took sass from anyone and he wasn't afraid to show you whose boss. He also said he was a great story teller. Mom says he used to tell her and her sisters all about the Incas and what his life had been like as a warrior."

"I only knew he'd started making half-breed babies and that Nahuel hated him for it."

"I never knew my grandpa, so I wouldn't know much about him. But enough about an old necklace. We have more important things to do." Nathan chuckled a little and watched as Ada María went right back into what they'd been doing.

Ada María took her turn and pulled Nathan's shirt off him. She did the same thing to Nathan's shirt as he'd done to hers and began touching his chest with her fingertips. His chest was delightfully muscular and his body was like a rock. After admiring him for a moment, she grinned and allowed her hands to begin moving lower until she reached the top of his pants. She brought her hands to the buckle of his belt and undid it. Nathan didn't used to wear belts, but Kyle had suggested he start. Ada María had a liking for belts he'd said and he was right. There was something delightfully erotic about ripping a man's belt from his pants. Once the buckle was undone, Ada María pulled the belt from his jeans as fast as she could without damaging his clothes and tossed it on the ground. After she'd done that, she brought Nathan's hands up to her breasts, hoping it was a not so subtle hint that she wanted him to undo her bra. Nathan got the hint and took another deep breath before reaching around her until he found the clasps under her waterfall of thick back hair. Ada María took that opportunity to finally start undoing Nathan's jeans. She'd gotten his jeans undone and was pushing them down before Nathan even managed the first clasp of her bra.

"I'm doing something wrong," Nathan said after he'd kicked off his pants and socks. Ada María just smiled and turned around, pulling her hair to the front of her, revealing her back and the bra's clasps.

"Does this help?" It did, Nathan thought. He could see what he was doing! Nathan managed to unclasp her bra all the way, setting her breasts free. She let her bra fall and tossed it the same place as everything else before turning back to look at Nathan. Nathan glanced at the tub and smiled.

"The tub's starting to get pretty full," Nathan said. "How about we turn off the water before continuing?" With a smile, Ada María went to the tub and turned off the water like Nathan had asked. When it was off, she didn't come back. Instead she undid her pants on her own and pulled the rest of her clothing off, tossing it to the laundry bin. Now that she was completely naked, she stepped into the tub and submerged herself, motioning with her index finger for Nathan to come to the tub and join her.

His nervousness grew, but Nathan tried to keep it in. If he allowed his nervousness to get the best of him, he'd lose the erection he had. So Nathan took a deep breath and walked over to the tub. When he was right before her, he closed his eyes, pulled off his boxers, and stepped into the tub. He didn't open his eyes until he was as submerged as Ada María. When he looked at her, she seemed ravenous. When he saw the look in her eyes, he brought his hands up and touched her face. The ends of her long black hair were wet and when his hand touched her face and her hair clung to him.

"This is nice, isn't it?" Ada María asked after she placed her hand over Nathan's and kissed his palm.

Nathan nodded. "Yeah, it is nice." With that reassurance, Ada María tugged Nathan around until she could comfortably straddle him in the tub. She sighed gleefully when she felt his erection against her and Nathan only licked his lips as he felt her warm against him and watched Ada María's face. He took a deep breath and said, "It's really nice."

Ada María looked Nathan in the eyes and smiled blissfully. "Yes it is," she said before kissing him. Nathan's hands were at his side because he wasn't sure what to do. Ada María took the lead and brought his hands up to her breasts. Taking her lips away, she looked at Nathan seductively and used her hands, which were covering his on her breasts, to make him squeeze and release over and over. Eventually, Nathan took control and moved his hands over her breasts the way she'd instructed as well as pinching her nipples, which earned a sigh from her. Her contented sigh helped chip away at Nathan's nervousness and gave him more confidence in what they were doing.

"Does that feel good?" Nathan asked shyly. The smile Ada María gave him boosted his confidence more.

"Very good," she said before she gave Nathan another kiss. "Are you feeling a little less nervous now?"

"I'm getting there," he admitted. "Am I doing okay—?"

Ada María gently shook her head and began shushing him before cupping his face in her hands and kissing him. "You're beginning to think too much. Don't think too much. There's no need to ask if what you're doing to me feels good." Ada María planted another line of kisses on Nathan's neck after resting her hands on his chest. "My moans and sighs are all the answer you need."

"But what if I want to hear you say it?" Nathan got an idea and brought his right hand down under the water and didn't stop until he slipped two fingers into her wet heat, earning a rough moan from Ada María. "What if I want those sounds you make and words of reassurance? What if I want to have my cake and eat it too?" Despite the pleasure Nathan was giving her, Ada María couldn't stop herself from giggling a little.

"My, my, what big fingers you have," Ada María said without even thinking.

Nathan smiled and almost completely forgot he'd been nervous, "All the better to pleasure you with, my dear." Nathan curled his fingers and caused Ada María to squeak and move her hips with them. Deciding to continue the game, Ada María lifted her head from Nathan's shoulder and rested the tip of her nose against his.

"My, my, what big teeth you have." Nathan grinned, letting her see more of his teeth. Copying Ada María, Nathan brought his lips to her neck and kissed tenderly. Then he started nipping her skin, continuing the movement of his fingers, and licking where he nipped.

"All the better to eat you with, my dear." Nathan started sucking on her skin where her neck and shoulder met. He nipped, sucked, and licked her skin until there was a small red spot where he'd put his attention.

Ada María laughed. "Did the big bad wolf leave a mark?" Nathan smiled and licked the red spot one more time before he gave her a kiss.

"I'm sorry," Nathan said between kisses, "did I hurt Little Red Riding Hood?" Nathan looked up at Ada María, a little perplexed. "South American Indians are considered red too right?"

Ada María giggled, "Yes Nathan, I'm just as red as you are." She rubbed his nose with hers and kissed him. "And you left a mark on poor Little Red Riding Hood." Her left hand rested where the spot was.

"Should I not have done that?" Nathan asked, getting nervous again. But Ada María silenced him with a kiss.

"On the contrary, I'm quite pleased." Ada María reached down into the water and placed her hand on Nathan's, the one that still kept two fingers inside her. "I know I said not to think too much, but I assure you this isn't over thinking."

"You mean what I'm doing now?"

Ada María shook her head. "No, what you're doing is wonderful." She gave him a kiss. "I only intend to help you perfect the art. But here's the catch," then she took a hold of him and he had a sharp intake of breath, "you'll have to multitask." He curled his fingers in response to her grabbing his erection and her head plopped on his shoulder so her lips were right next to his ear. "Good. Now here's what I want you to do next. Can your thumb reach my clitoris?" Nathan took a moment to try and remember what that was. Not wanting to prolong, Nathan just pushed his thumb forward and moved it around until she moaned. "There you go. Now keep applying pressure, but don't do it too much. Remember we're under water, so lubrication isn't on our side."

"I don't know. You seem lubricated enough."

Ada María giggled. "How flattering of you. Now, while you're applying pressure to my clitoris, start moving your fingers up and down with your fingers slightly curled." Nathan did as he was instructed and earned another moan from her. "Very good. Keep doing that while I return the favor for leaving a mark."

Nathan just smiled and continued what he was doing just as she'd instructed him to do. Ada María placed her lips where his neck met his shoulder and sucked, licked, nipped, until he bared the same hickey that she did on the same shoulder. She decided not to stop there. What he was doing felt nice and she didn't want to disrupt his rhythm, so she began giving him hickeys all over his chest. When she reached his opposite shoulder, she felt herself getting closer to her climax. So despite herself, she took her hand away from his erection and stopped his hand. When she stopped him and pulled his hand from her, Nathan looked at her confused.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no, you were doing great. I just don't want your fingers to bring me to climax." Ada María released Nathan's hand and took a hold of his erection again and caused Nathan to take in another sharp breath. "I had another method in mind."

"Under one condition," Nathan said trying to throw Ada María's wicked grin back at her. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"Say, 'I love you.'"

Ada María smiled and gave him a tender kiss. "I love you."

"That's all I wanted," Nathan said, returning Ada María's smile and tender kiss. Nathan was about to take her lips in another kiss, but she suddenly averted him. Nathan looked at her and realized she was going to where the soaps were.

"Which Axe is yours: Excite or Phoenix?"

"The purple one."

Ada María snickered, "The Excite." She grabbed the purple Axe bottle and poured some in her hand. "We are taking a bath aren't we? We should clean up."

"Should I do the same to you?" Ada María looked at the ledge again to see what Natalie used. Then she scrunched her nose.

"No. I detest the smell of coconut. I'd rather smell like you," she said the last part seductively and started lathering the body wash on his neck and shoulders. As she massaged his shoulders, Nathan wrapped one arm around Ada María so he could move to the other side of the tub and grabbed the bottle of body wash and put some of the solution in his hands. He stood on his knees and Ada María did the same, leaving her face right at his chest forcing her to look up at him.

They didn't speak or even kiss as they cleaned each other off. Instead, they just stared at each other while they lathered each other. They both started their trails at the shoulders, working their way down together at the same pace. When Ada María's hands went to Nathan's chest, Nathan did the same and so forth until both their hands were under water again. They still didn't kiss or say anything as Ada María gently pulled Nathan under water for a moment so they both could wash off the suds on their bodies. Their heads were under water a seconds before they lifted them back. Ada María's hair, now all wet, clung to her as did the body wash suds. Nathan smiled.

"Natalie's shampoo doesn't smell like coconut if you want to make sure the body wash doesn't linger in your hair."

Looking at him, Ada María touched her hair a moment before answering. "What does it smell like?"

Nathan looked up. "It's Pomegranate Wen." Surprised, Ada María looked back at the ledge.

"Huh. Well, I feel silly. I didn't even notice. You've got be distracted," she said the last part with her wicked smile. She then turned back to the shampoo and scrubbed her head once her long hair was completely covered in the thick non-lathering shampoo. Nathan chuckled nervously.

"You're using a lot of that stuff."

"I guarantee your sister uses a lot more. My hair only falls to my lower back when straightened. Her hair reached just under her ass. It's a miracle the girl hasn't accidently ripped out her hair by now."

Nathan shrugged. "Natalie likes her hair long, Ada. I don't know what to tell you." Nathan grabbed a hold of Ada María and brought her to his chest, the smell of pomegranate shampoo filling his nose. "Your hair, on the other hand, is just right."

Ada María giggled. "So it's Goldie Locks we're referencing now?" Nathan started laughing too, but he didn't answer. Instead he just kissed her. Her back was slippery from the shampoo resting on her shoulders, so he rested his other hand on her leg. After a brief kiss, Ada María took her lips away. "Where's your shampoo?" Without a word, Nathan reached up and grabbed it, then handed it to Ada María. When she poured some in her hand, she brought them up and lathered his hair.

"Should we just turn the shower on?"

"In a minute," Ada María answered. She used her nails to get all the dirt from his hair and make sure it was completely clean. When she was done, she cleaned her hands in the water before scrubbing her hair again. When she was satisfied with her hair's cleanliness, she smiled up at Nathan. "I'll pull the plug on the tub and start the shower."

As she took care of that, Nathan stood from the water and pulled the curtain closed. When she was done with her side, she stood and closed her eyes when the water showered down over her eyes. Nathan took a hold of her shoulders and switched sides with her so that he was blocking the stream of water. Ada María helped Nathan get the soap out of his hair and when his hair was clean, Nathan did the same to Ada María. When they were both completely clean, Ada María turned off the shower and stepped out, taking Nathan with her.

"I didn't hear your brother or mom get home yet," she said, looking up at him. "We could run to your room and lock the door. No one would be the wiser." Nathan returned Ada María's smile and listened for a minute. He heard no steering in the house and when he was sure they'd be alright, he led the way to his room and locked the door behind them the moment they were safely in the room alone. No sooner had Nathan locked the door, Ada María pulled Nathan with her to his bed and didn't stop until he was right on top of her.

"Hold on," Nathan said, "I think Kevin left condoms behind in his night stand."

Ada María shook her head, "No, no condom. I hate those things. I have my own birth control system."

"You're on the pill?"

"Not quite. I'm on one of those Mirena things. I started using it fifteen years ago and it hasn't failed me yet. I got it renewed last year. It's as good as any birth control pill and less expensive."

"Oh, okay. So there's nothing to worry about?" With a smile, Ada María tugged on Nathan's arm so that he was on his back and she was on top of him.

"Nothing at all." With that said, Ada María brought her lips down to Nathan's and kissed him passionately.

Nathan returned her passion in kind and brought his hands up to Ada María's bare hips. Teasing him, Ada María moved her hips over Nathan's so that he could feel her wet heat against his erection, but never taking him in. After kissing for a few minutes, Nathan pulled Ada María up until his face was in her chest and he was sucking her breasts and kissing the mounds affectionately. As he did that, she continued her grinding motion as best she could and had Nathan groaning as he suckled her breasts. Ada María was teasing herself just as much as she was teasing Nathan, so when she was tired of the teasing, she laced her right hand's fingers through his hair and forced him to look at her before her free hand guided Nathan inside her. Nathan's hands went to her hips and gave them a vice grip and groaned. Ada María threw her head back and moaned at the feeling of finally having Nathan inside her. Without missing a beat, Ada María lifted herself up into a sitting position on him and started moving. It started slow at first. She wanted to set a rhythm and get Nathan used to the feeling so he'd be able to do his own thing when he wanted to. Ada María kept her hands on Nathan's chest for balance as she moved and Nathan assisted her balance by groping her breasts as she moved.

For about ten minutes, Nathan laid back and enjoyed what Ada María was doing. Kevin had been right; it's nerve wracking but once you're in, it all melts away. And Ada María was his imprint, so the sensation was everything Kevin said it would be three fold. Everything felt so good that Nathan didn't even realize he was clutching Ada María tighter than he may have wanted and Ada María was having such an experience that she didn't care that Nathan's fingers were at risk of bruising her waste where his hands were resting now. After a few thrusts, Ada María gave up on going slow and picked up the pace, moving as fast as her hips could manage and she didn't stop until she climaxed with a high pitched squeal.

When Ada María suddenly stopped, Nathan pulled her down to him and clutched onto her while he continued thrusting. When Ada María had enough control, she moved with him and held onto the small headboard so she could have more control. That control didn't last long, though. After a few minutes, she felt herself getting another high and she was eager to get seconds. She noticed that Nathan was beginning to tense and would reach his own climax before long. So she reached down between them and hurried along her own. She wasn't able to do it for as long as she would've liked because Nathan's grip started getting tighter and tighter, so she rode it out with him and let Nathan do the rest of the work. When Ada María relaxed and let Nathan take over completely, she rested her head in his shoulder and began suckling his shoulder in a spot that she'd missed before in the tub. Nathan continued and brought Ada María closer to her second release as he approached his own and finally, after another ten minutes, Ada María felt Nathan's grip on her get impossibly tighter as he brought her into another glorious high. When it was all said and done, Nathan finally loosened his grip on her, but didn't let go.

This was definitely different for Ada María. She'd never been one to cuddle, but with Nathan it felt necessary. He smelled better, felt better, fit to her better. Everything about him was just better. Other encounters she'd had over the years were never this cozy nor did they make her feel as beautiful as this one did. Until now, she'd never realized how cheap those other encounters had made her feel. Nathan didn't do that. He really treasured her and she could tell, just by the way he held her, loved her, made love to her. If she'd known how good this would feel, she'd never have fought it for a year and a half.

"I can empathize that you've still got a year of school left," Ada María began suddenly. Nathan pulled her up a little further so he could look at her.

"That is a rather important fact. What brought that up?"

Ada María nuzzled her nose into Nathan's chest before continuing. "I come here often, but I'm still a continent away from you most of the time. Normally, this doesn't pose too grand a problem, but this new development makes things rather complicated." Ada María rested her arms on Nathan's chest so she could be slightly upright and look Nathan in the eye. "You know I'm very greedy."

Nathan chuckled. "I know."

"Keep in mind that I call you this with a greatest love attached to it," Ada María started with a smile, "but you can understand that my greediness makes me displeased to be separated from my boy toy."

Nathan chuckled again, "I'm hardly a boy, Ada."

"Man toy then, the point remains valid."

"That makes me sound like a sex toy."

"Call it what you wish, Nathan, it's not the point. As I said before, I empathize that you have a final year of school to contend with, but I still expect this inconvenient distance to be closed when that matter is handled."

Nathan just couldn't help himself. She was saying it in such a matter of fact manner that it was making him laugh. "We could close that gap now if you wanted to. If you moved here, you could be with me whenever you want regardless of whether I'm still in school or not."

Ada María shook her head. "I don't care for it here. I prefer the city and the sunshine beside a beach of sand. Not a beach of big grey rocks."

"I can't do anything about the last few things, but if it's the city you want, we can live closer to Seattle. Maybe Port Angeles or Olympia, there are plenty of options. Olympia's the closest of the two to Seattle. Or we could live in Lakewood. But if it's beach and city you want, I'd say Port Angeles is our best bet. I know it's still a little cold for your liking, but there's always heating. I'll even get you a tanning bed if it'll make you feel a little more at home."

Ada María just started laughing and came back down to hug Nathan around the neck. "You present a compelling argument, meu amor." Ada María gave Nathan a loving kiss. "I'll think about it. How about that?"

Nathan sighed and kissed Ada María back. "I'll take it. Just remember, Ada. Washington has a way of growing on people."

"If you insist," she said before kissing Nathan again. They only stopped when they heard the front door open and close. Upon hearing that, they both shot up and sat upright. "I'll get dressed. You stay here and I'll go get your clothes from the bathroom. With any luck, we can keep mom blissfully ignorant about this." Nathan went to his dresser and started pulling out some clothes. He near had a heart attack when he heard someone grab the doorknob and try to open the door.

"Nathan!" Nathan relaxed. It was just Kyle. He smiled a little as he continued to get dressed. Seeing as the door was locked, Ada María didn't bother hiding under the covers.

"Yeah?"

"Whatever you two are doing, you need to wrap it up. I need to get in there."

"Just give us a second. All Ada's clothes are in the bathroom. Mom still isn't home right?"

"Yes, Nathan, mom's still out hunting. Now hurry up. I want to call Eva before I go to bed and I'd appreciate it if you two let me talk to her alone." Finally dressed, Nathan walked over to Ada María and gave her a huge shirt for her to wear so she'd be covered. When she was clothed, they went to the door and Nathan opened it.

"Alright, Kyle, calm down. We're getting out." Kyle bolted into the bedroom and closed the door behind Ada María and Nathan. They went back to the bathroom and Ada María put her clothes back on, but she held onto the shirt.

"Do you mind if I keep this?" she asked.

"Go right ahead." Ada smiled and started folding it. When it was folded, she looked up at him a minute, then touched her necklace.

"This is a little too feminine. Otherwise I'd give it to you in return for the shirt."

"You don't have to give me anything. I'm happy to let you have the shirt." Nathan closed the distance between them and kissed her head. "I love you, Ada."

"I love you too. I know you said I don't need to give you anything, but I'll take a rain check on it." Ada María reached up and kissed Nathan's neck. "Between school, work and the pack, what will your schedule look like in the coming months?"

"Pretty packed, but then, Kevin used to let Megan behind the counter when he was at work and he never got in trouble for it, so I don't see why you couldn't be with me behind the counter too."

"Sounds fair enough. I'll need to go back soon, though. As soon as I have a little more money, I'll come back and stay at the motel."

"If it's a matter of not having a place to stay, you know you can always stay at the Cullen house. Carlisle would be more than happy to let you stay there."

Ada María shook her head. "No, no, I don't want to stay there. It's too many people and no privacy. I'd suggest I just share a room with you since Kyle's leaving soon, but your mother would have a bitch fit."

Nathan sighed. "You know, Ada, maybe you and mom should get on good terms again. You're friends aren't you?"

Ada María shrugged. "We were. I think she preferred Lia over me, though."

"Maybe, but if you and mom were on better terms, she'd probably be more agreeable."

"I was on good terms with Nessie until you imprinted on me. That's when she started getting testy with me. Remember?"

"I know, Ada, but at least try to get back on my mom's good side. She doesn't hate you. She just doesn't like that…well…you know what I mean."

"Your mom doesn't like that you imprinted on me of all people," Ada María stated bluntly. Nathan didn't answer. He just stared at Ada María and started cracking his knuckles absently. "Alright," she finally said, "I'll make a solid effort to repair my relationship with Nessie." With her wicked grin back on, Ada María walked over to Nathan and looked up at him. "I'll even promise not to mention that I made her little boy a man."

Nathan smiled a little. "We'll keep that to ourselves." He bent down and kissed Ada María on the lips. "Let's go downstairs and watch something. I'll even let you chose what we watch." With that said they joined hands and walked downstairs together and watched a channel of Ada María's choosing. Nessie got home from hunting about ten minutes later and saw them together on the couch. Ada María looked over her shoulder at Nessie when she arrived and kissed Nathan's cheek before going to her.

"Welcome home, Nessie. I've been here all summer and I've barely had a chance to talk to you."

"I know. The few times you come to the house, you hardly say a word to me. I have to admit, I'm wondering why you're bothering now."

Ada María breathed through her nose before continuing. "Long story short, Nathan doesn't like it that you and I are currently on such low terms. He wants us to get along."

"A fact I've known about for a while. Ada María, I don't dislike you. I've never disliked you and I never judged you on your conduct…..until that conduct became directly tied to my youngest son."

"I understand that, Nessie. I also understand that you're upset with me for hitting on Nathan so brazenly and for that, I apologize. Things have changed since then, though, and we've grown much closer to each other."

"That's all well and good Ada María; but you are a lot like Marcelo. You're known to be a succubus and to be rather proud of it at that."

"I admit that my hunting patterns still consist of stealing from my victims, but I've not slept with any of them in a considerable amount of time. As of now, Nathan's the only one."

Nessie sighed heavily. "So you two are active that way. I was hoping Jacob would warn me once all that started happening."

"He would've had he known. It's a fairly recent development."

Nessie's eyes became steely. "How recent?"

"It happened today recent."

With a heavy sigh, Nessie dropped her purse on the kitchen counter. "At least tell me you feel something for Nathan."

"I love him, Nessie, if that's what you're concerned about. He would've never done anything like this if I didn't. Nathan's got quite the staying and will power. I know firsthand."

"I bet you do." Nessie rubbed her face. "Look, Ada María, as long as you treat my son right and you continue to refrain from your previous habits, then I have no reason to dislike you nor will I dislike you. Treat Nathan the way I treat Jacob and we'll get along just fine."

It was a slightly awkward moment, but they two inevitably managed to laugh the whole thing off and offered to allow Ada María to stay at the house from here on out whenever she visited. Ada María decided to take Nessie up on the offer that night and spent the rest of the night downstairs with Nathan watching TV.

"I thought we agreed we wouldn't tell mom about us having sex."

Ada María giggled. "I know, but she figured it out on her own and I didn't see the point in denying it. Besides, she took it rather well I'd say." After taking a deep breath, Nathan smiled at Ada María and gave her a kiss.

"If you say so, Ada."

Meanwhile that night, Natalie picked up Brandon and Nathan and they drove to Port Angeles to go to the movies. Brandon was first. This was supposed to be their date after all, so Travis being there would seem rather odd. She parked her little car on the curb and ran through the rain that had developed on her way there under her clear umbrella. She closed it once she got under the cover of the porch and knocked on the door. She waited a minute or so before Mrs. Perry answered the door with a big smile.

"Oh, Natalie, welcome. Please, come in this instant, it's freezing out there." Natalie did as Mrs. Perry instructed and came inside. The homophobia aside, the woman was very pleasant and kind. "Brandon, honey, Natalie's here!" she called from the downstairs. "I'm very sorry, dear, but he's been up there the last half hour getting ready. Honestly, I can't imagine what's keeping him."

Natalie smiled a little, knowing exactly what was keeping Brandon. It was rare that Brandon really dressed in anything besides his track shorts and what not, so it usually took him a while to pick out perfect 'date' outfits as he'd grown to call them. Natalie and Brandon both seemed to share an irrational dislike for real pants. Or more appropriately, Brandon hated wearing slacks because they were church pants. Natalie just didn't like the feel of denim. She much preferred the feel of yoga pants. Even now, she wore black yoga pants. Mrs. Perry hasn't said anything about it thus far, so either she doesn't notice or she doesn't mind. Either way, Natalie got to not wear jeans and she was happy. After a few minutes, Brandon finally came downstairs and went right to Natalie, giving her a quick peck on the lips, purely for show.

"I'll be home later tonight, mom."

"Of course honey. Don't be out too late. You wouldn't want to worry me and send me in a panic."

Brandon smiled and hugged his mom. "I won't mom."

"Good. Now give me a kiss, honey." Brandon and Mrs. Perry shared a kiss on the cheek before Natalie and Brandon walked out to the care together, sharing an umbrella to guard against the rain. When they reached the car, Brandon took the front seat.

"Thanks, Natalie. I really do appreciate you doing this for me and Travis."

"Unnecessary, Brandon. I'd gladly pretend to be your girlfriend for Travis."

"I feel really bad. You should've brought someone. I can't imagine that guys at your school don't bend over backwards if it means getting a date with you. I may be gay, but I know a beautiful woman when I see one, and you, Natalie, are a very beautiful woman. You get it from your mom; that much is certain."

Natalie smiled. "How sweet of you to say Brandon. In hindsight, I guess I should've brought a date for myself."

The truth of the matter is Natalie didn't want to date. It may sound just a little childish, but she wants what her parents have, what Paul and Rachael have, even what Leah and Hailey had. They'd gotten married the moment Hailey turned eighteen. Hailey also had completely detached himself from his mom, but that never bothered Hailey. The two were happy together, even if they'd made the conscious decision to not have children…..for obvious reasons. Hailey was fine most of the time as long as he took his medication, but if he ever forgot, he could get violent depending on what his hallucinations were like. It simply wasn't safe for Leah and Hailey to have kids and the chances of Hailey passing on his disorder on top of all that were too great. Leah had been upset about that before, but after a time, she came to like the idea of it being just the two of them and they were happy with or without kids.

Point being, Natalie wanted that imprinted love and she wouldn't settle for any less. She did know that not every guy that wasn't her imprint would do to her what Megan had done to Kevin. There were plenty of men out there that would be good to her and that she could probably really love. But even if that were true, she didn't want to set herself up for a 'Sam and Leah' situation. In Natalie's mind, that was the worst possible case scenario. She wouldn't set herself up that way if she knew she didn't have to. Travis teased her that she was simply waiting for her prince to come. Natalie had laughed it off and even started singing the song.

"There's still time to call someone."

"No, no, that's fine. I'll be a third wheel. Just promise that you and Travis won't make out in the backseat. I might be your scapegoat, but I'm no one's chauffer." Brandon and Natalie shared a small laugh. When they got to Travis's house, the two walked up to the porch together and Natalie let herself in. "Aunt Rachael?"

"In the kitchen, honey." Natalie and Brandon walked to the kitchen and Travis came down, having heard Natalie.

"Hey, Nat," Travis said to Natalie before he went to Brandon and gave him a kiss. "We've still got a while before we need to get going. Mom's making brownies if you're interested."

"I could smell them from the door. They smell great Mrs. Reid."

"And they won't be done for another ten minutes and then they'll need to cool. You'll be late for your movie if you wait for the brownies." Remembering something, Rachael went to her purse and pulled out a twenty. "While I'm still thinking about it. Travis, I need you to do me a favor tomorrow and buy some groceries. Here's a twenty and the list. If you can't get everything, call me and let me know so I can tell your father to pick up the rest on his way home."

"Sure, mom," Travis took the money and list and put it in his wallet. "Since we aren't waiting for the brownies, let's get going. I haven't had dinner, so I'm starving."

"Try not to stay out too long, Travis, Natalie."

"We won't," they both said and they finally left and started driving to Port Angeles. When they got there, their first stop was a fast food place so they could have some dinner.

"So guess what," Brandon said to Travis when they all sat down together.

"What?"

"My mom's going to be at a baby shower all day tomorrow. We could hang out at my house; have the place to ourselves." Brandon winked at Travis and he just grinned.

"What time should I be over tomorrow?"

"Mom said she's leaving at around eleven, so noon should be a safe bet. I'll even have a pizza ready for you when you get to my house."

Travis smiled. "Sounds good to me." Then Travis looked at Natalie. "Does your dad need my help tomorrow?" Natalie knew what Travis meant. He'd fazed for the first time earlier in the summer and it was really unexpected. He'd been fine one minute and then the next, Aunt Rachael had mentioned that Travis didn't clean his room the way she'd wanted him to and he suddenly got really angry and changed. He'd been a part of the pack ever since and he's managed to keep it from Brandon. He really wanted to tell him, but the same rules applied. He wasn't an imprint or family member, so he wasn't entitled to know about the pack. So when the subject came up, Travis just said that he was helping out his uncle with some night work and that was at least partially true.

"Probably. I'll be helping out tomorrow too."

"Do you want me to help?" Brandon asked innocently? "What is your uncle up to anyway? Is he adding to the house or something?"

"No, he's not adding anything," Travis answered, "It's a problem concerning the wooded area on the reservation. We've been having an infestation problem and we're trying to deal with it. Uncle Jacob has a very specific way he wants it handled and he's had a short temper on the matter," Travis fibbed, "I don't want him getting mad at you. Thanks for offering to help, though."

"Alright," Brandon answered. "What kind of infestation is it? You guys have been at it all summer."

"It's a bug infestation. It's a hard one to deal with. That's why it's taking so long."

"Alright. Are you sure you don't want me to help? I'm always eating their food whenever we visit. The least I can do is offer to help." Travis smiled and rubbed Brandon's neck affectionately. He hated not telling him the truth, but it was necessary. Maybe one day he could get away with telling him, but for now, he had to keep quiet about it.

"Trust me, Brandon," Natalie chimed in, "you don't want to help with this. It's long night hours and those stupid bugs bite and it hurts like a son of a bitch. One night of helping us out and you would regret offering. I promise, we only say now to spare you from unfortunate and irritatingly long hour labors."

"I don't know. Travis, you've muscled up significantly since this little extermination project. I could use the extra workout. You've gotten taller too now that I think of it. Not that I'm complaining." Travis smiled at Brandon and they kissed briefly before continuing to eat. Natalie smiled a little and checked the time on her phone.

"I hate to break up the party, but the movie is due to start in twenty minutes. We'd better finish up and get to the theatre."

"Speaking of theatre," Brandon said, "how'd you manage to get a day off? Isn't a show starting next weekend?"

"Yeah. We're doing _The Scarlet Pimpernel_ and I got the role of Marguerite. We haven't done that one in years, so I'm really excited. Then once it's the fall production, we're going back into Shakespeare. Roosevelt High School's been great for business thanks to their Literature program. This year, we're scheduled to do _Hamlet_, _Midsummer Night's Dream_, and _Romeo and Juliet_."

"Ooh," Brandon said, "Do you guys have character assignments?"

Natalie nodded. "Yeah, we do. I'm playing Gertrude in _Hamlet_, Titania in _Midsummer Night's Dream_, and Juliet in _Romeo and Juliet_. I'm looking forward to _Midsummer Night's Dream_."

"You get to have a love scene with an ass. I bet you're eager," Brandon said with a grin. Natalie leered at him with a mean smile.

"I bet you know all about that, don't you." Travis started laughing.

"Play nice, Natalie." They all laughed and finished up their dinner before walking to the movie theatre together. The movie wasn't anything special. It was just a horror movie that was based on a true story. Travis and Brandon didn't get too romantic since Natalie was there, but they did at least get to hold hands and such while Natalie nibbled on some generously buttered popcorn. The movie ended at 12:45, but they didn't immediately go home. Instead, they made a quick stop at a 24hr donut shop and sat down together with a box of donuts and some coffee.

"I almost forgot to ask. Did you want some free tickets to the upcoming play, Brandon? I could procure some for you."

"I could get into that."

"Good. I'll get some tomorrow while I'm at rehearsal. I'll make sure they're good middle seats too."

"I can't wait," Brandon said appreciatively before looking at Travis. "You don't mind going do you?"

"Not at all." Travis looked at Natalie. "Just give me the tickets tomorrow and we can plan from there." After finishing their donuts and coffee, they finally left ad dropped Brandon off at his house. When he was safely inside, they made their way back home to La Push. "I really appreciate you giving me and Brandon free tickets. I know Gretchen's been getting on your case about that."

"Think nothing of it. It's not like the two of you don't buy things while you're at the theatre. Just remember to buy a shirt or something before you guys leave and she'll live with it. Besides, I'm entitled to give out a small number of free tickets seeing as I'm the leading lady in this play. I think Brandon will like this one."

"I know he will," Travis said with a smile. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure."

"Do you think your dad would be really mad if I told Brandon about the pack?"

"You know how the rules work. If you really want to talk to dad about it, you know you're welcome to, but keep in mind that dad won't be keen on the idea. Why do you ask?"

Travis sighed. "He and I were talking the other day."

"Talking?" Natalie raised an eyebrow. "What kind of talking?"

"Considering living together kind of talking. After we graduate, yes, but living together all the same. I really want to….but you realize the problem that could arise if they don't know about the pack. I don't want him to think I'm cheating on him or anything. I want him to know the truth."

"I know," Natalie said with a sigh. This was another reason she wouldn't settle for less than her imprint. "I say put it off until it's a more immediate problem. You've got another year before you have to worry about it. When the two of you are seriously looking at places to live, that's when I'd start worrying about it. Until then, just keep up the infestation story. I mean, nomad vampires that kill humans on our lands can be considered pests, so you're half telling the truth."

Travis smiled. "I guess. I just don't like lying to him."

"No one likes lying to a loved one. Dad will overhear it in your thoughts tomorrow, so if you really want to talk to Brandon about it now, just make sure dad will permit it. Keep in mind, though, he'll probably say no. I mean, it's not fair for you to be allowed to tell your non-imprinted loved one about the pack but Embry isn't allowed to tell his wife."

"I know it's not fair, but Embry has reason to not tell Brie. I mean…..they've been having problems lately."

"That doesn't mean you and Brandon might not have problems someday. Just because you two have been dating for about two years now doesn't mean you'll be any better off than Embry and Brie who got married after a few months because of unexpected pregnancy. Problems happen regardless. With imprints, that risk isn't as high."

Travis sighed heavily. "I'm still going to talk to your dad. I want to at least try."

"Like I said, feel free, I'm just asking you to keep in mind the realistic side dad's going to present. You and I both know that Brandon would never betray your trust like that, but dad doesn't know Brandon as well as us and even if he did, Brandon's still not—"

"I get it, Natalie, I get it. So what, does that mean I'm screwed? I'll probably never imprint. So what? Does that mean I'll never be allowed to have a healthy relationship with anyone because I'll always have to lie to them about my extracurricular night activities? That's hardly fair."

"You don't know you won't imprint," Natalie said. "We still don't know everything about the imprinting process. We don't know why it happens or how. For all we know, imprinting might be more than just a first class baby making system. Maybe it's a genuine find-true-love system. And if that's true, imprinting on a guy shouldn't be a problem."

"Has anyone in our pack ever imprinted on a man? I mean besides Leah."

Natalie smiled. "Well, no. But don't you think it might be really neat to be the first? And think about it. Leah and Hailey aren't going to have kids. Hailey got Carlisle to give him a vasectomy and everything. There will be no baby making in their immediate future. So does that mean their love was for nothing or does that mean that babies have nothing to do with imprinting? Maybe there's more to this than meets the eye. Maybe you imprinting on a guy isn't hopeless."

"Maybe, but now you're saying there's a possibility that I'll do to Brandon what Sam did to Leah." Natalie sighed at the reference to what had become the tribe cautionary tale. "I love Brandon and I don't want to do that to him."

"I know you don't. Like I said, tell daddy about your concerns and he'll listen to you. I don't know what his answer will be, but you know daddy will listen to you."

Travis shrugged and leaned back in his seat. When they got back to La Push, Natalie parked her car in front of her house and took her umbrella with her in case in rained again and walked with Travis back to his house. When they were on the front lawn, Natalie hugged Travis goodbye and waited until he got into his house before she made her way back to the house. When she got in, Nathan and Ada María were sitting on the couch together and looked to have fallen asleep. She walked a little closer and started smelling something. They both smelled different than they had when they'd gotten home. Natalie came closer until she could smell her pomegranate shampoo. Angry, Natalie poked Ada María, who shot up from her position resting her head on Nathan.

"Jesus, Natalie, you scared me."

"Did you use my shampoo while I was out?" Natalie asked, getting right to the point.

"Yes, Natalie, I used your shampoo. Forgive me, sweetie, but your brother and I were in the middle of something and I wasn't going to stop in the middle of that and call to ask your permission to use your shampoo. Besides, I'm pretty certain I used less than you usually do."

"That's not the point, Ada. You used my shampoo. That shampoo costs me $63 dollars!" Ada María took a deep breath before she stood from the couch and started walking upstairs. Nathan, who'd been woken up by Natalie's yell, groaned as he lifted himself up from a half laying down position on the couch.

"Peanut, please don't yell at her," Nathan used the nickname hoping to calm Natalie a little. "If you want to be mad at anyone, be mad at me. I'm the one that let her use your shampoo."

"Nathan, it's fine," Ada María said as she walked back down to the living room holding her purse. When she was downstairs, she pulled out her wallet and took out seventy dollars and offered it to Natalie. "I'd like my change back."

Natalie sighed heavily and took the money. "Thanks. I'll be right back with the seven dollars." Natalie walked upstairs and went to her little bank she kept in her room and pulled out seven ones and came back downstairs, handing them to Ada María. "Glad we could see eye to eye."

"Natalie," Ada María said, stopping Natalie before she could leave, "Your mom and I had a little talk and she's letting me stay here for the remainder of my stay and for all stays in the future. I'm planning to bring my things over from the motel tomorrow, so that's why you'll start seeing my things in the bathroom with your things."

"Fine," Natalie said, smiling now, "Thanks for the warning. Just don't use my shampoo anymore and we'll get along fine."

Ada María returned the smile. "Agreed." Natalie nodded and went up the stairs to her room.

The next day, Travis didn't wake up until 11:30 a.m. and it was to his mother nudging him awake, telling him that he'd accidently left his phone downstairs and that Brandon called, saying that he could come over now. Travis called Brandon back and told he'd be a little late because he needed to take a shower before leaving. At 12:15, Travis finally left, borrowing Rachael's car, and got to Brandon's house at 12:32. Travis walked up to the patio and ringed the doorbell and Brandon answered a few seconds later.

"Hey. Come in," Brandon said, moving aside so Travis could come in. It was only when the front door was closed that Brandon reached up and kissed Travis. "Your mom said you were still dead asleep when I called," Brandon said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, sorry about that. So we have to house to ourselves?" Travis asked as he wrapped his arms around Brandon's waist.

"Yes, we are safe. My mom's at that baby shower and dad's at practice until at least three in the afternoon." Brandon gave Travis a kiss. "Let's go upstairs and play _Portal 2_." Brandon led Travis upstairs to his room and went to the Xbox 360. "Am I the only person who still plays with an Xbox 360?" Brandon asked with a chuckle.

Travis shrugged. "I don't know. On Natalie's side of the family, one of her cousins has a daughter named Mi Sook. She's half white and the rest is Japanese and Korean. You know who I'm talking about right?"

"Yeah, I think I remember her. What about her?"

"Well, for the past two years, she's been dating this guy," Travis made sure not to mention he was a vampire that was older than Billy, born in 1962, and the son of a devote Vegan Lesbian hippy woman who'd had an unintended one night stand with a Neo-Nazi after one too many hits of ecstasy, "He's a computer programmer and he still plays on systems that date back to the seventies. The man has an original at home pong system that's made of wood and everything. So don't feel bad for still playing on an Xbox 360."

"A 70's pong system? Jeez, and I thought my toys were old."

"Yeah. He even has E.T for the Atari."

"It's that the legendarily bad game or something?"

Travis smiled, recalling the day he'd found out Mi Sook's boyfriend had that game, "Yeah. I've been to his apartment once and it's packed with video games since the seventies. He's even got obscure systems that no one bought, like the Sega CD, Sega Jaguar, some weird portable game from the eighties, the guys got everything. He was showing us all his games and he pulled out E.T for the Atari and I swear to you the man screamed like a girl and threw a bible at it. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen."

"What's this guy's name?"

"Marcus I think. His last name's some German name I can't pronounce. So anyway, _Portal 2_!" Brandon smiled and brought the second controller over and they started playing _Portal 2_. They did the coup for about thirty minutes before they got bored. Travis shot two portals, the red on the ceiling and the yellow on the ground and fell through space time. Brandon shot two portals on the ground right beside each other and went back and forth between them.

"This is like an abstract painting of our own stupidity," Brandon said with a chuckle and so did Travis.

"This is what happens when you play coup portals." Travis put down his controller and wrapped his arm around Brandon's neck. "Let's do something else, lest the game make bigger fools of us than it already has."

Brandon put down his own controller and leaned against Travis. "Did you want to play another game?" Then Brandon looked up into his eyes. "Or did you want to do something a little more intimate?"

Travis just smiled and that was all the invitation that Brandon needed. He brought his head up closer and the two kissed. At first tenderly, but it was not long before it became more passionate. The two scooted further onto Brandon's full size bed and stopped momentarily when the controllers fell to the floor. When they knew it was just the controllers, they returned their attentions to one another and kissed again. After a moment, Brandon came on top of Travis and hugged him. As they kissed, the door opened and both their heads shot to the door, then they both relaxed when it was just Daisy.

"You scared the shit out of me, Daisy," Travis said, then looked at Brandon. "Honestly, your mom's dog is such a busybody."

Brandon smiled. "I know she is, but she's just so cute. I can't stay mad at her."

Travis smiled back and kissed Brandon. "Ignore the dog. You and I have more pressing concerns." Brandon laughed at Travis's comment, but complied and rested his lips against Travis's yet again. Still hugging Travis, Brandon used the opportunity to pull off Travis's shirt and toss it to the side. With his shirt off, Travis pushed Brandon on his back and pulled off his shirt as well. They were stopped yet again this time by Daisy jumping up on the bed, starting to lick Travis's face. Travis pulled away and picked up the dog, taking her to the door and placing her on her feet in the hallway before closing the door. "Now, where were we?" Travis asked before returning to the bed, ignoring Daisy scratching at the door.

Brandon just smiled, amused a little, and accepted Travis into his open arms. When Travis came back, they returned to what they'd been doing. Travis started kissing Brandon's neck and licking his ear. They continued to ignore Daisy's scratching and Travis began a line of kisses along Brandon's chest.

"Daisy? Did you want in girl?" Brandon and Travis jumped when they heard Mr. Perry's voice. Brandon ran to the door hoping to avoid Mr. Perry seeing anything, but it was too late.

"Dad," Brandon was about to tell Mr. Perry that he didn't want the dog in his room and claim that Natalie was the one over and not Travis, but when Mr. Perry walked in, he saw the truth.

"What the hell's going on?" Mr. Perry yelled and looked right at Travis, then at Brandon demanding an explanation.

"It's…we," Brandon began, but he couldn't think anymore and Mr. Perry already figured it out. Travis stood his ground, ready to defend Brandon and himself to the death, but he didn't get the opportunity.

"I want you out of my house," Mr. Perry said, anger thick in his voice.

"Dad, please, this isn't—"

"Quiet! I'll deal with you later, but now I want this faggot out of my house!"

"Dad don't, please just listen to me."

"I said out of my house!" This time, Mr. Perry didn't give Travis or Brandon a chance to speak. Mr. Perry grabbed a shirt, which happened to be Travis's, threw it at Travis, and then grabbed him and dragged Travis through the house. Travis thought about fighting him back, but that would mean likely breaking Mr. Perry's arms or nose. Brandon was following behind trying to grab his dad and make him stop, but it really wasn't working.

When Mr. Perry and Travis reached the front door, Mr. Perry hurled Travis out the door and Travis rolled down the stairs. Brandon went to run to Travis, but Mr. Perry grabbed Brandon and didn't let go of him until Mr. Perry grabbed the keys to Travis's car, threw them at him, and closed the door to the house. Travis pulled himself off the ground and put on his shirt. He looked at the house for he wasn't sure how long, hoping that Brandon was okay. He looked around and two homes across the street seemed to overhear the commotion and came out to see what was going on. Then, suddenly, Mr. Perry popped his head out of the front door.

"Get the hell off my property or I'm calling the cops!"

"For what?" Travis said, finally losing his patience. "Because your son and I are dating?" Travis made sure to yell it loud enough that all the bystanders could hear it. Instead of answering, Mr. Perry slammed the door closed and finally, reluctantly, Travis went to his car and started driving home. But Travis wasted no time trying to call Brandon. He wanted to be sure he was fine. He regretted his outburst the moment it'd happened, fearing it would lead to Brandon getting in more trouble. He called Brandon's phone twice and waited from there. After the last call, Travis called Natalie. "Nat? Are you in Seattle right now?"

"_Yeah, I'm in rehearsal. I've got great news! I got you and Brandon two of the best seats in the house!"_ Travis didn't answer. He felt his chest get tight. Natalie noticed and she lost the enthusiasm in her voice. _"Are you okay? What's wrong?"_

Travis's voice shook a moment, "Brandon's dad caught us….together."

"_Oh God,"_ was all Natalie said. There was nothing she could say that would erase what'd just happened.

"I fucked up, Natalie," Travis started, but Natalie stopped him.

"_You did nothing wrong, Travis, so strike that from your mind this instant. Neither did Brandon. People fall in love and there's nothing Mr. Perry can do about it."_

"He sure as hell will try. What if he really sends Brandon to an ex-gay ministry or camp?"

"_Then Brandon swallows it, nods his head, and gets out when the program's over and moves on with his life. Just because Mr. Perry caught the two of you together doesn't mean it's the end of the world. And you make sure that Brandon knows that. Let him know that you'll still be here when it's over and that when it is all over, the two of you can still be together, Brandon's parents be damned! I'll ask Gretchen to let me go early and I'll be at your house in less than two hours. I'll talk to you later, okay?"_

"Okay," Travis said weakly before hanging up his phone. He got to his house twenty minutes later and the moment he walked through the front door, Rachael was charging to him, guns blazing. "Mom—"

"Did he lay a hand on you?" Rachael asked suddenly, looking Travis over. "I swear, if that man laid a hand on you, I'll see him arrested for assault."

"Rachael," Paul said, "Relax."

"Relax? How can you tell me to relax? Brandon's father just called our house swearing at you and telling us to keep our whore son away from Brandon and you're asking me to relax?" Rachael returned her attention to Travis, "Sweetheart, I want you to tell me exactly what happened. If that man laid a hand on you, tell me now and we'll go straight to the police."

"He caught me and Brandon kissing and he told me to get out of his house and when I didn't get out fast enough, he dragged and threw me out. Then he threatened to call the police on me because I didn't leave immediately."

Rachael took a deep breath. "I'm calling the police."

"Mom—"

"Sweetheart, I'm not letting Mr. Perry get away with assaulting my son." Just then, Maxi and Jason, visiting from Port Angeles where the two were attending the junior college, came to the living area.

"Travis," Maxi started, "We heard what happened. You didn't hit back or anything did you?"

Travis shook his head. "No, I didn't swing back, but believe me, I wanted to."

"Well it's a good thing you didn't," Rachael said, then she turned her attention to the station that answered her call, "Yes, hello? This is Rachael Reid and I want to report assault against my son on the part of Mr. Perry. The man assaulted Travis and I want him arrested."

"_Mrs. Reid,"_ the dispatcher answered, knowing who she was talking to, _"we received a 911 call already and we have officers dispatched at the Perry household. We're interviewing witnesses already and Mr. Perry. We have police on their way to your home to get a statement from Travis too. They should be there soon."_

"Is this Susan?" Rachael asked and the dispatcher answered in the affirmative, "Look, Susan, Mr. Perry laid his hands on my son and I don't want him getting away with it."

"_Rachael, I assure you, the police will handle this. If nothing else, we will be able to get a restraining order against Mr. Perry for your son, but for now, please allow Travis to answer any questions he's asked and the police will arrest Mr. Perry if there's suitable cause."_

"What more cause do I need besides Mr. Perry hitting my son?"

"Mom, he didn't hit me," Travis said, "He just threw me out of his house."

"Exactly, and I don't want him thinking he can get away with it." Rachael returned her attention to the dispatcher and didn't hang up until there was a knock on their door and it was an officer at the door that Paul answered. Paul let the officer in and pointed out Travis.

"Travis?" Travis nodded. "I'm Officer Brookes and I need to ask you a few questions about what happened this afternoon." Travis agreed and sat at the kitchen table with the police officer and answered all his questions honestly.

The police officer questioned Travis for about an hour and when the officer was done questioning Travis, he asked if he knew whether or not Brandon was okay. The cop, regretfully, didn't know for sure, but assured him that Brandon was probably fine and that the Forks Police would contact him if that turned out to be otherwise. When the officer left the Reid residence, Natalie arrived a few minutes later and went right to Travis.

"Natalie," Rachael said when Natalie was seated, "I called your parents, so they know what's going on. I take it Travis already told you?"

"Yeah, he told me." Natalie hugged Travis, but didn't say anything. He was worried and he didn't need her trying to sooth him with, 'he's okay,' when she knew full well that she didn't know that. With nothing left to do, Rachael and Paul stayed close and Jason and Maxi watched Travis.

"We did what we could," Paul said to Rachael, seeing her discontentment. "I know you want him arrested, but it's not likely to happen."

"I just don't want that man anywhere near Travis ever again. Honey, I love Brandon to death, but if dealing with Mr. Perry comes with it, I'd rather you two parted ways."

Travis shook his head. "No, mom. It's not Brandon's fault his dad's close-minded. No matter what, I'll be by Brandon. He did nothing wrong and I won't punish him."

"Travis," Paul started, "I know you love him and you know your mother and I just want you to be happy. Just stay away from Mr. Perry. I don't ever want you at Brandon's house again. If you want to continue to see him, I won't argue, but stay away from his house."

Travis nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Maxi and Jason will let Jacob know you aren't coming on patrol tonight. You go upstairs and get some rest."

"I'm not doing anything until Brandon calls me back and I know he's alright."

"Still, try to relax. You've had a hard day, Travis." Travis nodded absently at his dad and went to his room. Natalie started to follow, but he let her know that he just wanted to be left alone for now. Travis waited alone in the room he was sharing with his brothers again and kept his phone close. It was only another hour, but it felt like an eternity. But finally, Brandon called Travis and he answered at the first ring.

"Brandon?"

"_Hey,"_ Brandon answered. His voice was really thick, like he'd been crying. _"I'm sorry I didn't call you sooner. I was only just now able to get away from mom and dad."_

"It's fine, Brandon, it's fine. I'm so sorry about what happened. Really, I hate myself for yelling at your dad. Are you okay? What happened after I left? I heard police were called to your house."

"_Yeah. One of the neighbors saw my dad throw you out of the house and they called the police. Are you okay? My dad tossed you pretty far."_

Travis smiled and managed to laugh just a little. "Yeah, he certainly did. The police came to my house too and questioned me. Did they question you?"

"_Yeah, they did and I just told them what happened. Mom came home to cop cars in front of our house and dad arguing with the officer about you."_ Brandon was suddenly silent.

"You said you'd just gotten away from your parents. What did they say to you?" Brandon was silent again. "Brandon, please tell me what happened."

"_Dad's working on it now. They're sending me back to Utah…..I don't know where yet."_

Travis almost vomited. "They're sending you to an ex-gay camp? What about school?"

"_Dad said they'd get a private tutor for me and I'd finish my senior year being home schooled."_ Brandon choked and started crying again. _"They're sending me away."_

"Brandon," Travis started. "We can talk, I'll write you. Please, I know this will be hard, but I'll be here for you. They can only keep you in that camp for so long. Tell them you've been cured of being gay and we'll pick up where we left off when you get back and are out of your parents' house. Brandon, I love you and I will be here for you until the very end."

"_I know,"_ Brandon sniffed, _"I know you will. That's why I wanted to talk to you. Dad won't tell me where I'm being sent. I already know that. But I'll send you a letter the minute I get there so we can exchange letters. I won't have my phone, though. My parents might request that I not be allowed to make calls, only receive them and only if it's a call from my parents."_ Brandon stopped abruptly then continued. _"I have to go. I'll talk to you as soon as I can. If I can't call you before I leave, I'll write you. I love you."_ Then, Brandon hung up.

Travis stared at his phone a moment, a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. He didn't hear from Brandon for the rest of the day, nor did he hear from him in the following days either. Mr. Perry wasn't arrested since throwing someone out of the house wasn't technically against the law. And Travis didn't want to try pressing charges, no matter how vehement Rachael was about it. Pressing charges against Mr. Perry would only make things worse for Brandon and that was the last thing that Travis wanted. Then, when school started back up, there was still no call back.

"He knows my address right?" Natalie asked as they walked to their first class. "If he can't send letters to your house, he can send them to mine and I'll give them to you."

"I know," Travis said. "He knows both our addresses." When they got to their class and sat down, Travis just rested his face in his hands. "This is all my fault. His dad catches us making out without our shirts on and now Brandon's been shipped off to Anti-Gay East Jesus Nowhere."

"When do you think you'll be able to find out where he is?"

"Who knows? All I know is when he's back, everything will go back to normal. I'll save up some money, I'll work longer hours at the grocery store, whatever it takes to get my own place sooner rather than later so he can come be with me when he's home."

"Travis," was all Natalie said. She didn't want to say there was a possibility the camp might actually guilt Brandon into changing his conduct. She wanted Travis and Brandon to make it because she knew how much they loved each other. Finally, she put her hand on Travis's shoulder and said the only thing that was certain, "He'll always love you, Travis. I know he will."

Ada María, who was still staying in Washington for the time being, heard about the incident from Nathan. After telling her about it, Nathan was surprised to see how enraged about the whole thing Ada María got. If there was one thing Ada María detested, it was those who judged others for being who they are.

"So where's he being kept?" Ada María asked after she'd had her rant (primarily in Portuguese while they were behind the counter at the convenience store).

"You make it sound like he's gone to prison."

"Hasn't he? His parents shipped him off to an ex-gay ministry. That sounds a hell of a lot like prison to me."

"No," Nathan said with a sigh, "None of us know where he's been sent. Travis will tell us when he finds out. He's hoping to get a letter from him as soon as he can." Ada María adjusted herself on Nathan's lap and hugged him.

"Speaking of whom, how is Travis handling this? I'm sure he's devastated."

"That's the understatement of the year. He keeps blaming himself for what happened and he thinks he provoked Mr. Perry further by admitting he was in a relationship with Brandon. As far as I know, Mr. Perry had figured out what was going on and there wasn't a chance of refuting it anymore."

"Still," Ada María said frankly.

After a few weeks, though, Travis finally, at long last, got his first letter from Brandon. It was sent to his address, but it had Natalie's name on it. In the letter, Brandon explained that his dad had specifically requested that no letters be sent to Travis Reid, so Brandon was forced to write Natalie Black on the receiving address. Thankfully, it never occurred to his parents to make sure Natalie Black was blacklisted from letters too. In the letter, Brandon relayed that he was at a place called Healing Hill Ministry Camp and that it reminded him of a camping ground, but all the activities practiced were entirely meant for 'healing' and that they had a Baptist church service every morning at eight a.m. sharp. The only time he had for writing letters and any personal time was when everyone was supposed to be in bed. He told Brandon about all the guys in his bunk unit that would have book lights on so they could write letters or read themselves to sleep. That was the other thing, Brandon had said, that they weren't allowed to have. Books. The only books they were allowed to have was a bible and some 'success story' pamphlets that told the stories of fellow homosexuals that claimed to be cured from homosexuality by the healing hand of Jesus Christ.

The first letter had been slightly optimistic, saying that the program lasted six months and that he'd be home once he'd completely the program and that once he'd graduated, they would move on with their lives. However, as time went on, the letters became fewer and the message to the letters that came were progressively more bleak than the last until three months later, Brandon wasn't sending any letters at all. Natalie did everything she possibly could to make Travis feel better and encouraged him to keep sending letter after letter to help Brandon keep in touch. So that's what Travis did. No matter what, he kept sending letters and telling Brandon how much he loved him. It was at the four month mark when, approaching winter break, Travis finally got a letter from Brandon again.

"Finally," he'd said absently to his mom when he walked in. "I was starting to think he would never write me again."

"I'm glad to hear it. Let me know how he's doing sweetheart." Travis nodded and went up to his room, now void of his brothers, and opened the letter eager to read it. There was only one page, though. This confused Travis. Then, when he unfolded the page, there was only one thing written. _I love you_. He suddenly felt really sick, so he went online and looked up the official website for Healing Hills in Utah so he could find the number. When he found the contact list, Travis dialed in the number on his phone and just waited.

"_Hello, this is Marie Carter with Healing Hills Ministry, how may I help you?"_

"Yes, this is….Kevin Black," Travis lied, "and I'm calling regarding someone attending your ministry named Brandon Perry. Is he available to speak?"

"_I'm sorry, Kevin, but Brandon isn't available to speak. We found him dead yesterday morning and he's been sent back to Washington today."_

It took everything in him to still himself. "What happened to him?" He asked the question with as little shakiness as he could manage.

"_He'd hung himself, I'm afraid."_ Travis just hung up. So that's what it'd meant. The brief letter. Travis was shaking now. Violently. He took control of himself as best he could. At least enough to text Natalie and ask her to do him a favor and get Edward to find out when Brandon's funeral would be and where. Not two minutes later, he received an answer.

_Travis, I'll see you later. I called grandpa and he'll come tell you when he knows._ He didn't reply back. Instead, Travis went right to his bed and let loose. He couldn't stop himself from crying. It was one thing to be responsible for your lover being sent to an ex-gay ministry, but something else entirely to be the cause of your lover killing himself. Rachael, overhearing her son crying as she was walking past his room, walked into Travis's room and walked to him.

"Travis, what's wrong?" Travis just shook his head. He could form words at the moment, but he went to his mom and held onto her and continued to cry. She comforted her son in the only way she could; patting his back and holding him close. It wasn't until twenty minutes later that Travis was able to tell Rachael what he'd just found out. "Oh, sweetheart…."

Another hour later, Natalie came to the house and went right to Travis, doing just as Rachael had done; soothing him while saying very little. Another half hour later, Edward came to the Reid home and told Travis when and where the funeral was.

"Don't go to the funeral alone, Travis. Mr. and Mrs. Perry blame you for this."

"Blame him?" Natalie near shrieked. "How dare they blame him? Travis did nothing to cause this; it was their fault."

"We know that, Natalie," Rachael said, "None of this, Travis, is your fault. Please tell me you understand that." Travis didn't say anything. She decided not to press him and rubbed his back some more. "I'll call your brothers and let them know. They'll go with you to the funeral and if that awful man comes anywhere near you, I want you to call the police immediately." Travis just nodded.

"I'll go with you too," Natalie said. "Brandon was a friend and I want to pay my respects."

"Good idea," Rachael said.

"You guys don't have to come with me to the funeral to protect me from Mr. Perry. I'm a big boy; I can take care of myself."

"I don't care if you're Robocop, Travis. I'm not letting you go alone." Natalie and Travis looked at Rachael oddly.

"Who the hell is Robocop?" Natalie asked.

Rachael shook her head and sighed, "Never mind, it's not important. The point is I'm not letting you go alone, Travis. I want to know that you're okay and have backup in case something does happen."

"Seriously, mom, what's the worst he could do? Yell at me to leave and say this is my fault?" Travis's voice quieted as he said the last part and Natalie returned her attention to trying to comfort him.

"This is Mr. Perry's fault. You and Brandon did nothing wrong. Brandon suffered because his dad's an asshole that would rather have a son that's miserable than a son that's gay. And I will tell Mr. Perry as much if he tries to put the blame on you. It's his fault that Brandon's dead."

"Please stop, Nat," Travis mumbled. Then he just buried his head in Natalie's shoulder and sulked. The funeral was scheduled for that Sunday at the only Baptist church near Forks and would be buried in the Forks cemetery. Maxi and Jason both made sure to be free that day so they could accompany Travis to the funeral just to make sure that nothing bad happened. After what Mr. Perry did, Rachael wasn't willing to take chances.

When Sunday finally came, Travis wore black khakis and a black dress shirt. He didn't have a suit, but all black was all black all the same. Maxi and Jason made sure to dress the same and Natalie arrived in a black pencil skirt, black dress shirt and a black cashmere cardigan. The drive to the funeral was silent and extremely uncomfortable. Maxi and Jason had barely known Brandon, so they couldn't really talk about good times and cheer up the mood. Not that the mood would've been able to be lifted anyway. And Natalie didn't want to make things worse by talking about Brandon too extensively. When they arrived at the church, Natalie made sure to park a block away so that the Perry's wouldn't see them and they all waited in the car until they saw most of the funeral party go in. When the bulk of the attendants were inside, Natalie, Jason and Travis finally started walking to the church and took seats in the back of the church so they wouldn't be seen.

The casket was closed, Travis noticed. He was upset, but at the same time, he wasn't sure how well he'd been able to hold back tears if it'd been open casket. The service lasted about an hour and when the preacher announced that the casket was being taken to the graveyard, Travis and his group snuck out and just drove to the cemetery and waited for the group to arrive. Again, they waited for the attendants to file in before the four of them followed after. Reluctantly, Travis and his group kept their distance. They'd stopped at the flower store on the way so that Travis could buy a nice collection of flowers to put on the casket when everyone had left. The funeral service continued and Maxi rubbed Travis's back a moment when they finally started lowering the casket. It was then that Travis started slowly walking towards the grave site, but he stopped the moment Mrs. Perry looked his way and went stiff. She didn't seem to say something to her husband, who looked his way, and Mr. Perry looked like he was suddenly livid. Then Mr. and Mrs. Perry seemed to argue for a moment before Mrs. Perry finally separated from the group and started walking towards Travis. Maxi, Jason and Natalie walked closer to Travis, but stayed composed and polite. It took a moment for Mrs. Perry to reach the group, but when she did, she didn't speak initially. An awkward silence followed and Travis held his head down.

"I wanted to blame you," Mrs. Perry finally said. Then, she suddenly glanced back towards the group to see if anyone was watching. "But I've realized that…" She stopped when tears began to fall.

"I loved your son, Mrs. Perry….I really did."

"I know that," she said when she had control of her tears. "I just wish," she stopped again, "I'm sorry about my husband. Regardless of the circumstances, how he treated you was inexcusable. I never wanted my son to think this made me love him less. He was my only little boy."

"I know Mrs. Perry," Travis answered quietly.

Mrs. Perry shuddered a little before continuing. "I might not condone what you and my son were…..doing, but I knew you and Brandon were close. Now that I know how close…I can't believe I was so blind to it." Travis didn't say anything. Mrs. Perry was quiet again a moment and a few more tears released. "What happened wasn't your fault, so there's nothing to forgive. I know you loved Brandon…..and for that I'm grateful. I'm truly grateful."

"Thank you, Mrs. Perry. I really did love him. He loved you too, Mrs. Perry."

She smiled weakly. "Thank you for saying, Travis." Then she looked at the flowers in Travis's hands. "We'll be gone soon. Please leave those in his grave before they close it. He would want it."

Travis finally returned her weak smile, "I will."

They exchanged a heartfelt glance to one another before Mrs. Perry turned around and continued on to the group. Travis waiting for the party to leave completely before he, Natalie, Maxi and Jason walked over to the grave site. Travis stood there a moment just staring at the casket. Then he looked at the headstone that only showed Brandon's name, his date of birth and his date of death. Eventually, Travis kneeled down and dropped the flowers on top of the casket. When Travis went upright again, he just stared at the casket again and Natalie rested her hand on Travis's shoulder. They didn't say anything as they left the cemetery or when Natalie dropped them off at their house. When he was home, Travis just went straight to his room and searched through his phone looking at pictures he'd taken of Brandon over the years. He ended up falling asleep looking at old pictures of Brandon and in his sleep, he had dreams with Brandon in them. All the events in those pictures flashed through Travis's mind and in his sleep, thinking about him, Travis smiled and cried one more time.


	23. The Man with the Wolf's Tooth

**The Man with the Wolf's Tooth**

**Fall 1732**

The wedding bonfire was burning at the beach. A wedding that I had never consented to or approved of. He didn't deserve Zurra, chief or not. He could be a God and he wouldn't be good enough for Zurra. I'd not given my approval for Zurra and Taha Aki to get married, but he'd gone behind my back to the elders of the tribe and found a way to discredit me. Zurra had begged me with teary eyes to come and grant my approval of her new husband, but I refused. I would not condone what that man had done by giving my sister away to him.

So instead of going to the beach to be at the wedding, I'd gone into the woods and wandered around. I walked through the woods for a while, but didn't notice how long I'd been wandering or where I'd even wandered. As I was walking, I came across another stretch of beach that was close to the village, but I saw a girl lying dead in the rocks. I didn't recognize her, so she must be from the Makka tribe maybe (or a nomadic tribe fleeing from strange large boats and pale faced conquerors), but there was a woman standing above her that looked paler than any woman I'd ever seen. Skin pale as snow, eyes red as blood, hair bright as the sun and a look and smell of death to her combined with a strange sweet smell. Not knowing what else to do, I yelled for anyone that might be listening. Whatever this thing was, she'd killed an innocent girl and she needed to be caught. Without a thought and after yelling for help, I ran to the pale faced stranger and tried to restrain her. Too late, I realized the woman…no, a creature, was hard as a rock and overpowered me before I even realized what the hell was happening. I'd only just realized I was on the ground before I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my neck and started feeling lightheaded. Just when I felt myself starting to lose consciousness, I heard the tell tale roars of my tribal men coming and stopping the creature from whatever it was doing.

Taha Aka (Taha Aki's first son with his first wife) and Sakei (Taha Aki's first son with his second wife) tore the creature apart. Barely alive, I started crawling up to my knees as a burning began to spread through my body. I didn't know what was happening to me, but I kept crawling, not knowing what else to do. Sakei and Taha Aka ran back to the village, ignoring whatever they'd just torn apart, and came back a short time later with Taha Aki at their side. By then, I'd managed, somehow (I wasn't completely sure how), to make it to a small bluff where there was a long fall into the ocean. I heard them talking. The pale creature had lived through being torn apart evidently, because it wasn't there when they came back to look for me and they argued over what to do about me since I'd been bitten by whatever this thing was. The burning was becoming too much. I couldn't fight screams anymore. They stopped talking to each other and looked at me as I screamed. Taha Aki walked over to me and kneeled down, having the nerve to show pity in his eyes.

"Are you hurt, brother?" he asked.

"Don't call me brother," I hissed between pained groans. "I don't know what's happening."

"Whatever that thing was, do you think it's poisonous?" Sakei suggested.

"We need to take him back," Taha Aka said. "The medicine man might know what's wrong with him. If we hurry, we might be able to save him!"

"How is he supposed to help him if we don't even know what attacked him? All we have is a pale faced woman that disappeared after you both tore her apart."

"Maybe she's one of those," Taha Ana stopped to think a moment, "Europeans we keep hearing about. Those things that came from the east and have pushed those they've encountered off their lands. Those creatures feared by nomads who've wondered to our lands."

"If that's the case, then we really don't know how to help him," Taha Aki said grimly before pulling out a knife. "Forgive me, brother. I will tell Zurra what happened."

"No," I said weakly, the burning near forcing me from ability to form words. So I spoke while I still could. "I will not let you kill me. I might die, but not by your hand you serpent. I don't know when or how, but somehow, I will make you pay from the afterlife." It was hard to speak. Beside the burning, there was blood in my throat that splashed from my mouth with each word I spoke. "I will haunt you, and when you've paid for what you've done, I will greet you in the afterlife with a smile."

With the last bit of strength I had left, I forced Taha Aki's hands off me, but in doing so, I forced myself over the cliff and fell into the water. By then, it was too much and I couldn't breathe, nor could I swim above the water. I felt myself starting to fade yet again with both the pain of burning and the inability to breathe. But something hard and freezing cold grabbed me and lifted me above the water. Before I even realized I was finally breathing, I was on solid land again, but I couldn't see where we were. It was her. The woman who'd killed that girl, her body fully intact contrary to what should've been. Her hair was wet and clinging to her. I wasn't screaming anymore, but the pain was still there.

"Detis-moi votre nom," she said; her voice high and feminine. Nothing like the voice of a monster, but her voice spoke a strange tongue I'd never heard. I tried telling her I couldn't understand her, but the pain was too great and the blood in my throat still flowing. "Ne vous comprenez français?" She seemed to wait, but I still couldn't answer, even if I could've understood her. Eventually, she looked to her left (my right) towards something, and then she looked back at me, a strange look in her eye. It looked like compassion, but I couldn't be sure. "La douleur s'arrête en trios jours. Nous allons parler lorsque vous avez terminé le changement." It was such a strange language, so different from my own. When she'd said her last set of words, she laid down next to me and kept her hand on my forehead until, three moons later, I breathed out my last breath and the burning finally stopped.

**Present Day**

The thought of Brandon weighed heavy on Travis's mind for a long time. It took a while for Kevin to hear about what happened to Brandon, but when he did, he and Travis spent an hour on the phone talking. And for that hour, Kevin just listened to Travis talk about all the good times he'd had with Brandon and shared a good laugh over the abstract painting of their own stupidity when they were playing _Portal 2_. Kevin had already heard about the events of that day, so he made sure to veer away from it and get Travis to talk about other things. If there was one thing Kevin knew for sure, it was that Travis had talked about it enough and didn't want to talk about it anymore.

Rachael also heard about what'd happened with Mrs. Perry and was very touched about what she'd said. Rachael found out that Mrs. Perry loves gardening, so as a kind gesture and a way to thank her for being so understanding, Rachael sent some Asclepias curassavica (also called blood flowers) to Mrs. Perry with a card saying, _In honor of a beloved son_. Later, Edward, who'd been in the area for a little bit, told Rachael about how Mrs. Perry not only planted those flowers, but she planted them in the front yard where people could see them with the note Rachael had written laminated and poked into the soil as a memorial. That was the last that any of them heard from the Perrys, which could be for the best.

"Hey," David, someone in his and Natalie's class, said to Travis when they were walking into the gym, "I heard about what happened. I'm really sorry, Travis."

"Thanks," Travis said with a small smile, "I really appreciate that." David smiled back and patted Travis's back and then walked away to his usual small group of friends. "How long do you think it'll be before people finally stop bringing it up?"

"Everyone knew you and Brandon were close, even if they didn't know him personally. Suicide's a serious thing."

"It is, but it's not something that I want to be constantly reminded of. I had winter break to really come to terms with it and I don't want everyone coming up to me telling me how sorry they feel for me that my boyfriend killed himself. I just want to remember him and the man he was without people telling me, 'poor you, poor you'. I'm not the one that was cornered into feeling like suicide was the only way out." Travis took a deep breath. "I don't know why he stopped sending letters. What if he started believing that he was doing something sinful?"

"Don't say that. I think ultimately what happened was Brandon felt trapped and like his parents didn't love him because he was gay and combined with the demoralization he had to suffer through, he felt like there was no way out. I think they made him feel guilty for being gay."

"That's the whole point of the program isn't it?" Travis sighed and grabbed a volleyball. It was a free day for gym today, so he and Natalie were just going to play together. "Did Edward tell you that Mrs. Perry planted those flowers my mom sent her?"

"Yeah, I'd heard. She really was always sweet to me."

"Me too. That's why I'm so relieved that she doesn't blame me. I think, deep down, she knew that Brandon didn't deserve to be punished like he was," Travis's eyes started to water a little. He sniffed them back and handed the ball to Natalie. "Let's play. I don't want to start crying in the middle of the gym."

Natalie smiled a little and followed Travis to an appropriate corner of the gym so they could play ball. When school was over, Travis walked home and got changed for work. As he was changing, he looked at the pile in his drawer that held all Brandon's letters that were tied together with a piece of string. He'd considered putting all the letters in one envelope so he wouldn't need to tie them, but he'd decided against it because each envelope had their own dates on them. He lifted the letters out of his drawer and opened up the last one Brandon had sent him. Travis looked at it only for a few moments before he put it back and went to work for the day. He might not like it, but sulking wouldn't make anything better or bring Brandon back. When he got home from work that day, he read the last letter from Brandon again and decided that he needed to move on. That didn't mean he needed to date or anything. All it meant was that he needed to get back to acting normal. It's what Brandon would want.

So that's what Travis did: he started going out again, did things with Natalie whenever she was free, and focused on looking for jobs that would hire him right out of high school. He didn't want to spend all his money on a degree that he ultimately wouldn't even use anyway. Natalie didn't have college plans either. She had enough money saved up that she was going to move to Seattle to be closer to her work and she could afford a nice little apartment and even get a pet if she wanted. Nathan was looking into police training programs. He'd always figured he'd just work at the Forks Police Department, but he'd finally gotten Ada María to agree to move to Washington eventually, so that meant he would work in Port Angeles so that they could be close to family and so she could live in a city next to the water. That way, everyone was happy.

Kyle had a plan mapped out for his schooling and was lucky enough to get the same money and grants that Kevin had. He might be looking at eight or ten years of school if he crammed and played his cards right and passed all his tests that he'd be required to take, but there was still the matter of his and Evalina's long distance relationship. While in college, there really was no way Kyle could afford a home for them to share. It was a matter they'd discussed at length and it was agreed that they would leave the matter of Evalina moving to the US for a time when Kyle was in a position to make a home for the two of them. Kevin, on the other hand, was only another year and a half away from graduating and it looked like he would once again be at the top of his class. He'd done nothing at Yale but take class after class in greater numbers at a time than the average student would even consider and thanks to his devotion to his grades, he would be the first half Native American at Yale to be valedictorian and earn his degree in three and a half years straight out of high school. By next winter, he'll have met all his requirements and would officially earn his degree and license. He wasn't going to do it now, but his last semester Kevin was planning to send out resumes so that he'd have a job immediately after graduating. Thankfully, finding a job at a law firm as a valedictorian of one of the best schools in the world wouldn't take long at all.

Ada María did eventually go back to Brazil because she missed the sunshine and the beaches. She would come back in the summer and would stay until fall. She'd make her move to Washington official after Nathan had a job, a place of his own, and when Ada María was able to get out of her apartment. There was a complicated lease on the place and she needed to get that sorted out. She'd also have to deal with what Raphael would have to say when he found out just how serious Ada María's and Nathan's relationship really was. Until they needed to tell him, Raphael was blissfully in the dark about it.

When it was the end of the school year and Natalie, Nathan and Travis graduated, things had pretty much gotten back to normal. Travis was finally feeling better. He still missed Brandon and he always would, but Brandon wouldn't have wanted him to sob and cry over him for the rest of his life. He didn't have enough for his own car just yet or his own place. So what he did was borrow his mom's car and put out applications to any place in Port Angeles that would be hiring. With a great recommendation from his job at the grocery store, Travis managed to hit the jackpot of jobs: an insurance company that allowed him to work from home. He was working from his room for the time being, but as soon as he could afford a car then an apartment, he'd move out and work from home.

_I admit I'm jealous_, Nathan said to Travis. They were all out on patrol together. Kevin was on patrol too that night. Even if he was in New Haven, it was a good way for him to keep in touch with family and keep everyone in touch with what was going on with him.

_I know, right?_ Jason thought. _If I could just work from home, I'd be so happy. Now all you need to do is get yourself your own place so you're not just cooped up in your room all day._ The group had a laugh, however minor, at Travis's expense.

_Yeah,_ Embry chimed in, _before too long you'll become a socially inept shut in with no one to have coffee breaks with._

_Not completely lonely,_ Travis said. _I'm thinking about getting a cat._

Everyone laughed except Natalie. _Really?_ Natalie asked. _I was considering getting a small dog. Then again, I'm out of the house most of the time, so a dog wouldn't work. Poor thing would get lonely. I wish I weren't allergic to cats._

_Knowing the way your schedule is, I'd be more suited to a dog and you to a cat. I don't want a dog, though. I'm already a dog and I don't want anything too needy. I just want something soft in the house that I can pet from time to time and doesn't bug me for attention constantly. So I'm getting a cat. It'll have to wait until I get my own place._

_Damn straight it will,_ Embry chuckled. _Paul hates cats, so I don't think he'd let you keep one in the house._

_Why do so many men hate cats?_ Natalie asked. _There's nothing wrong with cats. They're cute and cuddly and they leave you alone most of the time. I would think men would love cats. Come one, I'm allergic to cats and I still don't mind them._

_There's just something creepy about cats. They've got those mean eyes and they hiss and make creepy noises. Brie likes cats, but I just don't want one in the house. Honestly, I'm scared that if we have a cat it would suffocate Lauren or Jenna._

_That's ridiculous, Embry_, Natalie said. _A dog would be more likely to hurt a child than a cat would. Besides, I think it'd be good for Jenna and Lauren to have a kitten. Pets are good for kids. We could never have them because mom's sensitive to the smell and such, but you could live with it._

_Yeah, Peanut,_ Embry said. _I really want my house to reek of cat with the litter box in the house. If the girls really want a cat, it's going to be an outdoor cat._

_That's like basically not even having a cat,_ Travis said.

_Exactly,_ Embry said with a chuckle. Finally, everyone else started laughing too.

Seeing as Travis had his own job and was making his own money, Paul decided it was time for his youngest pup to get out of the nest, so he made him an offer. Rachael's old car was paid for and Paul was considering getting himself a new car or giving Rachael a new car. So he told Travis he could pay five thousand for his mom's old white 2008 Ford Focus and Travis accepted. He could always get a newer car with less mileage later on when he could afford it. But with a car to his name, he started looking for decently priced apartments in the Port Angeles area. When he finally found his own place, the pack was more than happy to help him pack and move, especially Paul. Unlike Rachael, Paul was eager to have the house to himself and Rachael. Paul shared Jacob's opinion in that now that the kids were grown, it was time for mommy and daddy to enjoy growing old together; whatever that entailed.

Travis was able to move his dresser, his bed and mattress, and a few other things from his room, but even with the things he was allowed to take his new apartment was still bare and looked almost abandoned. It took another couple of month's worth of saving up. For a while, Travis's office was the only place that looked presentable. But when he was finally able to afford some cheaper furniture around winter time, Natalie went with him to Ikea and helped him pick some nice pieces of furniture that were decently priced. Since he was sick of sleeping on a twin size bed, he also went ahead and splurged on a king sized bed frame and the best and most comfortable mattress that he could afford. Natalie decided to get herself a few things while she was at it and bought Travis a desk chair as a housewarming gift. By the time they were done, Travis had spent a lot more than he would've liked to, but at least now he had furniture and wasn't living like a hobo in an empty apartment.

"I shouldn't have spent that much. I still haven't even bought a TV." Travis shuddered. "I don't even want to think how much it'll cost to buy a decent one."

"You have one."

"Yeah, but it's a tiny one that I keep in my office for background noise. Not to mention, I still want to buy cable." Travis sighed. "I'm glad I saved up so I had some sprucing money."

"You can always put that off until you have enough to buy one you like. Now let's hurry up and get these things dropped off. Nathan's getting tasered today and I don't want to miss it."

Travis laughed, "Oh yeah! I almost forgot about that. He's getting the badge after this right?"

"From what he told me. He'll finally have a job and start getting paid so he's not living off the money he makes at the convenience store. That's a good job for a high school kid, but that's hardly a job that'll keep an adult above water for long. He's just lucky he doesn't have too many expenses."

"I'm not too keen on him being a vampire so often, though." Natalie shrugged at Travis's comment. As a way to save money, Nathan took up his vampire state most of the time so he wouldn't be hungry for food and when he got thirsty he just went into the woods and drank animal blood. It was saving him a lot of money, which he needed, and that's what was important.

"Whatever works for him, it's not like this is permanent anyway. Besides, he doesn't have as much saved up as I do and he doesn't want to move back in with mom and dad because he doesn't have enough money to live on his own."

"Yeah, I know. I just can't wait for him to drop that. The yellow eyes freak me out."

"He's human whenever he's at work and school and he picks food off them when he has to." The two finally parted eventually and went to their own cars so they could drop off their things at their own places. The larger pieces of furniture that Travis and Natalie had bought would be delivered the next day by moving truck and the service, thankfully, included movers that would bring the furniture to them and move it around.

Once they both had their things dropped off at their own places, they met up in the parking lot of the police station that Nathan was having his class at. People weren't typically allowed in the station with recruits, but since it was taser day and families got a kick out of it, the station made an exception for a small number of family members. When Travis and Natalie got into the training room, Nathan was still waiting for his turn and Ada María was standing near the door looking at him.

"Did Nathan go yet?" Natalie asked Ada María.

She shook her head, "No, not yet. He's going in a few more turns. Kevin called a little while ago and asked us to videotape the whole thing for him."

"And I said no," Nathan said, overhearing them. "If Kevin really wanted to watch me be tasered, he could've hopped onto a plane and come to watch."

"Oh come on, Nathan, don't be so unreasonable," Ada María said. "Not everyone can be here to watch and they deserve to see this pivotal moment."

"Why? So they can have it on a loop and laugh at me for a few hours? I don't think so." Nathan was smiling though. He didn't blame anyone for wanting to see how well he could handle being tasered. He was in a human state at the moment too, so it was an even more interesting thing to see.

"Officer?" Ada María asked when the officer that tasered the recruits was about to call Nathan up. He looked at her silently. "I don't suppose you'd let me do it would you? I'm curious."

"No," Nathan said before the officer had a chance to, "no, don't let her. She'll get overzealous." The officers and recruits laughed a little.

"No, ma'am, leave this to the professionals." Then the officer looked at Nathan. "Alright. Nathan Black, please step forward." Nathan took a deep breath and started walking to the appointed spot. He ignored Ada María and Natalie as they both pulled out their phones and turned on the camera function. When he was standing where assigned, the officer looked at him and said, "You ready, newbie?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Nathan answered, "Just shock me."

Without missing a beat, the officer shot the taser and it hit Nathan right on his arm. Nathan didn't yell. He didn't allow himself to yell, especially since he was being filmed during this segment of the training. He did, however, go down to his knees and clench his fists from the pain of being electrocuted. After a few seconds, the officer released the voltage and stopped the pain. Nathan pulled the plate off his arm and near tossed it to the floor taking deep breaths. Travis, Natalie and Ada María were all laughing.

"How was it, meu amor?"

"How do you think, Ada? I just got electrocuted!" Everyone in the room started laughing as Nathan walked back to the line and said nothing for the rest of the class. Ada María kept her video to herself while Natalie sent the video to all their relatives, but only relatives. None relative pack members could hear about it from Nathan's thoughts next time he was on patrol. Among the family members, the video got rave reviews. When the class let out, Natalie and Travis left in their separate cars while Ada María walked out with Nathan hand in hand.

"So you graduate next week?"

Nathan nodded, "Yeah, I do. I'll finally have a decent paycheck from now on." When they got to Nathan's car and were in their seats, Nathan surprised Ada María and pulled her to his lap in the driver's seat. "You know what this means right?"

Ada María smiled wickedly and rubbed her nose against Nathans. "How about you remind me?"

"It means I'll be able to support the two of us. It means you can live with me now."

Ada María sighed and slouched. "I suppose that's true."

"I thought you said you were okay with moving here," Nathan said nervously.

"I know, Nathan, I know. I'm just not particularly looking forward to it. It's not you," she said when she saw Nathan's face fall and she gave him a kiss, "trust me, meu amor, it's not you. It's the weather here. It's so dreary and rainy and I'm not really looking forward to it."

Nathan sighed, "I know, Ada. How about this? You sneak onto planes whenever you come here anyway, so how about we make this move really gradual?"

Ada María tilted her head. "I'm listening."

"I know that you aren't thrilled about Washington, so why don't we do what we've been doing, except instead of just coming and staying for a few months, and then leaving, every time you come over, you bring more and more of your things and move them in gradually. You already have a batch of your clothing stocked at my house, so start adding to that." Ada María stopped and looked to be pondering for a moment. Before long, she looked at Nathan with a smile and gave him a kiss.

"I think that sounds like a great idea. What time frame are we looking at? When would you like my things to be moved in by?"

"Whenever you're ready, Ada. Whenever you can get your landlord to let you off the lease."

"I'm still arguing with him I'm afraid. My apartment isn't exactly a retail paradise and it'll take him forever to get another person to lease on it or even rent it if he's lucky. He's always complaining that before I took the place, it was on the market for years."

"Are you in a bad neighborhood or something?"

"An atrocious neighborhood. I never really had anything to worry about, but the average human has plenty to worry about. There are three other apartments that he's still been unable to get rid of, so he's not very eager to let me move out. If he keeps this up, I might just up and leave without a word. What can he do while I'm in the US?"

Nathan smiled, "Nothing much regardless of where you are. So can we agree on that? You'll make the move gradual so you can get used to the idea of living here. We'll even take vacations to Brazil whenever I can afford it."

Ada María smiled and kissed him, "You're so good to me, Nathan." She kissed Nathan again and the kiss was more passionate this time. Reluctantly, Nathan stopped her and pushed her back into her seat.

"Hold that thought, Ada." Ada María snickered and did as Nathan asked her. Work had been in the morning and with his class done, he was free for the rest of the day. When the two of them got to Nathan's little apartment, Ada María pulled Nathan with her to the bedroom and threw him onto the small mattress.

"One thing is certain," Ada María said as she climbed on top of Nathan. "We're getting a bigger bed if I'm going to live here. This twin size bed is starting to get on my nerves." Nathan chuckled and pulled Ada María down in a kiss.

"If you say so, Ada." Ada María just grinned at Nathan and she ripped off her clothes and his and spent the next hour and a half bringing the two of them to unimaginable heights. After Ada María reached her high and felt Nathan's after he tightened his hold on her, she plopped down onto his chest and kissed him absently. They cuddled a while before Nathan changed and was suddenly cold.

"If you're hungry, I'll get you food. I don't like it when you take this form. I like you warm and firm, not cold and stone-like."

"I know, but I don't want to make you buy me food. I promise I'll stop doing this when I get a little more money coming in." Ada María just sighed and kissed Nathan's chest. She was getting a little too warm anyway, so vampire Nathan could cool her down. "Do you really have to go tomorrow?"

"Yes, Nathan, I do. Especially with this new plan. I like your idea, but I don't want to drag it out on you too much. So here's what I'm planning. I'll go back tomorrow and begin packing my first bundle and arrange to have it sent to your place. Once those things are here, I'll come back and arrange them the way I want. Then I'll go back again to make up my second bundle, send them to you, come back and arrange it to my liking until all my things are here and I'm officially moved in."

"Alright, Ada." Nathan kissed Ada María, "Do you want me to drive you to the airport tomorrow?"

"I'll go myself, meu amor. You've got work in the morning and I won't force you or myself to wake up at an ungodly hour to drop me off at the airport for me to sneak onto a plane." Ada María gave Nathan another kiss. "Call me as soon as my things get to your doorstep and I'll make my way back."

"Okay," Nathan agreed and kissed Ada María back.

Even though she'd told him not to, Nathan insisted on driving her to the airport in the morning. He didn't like it when she just ran to the airport. It made him worry about her more. Before Ada María started sneaking around to her plane, she and Nathan shared a loving goodbye kiss and expressed they loved one another and would miss one another. It was almost six in the morning by the time she was sneaking through the airport looking for a plane that was leaving for Salvador, Brazil either soon or within the hour. She lucked out and caught a plane just as it was about to leave and stayed in the cargo holder of the plane as usual. Any normal human being would never be able to last in that kind of setting, but thanks to having a vampiric lineage, she was more tolerant to drastic temperatures, especially cold ones, but that didn't stop her from mooching off people's luggage and putting on several layers of clothing. She felt a little bad for the airport she frequented. People must think someone on the staff is changing around people's luggage for fun when really it was just her forgetting who's clothes had been where.

When the plane landed, she hurried to put clothes back in suitcases and hid to a far side of the holder and waited for a chance to quickly slip out without being seen. When she was outside the airport and free to be seen, Ada María stretched and reached her arms up and took a deep breath of the scorching hot air with the burning hot sun beating down on her skin. This is what did it. She would resolve to move to Washington, but the bright hot sun always made her waver. But this time, she was determined. Just as Nathan said, she could visit Brazil whenever she wanted and they could make an actual vacation of it whenever he could afford it. She was a long distance from her apartment, but she decided to just walk and enjoy the hot sunshine. At a human pace, Ada María took about four hours to walk to her apartment complex and the first thing she did when she got into her apartment was pull out her phone book and look for the name and number of an international moving company that would be able to move furniture for her. She decided to use an international company that she found and set a date for later that week to have the movers move the first batch of her things.

Ada María walked through her apartment after she hanged up on the company to look for reasonable things to move. She decided she'd start with her bed mantle. Her current mattress was a piece of crap and she had every intention of throwing it out on the street for a hobo or cheap family to take. She could use the week to hunt and steal enough money that she'd be able to buy herself and Nathan a new, more suitable mattress to be put on her mantle. She looked over her bed sheets critically. They were cheap faux silk sheets that were perfect for scorching hot weather, but not for frigid cold winters and constant rain, but she didn't have the heart to get rid of them. Cheap or not, she really did like these sheets. So she decided she'd keep them and just buy a huge blanket for those colder nights. She'd save that for the last minute, though. Her decision made on the mantle and mattress, Ada María glanced at her huge dresser.

"Isso é definitivamente vem comigo,"_ (that's definitely coming with me) _Ada María mumbled to herself about the dresser. Nathan didn't have a dresser. He had a closet that he piled clothes in. She walked over to her dresser and proceeded to pull out the remainder of her clothes. She put five shirts and five pairs of shorts on the floor to stay here and put the rest in a huge suitcase that she'd stolen years ago from some broad visiting from England…at least she thought it was England. Maybe Ireland or Scotland or Australia. They all sounded the same to her.

That was another thing she'd have to start getting used to. She was so used to making her living by ripping people off, stealing their things and their money, and making a meal of them. She might have to get a job, but what job would she even get? She had never worked a day in her life, so how was she supposed to find herself a decent job that kept her busy during the day and contributed to hers and Nathan's finances? Ada María groaned a little to herself. She'd be damned if she became a damn cleaning lady. Of all the things to actually apply in her life that her father taught her, it was that damned self entitlement to more. Then again, that was what got her in her slutty ways before Nathan to begin with, among many other things.

"Foda," Ada María swore to herself. Then she sighed heavily and gently tapped her head. "Você terá que conseguir um emprego, puta. Acostume-se." _(You'll have to get a job, puta. Get used to it.)_

Putting that little topic from her mind, Ada María finished packing the remainder of the clothes she'd be taking with this bundle. With that done, she went to her bathroom and looked around. She'd bought some more shampoo and body wash a long time ago when Nessie started letting her use their house and now that Nathan had his own place, her things were there. She'd have to bring more, though. She started debating whether she should buy her toiletries or just steal them. Ultimately, she opted to steal them. Ada María liked to brag to Laura about stealing her things and teased Laura endlessly for buying her things. It was nothing to laugh at, of course, but she enjoyed poking fun at the woman who'd managed to perform a miracle and turn Marcelo into a positive contribution to society instead of a thieving womanizer that had made himself rich just stealing from his victims. Ada María had done as much herself. That reminded her, she'd have to call Marcello and let him know she would be leaving Brazil for good soon.

Marcello was always better at relaying news to their father. Ada María wasn't sure if it was because Marcelo was a better speaker or simply because Marcelo was a man and hence father was more inclined to listen to him. Either way, Marcelo would be telling Rafael about Ada María's plans, not her. She'd deal with him only when she had to. Yaretzi insisted to her daughter that Rafael loved her, but she wasn't too sure. Some of Ada María's toiletries were still packed from her last visit, so she just kept those in the bag on her countertop. Deciding she wanted to be clean before she went out tonight, Ada María stepped into the shower and washed up. When she was clean, she walked around her apartment naked while she dried off the rest of the way. She could send her couch so they had one until she could find a better one. She'd never realized how bad some of her furniture was, but then, she was hardly in her apartment most of the time. In fact, her apartment was surprisingly sparse in furniture. Maybe it wouldn't take more than one batch to move after all.

With a shrug, Ada María went back to her room and put on a pair of shorts and a tank top. Last minute, she decided to wear panties and a bra. She was feeling really dirty for some reason and it felt necessary. Her breasts were feeling oddly tender too. Ada María shrugged it off and decided to take a nap before beginning her nightly exploits. She woke up a few hours later in a night sweat and the sun was down. She looked at her clock, which read midnight. Perfect! She got out of bed and left her apartment to roam the streets. Sure, she lived in a really bad neighborhood, but it made her life easier. She could get away with a lot more than she would if she lived in a nicer part of the city. Her first stop was a bar a couple blocks away from her house. She usually sat in a corner and waited for someone (or several people) to come in and get so drunk they wouldn't argue with her or even consider her dangerous. That way she could seduce them into ignoring the fact that she was stealing their wallets and kill them. The first part used to be easier when she actually slept with them, but she just didn't want to anymore, so she didn't bother with it.

A half hour after she got to the bar, nursing a glass of water, a large group of foreigners came in. Her luck just kept improving. Foreigners were always a good target. She'd even made it a tradition to throw her head back and laugh every time one of them thought Brazilians spoke Spanish. Sadly, that wouldn't be the case this night. All these foreigners were speaking to the bartender in broken Portuguese with an English to Portuguese dictionary handy. There were about seven of them. Between all of them, they'd definitely have more than enough money in cash and on their cards. It was the American money she wanted anyway. Reals were better than pesos by a long shot, but American money was still better and it would cost more than it's worth to have reals converted. Ada María only kept a close eye on the large group of foreigners. If she associated with them with witnesses, she could be questioned when they were found dead. She'd narrowly avoided trouble when she was still young in Brasilia. She'd been four, young and naïve. She'd flirted with a man in a bar for hours, witnesses remembering her well, before she left the bar with that man. She'd slept with him, killed him, drank his blood, and left him for dead. Two weeks later, police found her and questioned her for hours. She'd been so embarrassed when daddy had to find a way to get her out of trouble by swearing that she'd been with them the night the man was killed. That was when she'd moved to Salvador and she'd learned her lesson well from that night on. If she associated with her victims, she made sure bar patrons never saw her do it.

The foreigners seemed to be young. College students maybe. Either way, they were far enough away from home that it would be a very long time before anyone realized they were missing. The group spent at least an hour in the bar, but they didn't drink as much as she would've liked them to. When they paid their tab and left, Ada María non-chalantly followed the group outside. She followed them for about a block before she decided the streets were clear for her to attack. Ada María ran to them and went right for the tall blonde one. He looked like easy pickings and like he would be easy to win over.

"Olá luz do sol. Você está no clima para uma transa rápida no beco?" _(Hello sunshine. Are you in the mood for a quickie in the back alley?)_ The blonde guy in the group stared at her blankly and immediately pulled out his phrase book looking up what Ada María had just said.

"Sorry, I'm not really good at speaking Portuguese," he said absently.

"Mark, what are you doing? She's probably a prostitute or something."

Ada María snickered and retorted in English. "I am many things, but I've never been a prostitute."

The guy looked at Ada María. "Why didn't you just speak English from the get go?"

"I assumed you spoke Portuguese," Ada María answered flippantly. She smiled at the blonde guy. She was relieved that she'd been right about them being American. "So what do you say, Sunshine? Would you like to have your way with a local?" The group had a collective laugh and the blonde looked really flattered. Of course, the three girls in the group (it figures) had half a brain.

"Mark, let's just keep going. She's probably just trying to take your money."

"Oh come on Lori," one of the brunette men said to the girl who spoke, "stop being such a wet blanket. If Mark wants to diddle a local, let him."

"Actually," Ada María interrupted. She wanted to figure out a way to get all of them in the alley with her. Otherwise she'd have to spend the rest of the night picking them off one by one and she wasn't in the mood to waste her time with it. "How about all of you take a swing at me? Let me show you all what a Brazilian's really capable of." Technically, she was Chilean, but that wasn't important.

"Really," the brunette that had spoken before said with a chuckle. The other guys in the group grinned and another brunette spoke up.

"I've never gang banged before," he said with a chuckle. The guys all walked closer to her, but the girls in the group still weren't convinced.

"You guys are all morons. Come on, our house moms were expecting us hours ago. We've made them wait long enough."

"We're already late," Sunshine said, "they can live with us being another hour late. You know," he looked at the three girls in the group, "we could make this a little more fun if you guys joined us." The three brunette men agreed and Ada María grinned. They were doing her work for her.

"I assure you, ladies," Ada María said, making accent just a little thicker, sultrier, "I know my way around a woman just as well as I know my way around a man." The guys laughed.

"There you have it," Sunshine said, "come on, Claire, Lori, Karin. Don't spoil the fun."

Lori rolled her eyes. "You're idiots, all of you. You guys do what you want. I'm going home." Lori started walking away and the other two did too. Well, Ada María thought, this posses quite a problem. They'd seen her and now they were leaving. She could follow them later, but for now, she had four drunk men to contend with.

Now that the three girls were gone, Ada María led the men with her between two buildings and, just for greater effect, pulled on the strings of her bra and tank top and pulled them down so they could see her breasts. They smiled and near stampeded towards her and Sunshine was the first to get to her. He grabbed her and started groping her breasts. She let it go until the other three were close enough. She never stopped smiling at them as she grabbed Sunshine's head and snapped his spine while he was kissing her neck. He fell to the ground and Ada María killed the other three before it fully dawned on them that their friend was dead.

"Lori estava certo," _(Lori was right)_ Ada María said as she pulled her top back on. "Vocês são todos idiotas." _(You are all idiots)_. She was thirsty first and foremost, so Ada María kneeled down and drank Sunshine's blood. When she was done with him, she went to one of his friends. Halfway through drinking his friend's blood, Ada María felt an awful pressure in her throat. She pulled away from her second victim and vomited. All the blood she'd just drank was now on the cobblestone and all over her legs and shorts. She was dizzy for a moment before she recollected herself. Well this was just great. Now she would need to go up on the rooftops and get back to her apartment without being seen.

"Parece um massacre de volta aqui." _(It looks like a massacre back here)_ Ada María turned while still crouching down and ended up falling on her ass….right into the blood she'd just vomited up. She sighed and groaned when she realized it was just Laura.

"O Marcelo sei que você está aqui?" _(Does Marcelo know you're here?)_

Laura smiled, not able to help how silly Ada María looked at the moment. "Sim, ele sabe que estou aqui. Estou de férias então ele me pediu para vir verificar-se sobre você. Você já esteve nos estados muito mais no ano passado. Estou contente por ter pego você, enquanto você está em casa." _(Yes he knows I'm here. I'm on vacation so he asked me to come check up on you. You've been in the states a lot more this past year. I'm glad I caught you while you're home.)_

"Acabou," _(Just barely)_ Ada María mumbled.

Laura got a better look at her and became concerned. "Você está bem? Você parece muito pálido." _(Are you alright? You look really pale.)_

"Eu faço?" _(I do?)_ Ada María pulled herself to her feet and rubbed her head. She wasn't feeling dizzy anymore at least. "Eles devem ter sido mais álcool bêbado do que eu pensava." _(They must have drunk more alcohol than I thought.)_

"Evidentemente," Laura said and she walked closer to Ada María. "Eu vou ajudá-lo a voltar para casa." _(I'll help you get back home.)_

"Não, eu possa voltar a mim mesmo." _(No I can get back myself.)_ Ada María mumbled to Laura. She collected herself and grabbed the wallets of all the men on the ground. "Três de seus amigos viu-me e fui para casa. Eu vou mudar e seguir o sue perfume. Lidar com esses caras, se você quiser ajudar." _(Three of their friends saw me and went home. I'll go change and follow their scent. Deal with these guys if you want to help.)_

Laura was about to say something, but she decided to leave well enough alone and disposed of the bodies for Ada María. Something seemed off about her and she didn't want to rock the boat. Ada María climbed up the side of a building and started making her way back home. Most apartment complexes in Salvador were one long line of buildings right next to each other in a huge variety of colors. Her favorite unit was painted a bright purple with pink shutters. It was the only one that wasn't covered in profane graffiti. When she hopped onto the roof of her apartment, she climbed to her window and let herself in and changed into a different pair of shorts and a new tank top. She looked down at her shoes and sighed heavily. They were tracking blood all over the floor. Thank goodness she didn't have carpet. She didn't know a single person that had carpet in their home in this kind of climate. She wished she could have those stone floors like what Laura and Marcelo have in their apartment, though. Her apartment just had cheap linoleum. A simple bucket of water would be enough to clean up the blood.

Then in dawned on her that there were probably footprints leading to her apartment. What the hell was she thinking? Ada María took off her shoes and threw them in the trash and put on another pair of sandals. She took a deep breath and started walking to the streets again. It was two in the morning; who would see her at this hour besides druggies and gangsters that no one took seriously? She turned to retrace her steps so she could follow the girls she'd let go, but she screeched when Laura seemingly popped out of nowhere.

"Filho da puta, Laura! Não deslocar-se sobre mim como aquele!" _(Son of a bitch Laura! Don't sneak up on me like that!)_

Laura closed the distance and kept her voice in a whisper. "Gritar um pouco mais alto, Ada María. Eu não acho que policial na estrada ouvi." _(Yell a little louder, Ada María. I don't think that cop down the road heard you.)_ Laura started patting Ada María's back to calm her down. "Você tem sorte que eu estou aqui, ou você teria um longo rastro de pegadas sengrentas para limpar por conta própria." _(You're lucky I'm here or you would have a long trail of bloody footsteps to cleanup on your own.)_ Laura looked Ada María over a moment to make sure she was completely free of blood. "O que há de errado com você? Você está sendo descuidado." _(What's wrong with you? You're being careless.)_ Ada María shook her head.

"Nada. Obrigado por limpar. Eu vou cuidar do resto." _(Nothing. Thanks for cleaning up. I'll take care of the rest.)_ Ada María left Laura and retraced her steps until she reached the alley where she'd taken those guys. True to her word, Laura cleaned away the bodies as if nothing had happened. The smell wasn't hard to follow. All three of them had been wearing heavy perfume that smelled like candy on steroids. That was a celebrity scent if she ever did smell one. It was made all the stronger because even in the night, it was hot and making smells that much stronger. As she was following the smell, she started heaving again. The smell was too much. She fell to her knees and started dry heaving.

"Você está bem?" _(Are you alright?)_ Ada María looked up and saw Lídia standing a few paces from her. Lídia was an acquaintance of Ada María's, but she wouldn't call her a close friend. Ada María stood up and smiled.

"Eu estou bem. Você por acaso ver três mulheres americanas nesta estrada?" _(I'm alright. Did you by chance see three American women on this road?)_

"As mulheres que deixaram essa trilha de um cheiro doce na estrada?" _(The women that left this candy trail of a smell on the road?)_ Ada María nodded. "Eu matei-os. Eu tive beber o seu sangue a partir de sua axial. Estas gajas tinham perfume em todos os lugares." _(I killed them. I had to drink their blood from their armpit. Those broads had perfume everywhere.)_

Ada María hissed under her breath. "Você falando sério?" _(Are you serious?)_ Lídia walked over and tossed three purses onto the ground.

"Eu suponho que é o que você queria." _(I assume that's what you wanted.)_ Ada María glanced up at Lídia before rummaging through the purses and found the wallets. She pulled out the cash she would convert and their cards.

"Obrigado," _(Thank you)_ Ada María said as she stood up.

"Você tem sido bastante hoarder o dinheiro recentemente. Você está economizando para alguma coisa?" _(You've been quite the money hoarder recently. Are you saving for something?)_ Lídia grabbed one of the purses back that she had a liking for.

"Apenas poupar dinheiro. Obrigado por me trazer as suas bolsas." _(Just saving money. Thank you for bringing me their purses.)_ Ada María waved goodbye to Lídia and made her way back to her apartment. All that was left was to drain the bank accounts and put it all in Bianca Bedo's name. The Cullen's weren't the only ones with access to a shady lawyer that gave out legal documents for a price. The bank thought her name was Bianca, so if anything went wrong, the police would be looking for a phantom, second cousin to La Llorona. Before she sent her first bundle of things, she'd withdraw everything she had saved up and bring it with her. It might take a while for her to find a job, but at least she would be contributing in some manner. How ironic that she made most of her money by being a thief and a murderer and she was marrying a cop. A man that would be a cop in a few days at least. When Ada María got back, Laura was in her apartment unexpectedly.

"Havia sangue no seu piso. Eu limpo isso para você." _(There was blood on your floor. I cleaned that for you.)_ Laura walked closer to Ada María. "Está deixando para Washington de novo? Eu pensei que você acabou de voltar." _(Are you leaving for Washington again? I thought you just got back.)_

"Eu decidi viver com Nathan. Eu estou começando coisas juntos e enviá-los para o seu lugar em lotes." _(I've decided to live with Nathan. I'm getting things together and sending them to his place in batches.)_

Laura raised an eyebrow. "Sério?"

"Sério," Ada María answered. "Certifique-se de dizer Marcelo quando você voltar para casa." _(Be sure to tell Marcelo when you go home.)_

"Quando vai embora?" _(When are you leaving?)_

"Mais tarde esta semana. Eu preciso esperar para profissionais de mover minhas coisas." _(Later this week. I need to wait for professionals to move my things.)_

"Você já disse Rafael?" _(Have you told Rafael?)_ Ada María didn't answer, causing Laura to sigh heavily. "Quer Marcelo para lhe dizer." _(You want Marcelo to tell him.)_

"Se não for pedir muito," _(If it's not too much to ask)_ Ada María said with a smile.

Laura shrugged, "Vou deixar Marcelo sabe." _(I'll let Marcelo know.)_

Laura stayed over for a few more hours. She didn't leave until Ada María practically pushed her out of her apartment so she could get some sleep. When she woke up in the early afternoon, she went right to her computer and started transferring money. Most of the money she had were reals, and after she converted everything, she'd have enough money to contribute to rent for a few years. Unless Nathan wanted to get a better apartment. She wouldn't be opposed to that. In fact, she may just suggest it. When all the money was transferred, she went to her bathroom and took another shower. She should've done it last night when she came home, but she didn't want to risk losing those girls. When she was clean, she toweled off some of the water and walked out of her bathroom drip drying the rest of the way.

She looked at the time. It was only five o'clock; far too early to start stalking victims and stealing money. She began walking out of her room when she passed her mirror. She only glanced at herself, but when she did, she saw something that hadn't been there. The tiniest little bump that had gone unnoticed even by her until now. She touched it, thinking she was gaining weight somehow. But she only drank blood and that was hardly a high calorie diet. When she could feel the minuet bump's firmness, she realized what it was.

"Foda," She swore to herself. This was unbelievable, she couldn't be pregnant. The damn Mirena was supposed to be 99.9% effective. Sure, that offered margin for error, but it was a one in a million chance….that seemed to fall on Nessie too if she recalled correctly. "Espere," _(wait)_ she mumbled absently to herself.

This just didn't seem right. She'd used nothing but this method for over twenty years and now she was expected to believe that it failed after being sexually involved with Nathan for a year? Then she remembered something her gynecologist had told her when she first started using the system. It was rare, but there was a chance that Mirena could fall out. She took a deep breath and went to her bathroom to retrieve a hand mirror. The only way she'd know was if she just looked and she didn't have time to go to her gynecologist and make an appointment just to look into her vagina. She'd figured out how to check that herself, so she'd do it herself. She knew what to look for. If she saw strings at her cervix, then it was in. If there were no strings, it had somehow gotten out without her noticing. That's the part she didn't get. How the hell did she not notice?

With her little hand mirror in hand and her homemade gadget she used to keep her canal open, Ada María did a fast check and lo and behold, there were no strings, meaning it had fallen out. She groaned and cleaned her gadget before putting it away. She walked over to her nightstand which held her phone and began to dial Nathan's number, but then she stopped. Instead, she called the moving company and told them they needed to be at her house tomorrow and move everything. Then she called Marcelo.

"Laura me diz que vai viver com Nathan," _(Laura tells me you're going to live with Nathan)_ Marcelo said once he answered.

"Sim," Ada María answered, "Já falou para o pai?" _(Have you told father?)_

"Eu dizendo a ele quando eu chegar em casa do trabalho. Ele vai ser muito dolorida quando ele descobre. Espero que esteja preparado," _(I'm telling him once I get home from work. He's going to be really sore when he finds out. I hope you're prepared)_ Marcelo said with a chuckle.

"Esperar mais tempo para lhe dizer. Isso ficou um pouco mais complicado." _(Wait longer to tell him. This just got a little more complicated)_. There was an awkward silence at the other end of the line suddenly. Then Marcelo took a deep breath.

"Está gravida assumo?" _(You're pregnant I assume?)_ Ada María sighed.

"Obrigado por descobrir isso em vez de me dizer-lhe." _(Thanks for figuring it out instead of making me tell you.)_

"Você tem um plano para corrigir isso?" _(Do you have a plan to fix this?)_

"Ainda não. Vou chamá-lo e deixá-lo saber quando dizer pai. E enviar mais de Laura para que ela possa ter minhas coisas prontas para os motores amanhã. Saindo para Washington hoje." _(Not yet. I'll call you and let you know when to tell father. And send Laura over so she can have my things ready for the movers tomorrow. I'm leaving for Washington today.)_

Marcelo sighed heavily, but did agree to keep this from father until she said otherwise and that Laura would be over to help the movers. When Ada María hanged up the phone, she got dressed and packed away her other clothes that she'd left on the floor. The clothes covered in blood she tossed in the sink and burned. She didn't have a smoke detector, so that wasn't a problem. She had to re-ignite them a few times, but they did finally burn away to nothing and she was able to wash them down the sink. After that, she took her suitcase of clothes and smaller suitcase of all her toiletries and placed them at the door. In her kitchen, she placed a note for Laura to find on what stayed, what went, and how she wanted it done. She did get a little giggle at the thought of when Laura would undoubtedly call her and let her know exactly how she felt about being treated like a servant. Finally, Ada María carted her things down to the street and walked until she found a taxi to hail. She had the taxi drop her off at a bank and she presented proof that she was Bianca Bedo and informed them she was going to take her business elsewhere and needed all her money.

With all her money in hand and converted to American money, she hailed one more taxi and made him drive her to the airport. It was a little harder to sneak through the airport with two suitcases and two huge silver cases of money, but somehow she managed to get onto the next plane to California. From there, she'd get onto the next plane to Washington. By the time she was in Seattle, it was four in the morning and she'd never get a taxi to drive her to Port Angeles. She wanted to call one of the Cullens or even Natalie to come and get her, but then she'd have to explain why she was back so soon and she didn't want to do that. She wanted to keep this between her and Nathan for the time being. This wasn't exactly good timing. He could barely take care of himself at the moment, let alone a child. Ada María shoved the two cases of money into her larger suitcase and forced it shut and began her walk to Nathan's apartment. It would be a long trek, but maybe she'd get lucky and someone would pull over and pick her up. She was already pregnant, what other shenanigans could she possibly get into?

It took her a few minutes to reach the highway, but when she did she started running. She didn't want to take half a day to walk to Nathan's apartment. If she ran the whole way, she'd take at least half that time. As she was running, it of course started raining. But she kept running until she reached Nathan's apartment in the early afternoon. She was soaking wet and so were her suitcases, which meant her clothes were probably all soaked too by now. She brought her luggage to the bathroom and put them in the shower so water wouldn't get everywhere. Then she removed all her toiletries and arranged them around the bathroom to her liking. Her moving in with Nathan wasn't the issue she was concerned with. He'd let her move in with him in a heartbeat and she was counting on it. Then she removed her clothes and took all her clothes in the suitcase to the washing machine and set it. She doubted serious that Nathan would bring anyone over, so her walking around naked was hardly a problem.

She rested her hand on her belly as she leaned against the washing machine. It didn't seem to have gotten bigger since yesterday afternoon. Maybe a little bigger if she looked really closely. She wondered if her pregnancy would be longer because the percentage of vampire this kid had wasn't certain. She might be two thirds, but Nathan was only a third vampire and that meant….at least half vampire? Or did that mean the kid would be a third? How did…fuck it, she wasn't good at math. She didn't feel any kicking yet, but she knew the baby was there. Ada María kept taking deep breaths and playing in her mind how she was going to tell Nathan and what they were going to do. An abortion simply wasn't an option. Carlisle would never agree to perform one for her, and even if he did, there was no guarantee that it would be successful or work right. One thing was certain: her amniotic sac was thick like a vampire's skin….unless all women's pregnant stomachs felt like rocks. She groaned to herself. What would they do? More importantly, what would Rafael do when he found out? He was already annoyed with Ada María for her lifestyle choices and never had a problem voicing that opinion. How much worse would it be if he found out she was pregnant and unmarried? He'd go completely ape shit! Vampire or not, he was a firm and devoted (especially when it was convenient) Catholic and he already lectured her endlessly about being so loose with her sexuality. How would he react when he found out she was pregnant out of wedlock? Her baby wouldn't have a father!

She took a deep breath trying to calm herself down. Panicking would do nothing to help her situation. She just needed to relax and wait for Nathan to get home and tell him what was going on. She'd received a text from him while she was in the air saying he'd received his badge and how proud he was. She didn't get the text until she landed, but she was happy for him. Today would be his first day on the job as a hotshot cop. Once they'd worked out the details of this matter, she'd have to remember to make Nathan wear his uniform as foreplay some time. Nothing was sexier than a man in a uniform. Except a black man with bleach white teeth. That might just be sexier. But Nathan was a tan man with bright, white, straight American teeth _and_ was a man in uniform. It just doesn't get better than that. Her heart started to flutter with excitement with the thought and that's when she felt a kick.

It took her by surprise, this kick. It was so small, but she noticed it. Ada María placed her hand over her bump and tried feeling for another. A few seconds later, another kick followed and she realized she was smiling and getting teary eyed. She stared at the bump, still smiling, and started rubbing it. It was such a strange feeling, but she wanted to feel it again. Hoping to initiate another kick, Ada María started singing to the baby. Little Incan folk songs that Yaretzi had sung to her and Marcelo when they were little. Continuing to sing to the bump with a huge grin on her face, Ada María walked over to the bedroom and sat down on the twin bed. Forty minutes later, her laundry was done washing and she threw her clothes in the dryer to dry. Figuring she should, Ada María took yet another shower to wash away all the rain. When she was clean and warmer, she finally put clothes on and went back to Nathan's bed and waited for him. It was starting to get late. She wondered how long he'd end up being out. Then, when it was midnight, she realized he was probably on patrol tonight too. Damn it! She'd have to wait until the morning.

When her clothes were dried, she brought them together and piled them up. She'd have to make due until her dresser arrived and she'd have a place to put her clothes. She made a mental note to herself to buy some desperately needed hangers for her and Nathan. Yes, he folded his clothes at least, but leaving them on the floor was just setting them up to get dirty faster. With her clothes dry, Ada María went to Nathan's bed and fell asleep. She'd had a long day and she was exhausted. She did get a text that woke her at around one in the morning from Laura. It was just a middle finger and it made her laugh and answer with an, 'I love you too, Laura,' and put her phone down so she could go back to sleep. When she woke up, it was to the feel of Nathan's arms around her and the feel of him kissing her neck. She began sighing as she woke and turned so she was facing Nathan. He didn't look concerned, so she assumed he didn't notice her small bump.

"Morning Nathan," Ada María said and kissed Nathan's nose.

"Morning. What're you doing back so soon? Did your stuff already make it here?"

"No," Ada María said, "I'm back for good. Laura's handling the rest of my things and they should arrive soon."

Nathan looked confused. "I thought we would do this gradually? Why the sudden change of plan?"

Ada María smiled and kissed Nathan again. "Something came up that required we speed things up." Nathan looked concerned. She was surprised he'd figured it out from just that.

"Did something happen with the landlord? He didn't hurt you or anything did he?" Oh, Ada María thought. She wasn't even thinking about the landlord.

"No, no, if anything went on with him, Laura dealt with it. Nothing's really wrong." Nathan relaxed and held Ada María a little tighter. She loved it when he did that.

"Okay. If there's nothing wrong, what happened that we need to speed things up? Did your dad find out? How upset is he about this?"

"Not as upset as he will be," she mumbled to herself. Nathan looked confused again and she realized she was procrastinating. So she took Nathan's hand that was already around her waist and moved it down so that it was covering her little bump. She wasn't even sure if he'd notice it. He certainly didn't show whether or not he did. "I'm pregnant," she said bluntly. Nathan looked at her for a while. He wasn't angry, he didn't seem sad or upset, but he didn't look like he was about to jump for joy either. After staring at her for far too long in silence, Nathan looked down where she'd placed his hand. Nathan gently pushed her onto her back and lifted up her shirt just enough to show the bump more distinctly. It had gotten slightly bigger she noticed. When Nathan finally did speak, he asked the question she expected.

"I thought you were on that Mirena thing. I know there's margin for error, but if it had taken, wouldn't the way it's shaped make you miscarry or something?"

"It fell out."

"Fell out? How?"

"I don't know, honestly. I know it sounds silly, but I just never felt it fall out. Either way, it failed and I'm pregnant."

Nathan kept his eyes on her bump. "It looks like it." Again, Nathan didn't sound angry in any way. He still didn't sound happy, but now he didn't look surprised either. He looked miles away, in fact, while he kept rubbing her bump gently. Ada María brought her hand to Nathan's and smiled.

"The baby was kicking while I did laundry yesterday. I started singing to it and the baby kicked more." Nathan looked up at Ada María at last.

"Really?" Then he looked at the bump again. "So small and he's already a kicker."

Ada María giggled, "What makes you divine a boy?"

"I don't know," Nathan said as he brought his ear to the bump. "Just a hunch."

"And if it's a girl?" Nathan turned his head so he was looking at Ada María so he could answer her.

"She'll be as beautiful as her mother." Ada María smiled and caressed Nathan's face.

"Are you happy to be a father?" Finally, Nathan left the bump and came up to Ada María so he could give her kiss.

"Yes," he said after the kiss. "Are you happy to be a mother, Ada?" She took a moment to think of the best way to answer. She'd never pictured herself having kids. She certainly wasn't happy when she'd found out over twenty four hours ago. But now, the baby had grown on her and she wanted it.

"I'm happy to be a mother to your child," she finally answered. "I think if I'd ever been pregnant with some victim's child, I'd have probably stashed the kid onto Marcelo and Laura and told them to deal with it." She snickered. "Laura would have a mouthful to say about that if it'd ever happened. This baby," Ada María kissed Nathan, "I wouldn't give up for the world." Nathan smiled, touched by Ada María's remark and gave her another kiss.

"I love you, Ada."

"I love you too, Nathan."

He started kissing her neck. "Have you told anyone besides me?"

"I told Marcelo, but I asked him to keep it quiet until you and I have had a chance to talk about this and what we were going to do." Nathan kept kissing her neck and collarbone.

"Well, besides discussing whether or not we were happy, what else did you want to talk about?"

"First of all," Ada María started without hesitation, "we need to move into a bigger apartment pronto. This place is hardly big enough for a family. I'm having some furniture sent over and we're using my bed mantle. I'll buy a new mattress for us and we'll use my sheets. They're faux silk and a heavy blanket will be enough to keep us warm in the winter. Once we tell your side of the family, we'll have baby things flying in. A baby isn't cheap, Nathan, and we need a little help, especially in our predicament—" Nathan stopped her suddenly with a kiss. It was momentary and he took over the conversation once he pulled away.

"I'll get off work early today. When I do, I'll rent a suit, you can buy yourself a nice dress, we'll buy our wedding bands, and we can be married by the end of the day. It'll be just the two of us in a room full of people waiting in line to get married. How about it?"

"Married?" Ada María asked Nathan. He just looked at her and let her think it through. "Nathan, you don't have to marry me just because you got me pregnant. Just because father expects me to act like a proper little Catholic girl doesn't mean I do."

"I'm not asking because you're pregnant, Ada. I'm asking because I love you and I want to. I'm asking because I want to put a ring on your finger and make sure everyone knows you're mine and they can't have you." He earned a smile from Ada María then. "Sure, the baby's a little sudden, but you know what? Shit happens. I want to marry you because I love you, Ada. Will you marry me?"

Ada María laughed a little. "Was this what you had in mind when you decided to propose to me?"

Nathan grinned, "No. I was planning to do something romantic like take you on a walk along the beach, propose to you at sunset, and then we'd have sex on the rocks. You've always said you wanted to do that. Or maybe get Natalie to do me a favor and have someone perform a song for us at the Red Night so I could propose to you over a dance. But since we've got this," Nathan touched Ada María's bump, "little guy to worry about, I'm not really prepared with anything romantic right this minute."

"I think this was very romantic," Ada María reassured as she managed to climb on top of Nathan and make sure they didn't fall off the tiny bed. "I would love to marry you, Nathan. Just the two of us, me in a sweet little white dress, you in a nice suit, and a line of people waiting their turn to get married. I have all my legal documents and a fake green card."

"So we'll be married by tonight." They both smiled at each other and shared a kiss. It had been four when Nathan got home, but when it came to be six, Nathan had to break away and get ready for work. It was the first time Ada María got to see him in his new uniform and she was really excited to see it.

"You look so authoritative," she said when he was finished getting ready. Nathan chuckled.

"That's the point I guess. I have the police cruiser, so you can take my usual car. I noticed you have some cash, so do what you want with that and find a nice dress for tonight. I'll rent a suit on my way home and I'll try to be home by five. Then we'll leave and go to the courthouse. I don't know if we'll be able to sneak in buying rings today, but we'll definitely get it done tomorrow."

Ada María shook her head, "I'll take care of it. Father always said as long as the rings match, the marriage will be a happy one. I'll buy myself a gold band and I'll get you the same. Do you have a ring I can use so they know what size to make?"

"My class ring should do it," Nathan answered, pointing at his nightstand drawer. "Do you want me to get you an engagement ring? I can probably scrounge up the money for a nice little diamond." Ada María shook her head and closed the distance between her and Nathan, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I don't want a diamond. They're too common," then she kissed Nathan's nose. "You're a light brown when you're in your wolf form. I want a topaz," she kissed his lips, "the color of your coat."

Nathan kissed her back, "A topaz it is then."

After another loving kiss, Nathan finally left for work, leaving Ada María alone to get her excursions for the day done. She looked outside and groaned. It had snowed since she'd fallen asleep. She rummaged through her clothes until she found her heavy sweater and dark wash pants. Her fur coat and furry boots were in Nathan's coat closet at the front. When she was dressed, she walked out and made her way to the jewelers she knew was somewhere near the mall. When she found it, she walked in and asked for two gold bands, nothing flashy. They sized her finger and used Nathan's class ring to size his and promised to have the rings done by Tuesday (four days from then). Not wanting to wait that long, she asked if there was a way to get them made by tomorrow, or better yet, that night. Evidently, there was, but it cost another hefty sum. With a polite smile, Ada María paid the express fee and was assured they'd be ready for pick up the next morning. When Ada María was in the car, she secretly cursed the woman for charging so much and drove to the closest dress shop she could find that wasn't selling wedding gowns and prom dresses. She didn't have time for a full blown wedding gown and a prom dress would make her look cheap.

She found a little dress shop that looked to be formal fashion, but didn't see any wedding or prom dresses, so she had hope. When she walked into the little shop, she looked desperately for a white dress that would be wedding appropriate and that wouldn't over-accentuate her baby bump. She told the shop assistant what she wanted when she'd come over and offered to help her. She looked through every rack in the store until she found a little white dress. It was a short dress that looked like it would reach her mid thigh. She'd be out of her mind to wear something this small in this weather, but she looked at the other options the store assistant provided and decided she would tolerate the cold. It was a halter dress with no design or special fabric. It was just a little white dress that hugged her curves and she loved it. She looked around the store and found a faux white fur and then some pretty crystal hair pieces that would look nice and formal. Seeing where Ada María was going with this, the shop assistant brought her a pair of white platform pumps. Simple, white, and beautiful. She told her to get them in a size seven and ring her up.

By the end of her shopping day, she was very proud of herself. She went right back and had more than enough time before Nathan would be home and ready to take her to court. So she washing her hair and started prepping it for being curled. She'd bought a crystal barrette and was planning to have it holding a huge bun. With her hair properly curled and bun-ed, she began putting on appropriate make-up. She wanted it to look classic and opted for very little eye shadow with plenty of mascara and eye liner and a deep brown lipstick. When her hair and make-up was done, she still had another hour before she should expect Nathan home. So she turned her attention back to the little bump and sang to it again. The baby didn't respond as rigorously as it had the night before to her singing, but there was some small movement.

She eventually put on her white dress, pumps and shawl, ready to leave when Nathan got home and dressed. He showed up at five on the dot and looked right at Ada María when he came into his room and saw her. She looked beautiful. She always did, but today she was glowing and she was his bride.

"You look beautiful, Ada," Nathan finally said.

"Thank you. I took care of the bands and the shop said they'd be ready for pick up by tomorrow."

"Okay, same thing with the engagement ring. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find a yellow topaz. Everyone says they just sell blue, but I found one that sold yellow."

"Don't tell me about it, Nathan. I want to be surprised."

"Yeah," he said absently as he took a really fast shower, tried his hair as fast as he could, and put on his black suit. When he came out all dressed up, Ada María grinned.

"You look handsome, Nathan." Nathan smiled and held out his hand.

"Come on," he said, "let's get married."

Making sure to take her legal documents, the two walked to the car and went to the courthouse and were married an hour and a half later. Ada María never imagined that signing a marriage license would be so romantic. Nathan signed his name on one line, Nathan Black and on the next line Ada María wrote her full (and far too long) name: Ada María Esparenza Quilla Escada.

"That's quite a mouthful," Nathan said when he saw her name.

"It's my name, my father's mother's name, my mom's mother's name, and my father's family name. Marcelo's is just as long: Marcelo Hector Acahuana Escada. Acahuana was my grandpa's name on my mom's side."

"Let's try to keep our kid's name brief," Nathan said with a chuckle. "Speaking of which, what names do you like?"

She handed the documents to the teller. "I hadn't even thought about it yet. Not Rafael. It doesn't fit well with your last name."

"Christopher's a nice name," Nathan suggested.

"No," she answered. "I want something unique that no child will have."

"Ada, I'm not sure how open I am to giving our kid an Incan name. Those tend to be a little lengthy and a Portuguese name might be a bit of a stretch too." Ada María gave it some thought and continued to as they walked to Nathan's car, officially married. As she sat in the passenger's seat, she thought of a name she liked.

"If it's a boy, we'll name him Ariel."

Nathan gave her a weird look. "That's a girl's name."

"Maybe if you're American, but it means Lion of God in Hebrew I'll have you know and it's only gained popularity as a girl's name because of the redhead from _The Little Mermaid_. Ariel is technically a unisex name, but I think for a boy, it's perfect. Ariel Hector Escada Black we'll call him. If we have a girl, we'll name her Angelica Quilla Escada Black."

"I thought we agreed to keep our kids' names brief," Nathan said, rubbing his forehead.

"You can't put a limit on beautiful, meu amor." And then Ada María reached over and kissed Nathan on the cheek. Finally, Nathan sighed.

"Alright, if it's a boy, Ariel, if it's a girl, Angelica." Ada María smiled and hugged Nathan tight around his neck.

"Do you think they're beautiful names?" Nathan nodded as he pulled out of the parking space.

"What if it's twins? Those seem to be common in my family."

Ada María was thoughtful a moment. "How about this? Marcelo or Natalia."

"What's wrong with Natalie?"

"Natalia has more flow to it." Nathan sighed and she kissed his cheek. "Do you not like those names?" Nathan breathed heavily again.

"They're fine. I just don't know about naming our son after your brother."

"What's wrong with Marcelo?"

"My dad isn't fond of Marcelo, remember? Dad tolerates him, but he's still got hard feelings about Marcelo trying to get mom to leave dad for him when mom and dad were still dating. I don't think dad would appreciate it if we named one of his grandsons after Marcelo. I like Natalia, though."

Ada María sighed and became thoughtful again. "Okay, you don't like Marcelo. How about Victor? Or Vincent?" Nathan smiled at last and kissed her.

"I like Vincent." He kissed her again and Ada María rested her head on Nathan's shoulder. "Do you want to tell our family tonight or tomorrow?"

"I'll call Marcelo tonight. But we'll tell your side tomorrow." She put her hand on Nathan's thigh. "I want some time alone before we tell them and they never leave us alone." Ada María kissed Nathan's neck, earning a smile from him, and sat up so she could get her phone and call Marcelo. It was almost eight Seattle time now, so it was around midnight in Brasilia and  
"Marcelo would be at his bartending job now. She called Marcelo and waited for a few rings before he finally answered her.

"_É hora de você finalmente chamado. Faz três dias__!" (It's about time you finally called. It's been three days!)_. Ada María had her phone on speaker.

"Speak English Marcelo. I have you on speaker."

"_I haven't told father anything yet, but I'd like to know what's happening. All I know is what Laura told me and she's mad at you by the way. When you said you wanted her to help with the movers, I assumed that you'd already packed your things and they were ready. You made Laura do all that via a sticky note?"_ Ada María snickered to herself, but answered Marcelo's other questions.

"Tell her I'm sorry and that I love her. Also, I've got an earful for you to tell father. I already told you I'm pregnant. Well, I told Nathan this morning when he got back from patrol and guess what?"

"_I'm going to take a wild guess and assume you two got married."_

Nathan and Ada María smiled. "Yes, Marcelo," Nathan answered, "Ada and I got married."

"_Well, well, well,"_ Marcelo said to himself, _"So you want me to call father and tell him you're pregnant and married in that order?"_

"Yes, Marcelo, let father know."

"_I'll do that when I'm off work. And Nathan,"_ Marcelo said, slightly raising his voice, _"make sure you have back up when father gets there. When he finds out about this, he may very well kill you."_

Marcelo hanged up the phone and Nathan and Ada María just started laughing. With a phone call to Marcelo under their belts, they arrived back at Nathan's apartment. As they walked in, they held hands and didn't say anything. When they reached Nathan's apartment and he closed the door behind them, they still didn't say anything as they walked to the bedroom. When they got in, they finally released each other and Nathan went to the closet and started putting his rented suit back on the hanger it'd come with. When Nathan was just in his boxers, he started walking over to Ada María. She took off her faux white shawl and tossed it to the side. She reached up to undo her bun, but Nathan stopped her.

"Keep it in for now. I really like it on you." With a smile, Ada María nodded and left in her bun. She brought her hands to Nathan's bare chest and he unzipped her dress, pulling it off her rather easily. Ada María undid her bra and let it fall, and then pulled off her panties and Nathan's boxers. Then Nathan kneeled down so he was face to bump with Ada María and he touched it gently. "It's already getting bigger. Have you been feeling okay today?"

"I've been just fine," she answered before pulling Nathan back up so he towered over her. "We can talk about the baby later. Pay attention to me right now."

Nathan chuckled and complied with Ada María's request by lifting her off her feet into his arms so their faces met. Nathan and Ada María brought their lips together and kissed passionately as he walked them over to the tiny bed. He was about to lay her down, but Ada María held her hand out and rested it on the bed so he couldn't get further.

"Against the wall," was all she said before using her hand to push them away from the bed. Again, Nathan did what she told him and put her against the wall.

Still conscience enough, Nathan made sure not to lean against her too hard. He wasn't sure if it would hurt the baby if he did, so instead he made sure his hands stayed on her thighs so he wouldn't drop her. As they were kissing, Ada María's phone suddenly started ringing. Nathan pulled his lips from hers and glanced in its direction, but Ada María brought her hand to his cheek and made him look back at her.

"Ignore it, Nathan," she said before she planted her lips to his again. Ada María wrapped her arms around Nathan's neck with her nails scratching his back. Nathan continued massaging her thighs, making her moan as they kissed.

"_Ada María Esparenza Quilla Escada!"_ They both stopped when they heard Rafael leaving a message. _"Marcelo ligou e disse que está gravid e se casou! Pegue o telefone, Ada María! Pegue o telefone e explicar o que está acontecendo!" __(Marcelo called and told me you were pregnant and married! Pick up the phone, Ada María! Pick up the phone and explain what's going on!)_ There was a brief moment of silence before there was a small hiss. _"Sua mãe e eu estamos chegando a Washington e diz Nathan que ele tinha melhor rezar paraque Deus reza para porque quando eu chegar em minhas mãos sobre ele, vou mandá-lo direto para o inferno!" __(Your mother and I are coming to Washington and you tell Nathan that he had better pray to whatever God he prays to because when I get my hands on him, I'll send him straight to hell!)_

Then the message stopped, indicating that Rafael had hung up. Nathan looked at Ada María expecting her to tell him to put her down so she could call back her dad and smooth things over. Instead, she went right back to kissing Nathan, completely ignoring the message. Ada María wasn't concerned about her father. Yaretzi would have him cooled down by the time they got to Washington and honestly, he wouldn't kill Nathan no matter how mad he was. The fact remained that Nathan was the father of her child and Rafael wouldn't kill the father of his first grandchild. Ada María and her father might not see eye to eye, but she certainly knew the man.

"You're not going to call him back?" Nathan asked between kisses.

"No need," she answered between kisses. "He'll be less angry once he and mother get here. Don't worry about it." Ada María kept kissing Nathan. "He'll soften by the time he gets here."

Ada María continued their passionate kissing and Nathan decided to take her word for it and let it go for now. He just wanted to make love to his wife. He got a small tingle in his belly when he thought of her as his wife and it made him take his hands away from her thighs and crush her against the wall. She moaned when he rested most of his weight on her at last and she reached down between them and grabbed a hold of his erection. With a sharp intake of breath, Nathan brought his lips to Ada María's neck and licked and sucked as she slipped him inside her and moaned his name. Her right hand on Nathan's back and her left hand threaded through his thick black hair, she sighed and moaned with every movement that Nathan made. After a couple minutes, Nathan slipped his arms under Ada María's knees and kept a firm hold of her as he stepped from the wall and pulled Ada María up and down on him. Ada María kept one hand on Nathan's shoulder while her other hand went behind her head and pulled out the little barrette and the pins so that her hair was flowing free and curly at last while she kept her head thrown back in pleasure allowing Nathan to do all the work.

Nathan didn't let that last long, though. After she had her head thrown back for a few minutes, Nathan laid Ada María down on the bed and leaned on her just the way she liked him to so he was kitting that special spot and making her squeal more. Nathan planted his hands on Ada María's breasts purely out of reflex, but then she squeaked and pushed Nathan's hands away.

"Don't touch so hard there. My breasts are really tender."

Nathan nodded, "Sorry about that, Ada. Do you want me to touch you somewhere else?"

"You're already touching me in the best place," she answered with a sigh. "Keep going."

Nathan did as Ada María ordered him to and kept thrusting while leaning on her slightly to enhance her pleasure. Nathan started going faster and faster to help bring Ada María closer to her climax and his own. While continuing to lean, Nathan wrapped his arms around Ada María's legs and thrusting harder along with faster. Ada María clutched onto Nathan's forearms that were wrapped around her legs as she reached her highest point and moaned more and more the closer she got. And, like always, the closer Nathan came to his own release, the tighter his hold on her got. That was her favorite part she'd come to find. When Nathan clutched her that way, it made her feel like she was making him lose control and she liked that. After a few minutes, the two of them reached their climax together and Nathan arranged the two of them so they were lying together on the bed.

"I love you, Ada," Nathan said after a moment of silence.

"I love you too, Nathan," Ada María answered and they fell asleep in each other's arms.

The next morning, Nathan woke up the feeling of the baby kicking gently. Ada María was sleeping through it, so he was relieved it didn't seem to be hurting her. He rubbed the little bump and brought his ear to it to listen. He heard the baby's heartbeat and it made him smile with a strong sense of pride and he kissed the little bump that was bigger yet again this morning. He had to get to work, but he had every intention of picking up the rings so she didn't have to and taking her to his family's house that night so they could break the news to his mom and dad. Then they could go to the Cullen house and tell everyone else. Thankfully, he still had time before Rafael and Yaretzi would get to Washington. The man hated flying, so he always drove or ran. They had at least five days before Rafael and Yaretzi arrived.

Wanting to have something to do while Nathan was at work that day, Ada María looked through the papers looking for new apartments for her and Nathan to move into and jobs that she could try applying to. She had a fake high school diploma and even a fake associate's degree, so she was hoping she could get a slightly better job than she would get did she not have those documents. She circled five apartments that she liked that promised at least two bedrooms and two baths and she circled twelve jobs at random that seemed promising. She could draw up a nice resume for those places. Either that or she could try and get Kevin to put in a good word for her at the attorney's office that he'd been hired at so she could be a secretary or something. There was training required for that, sure, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. She could talk to him about it when he actually got home. He'd applied and been hired by a prestigious law firm in Seattle, which meant if he got her a job, she'd have to drive an hour and a half to Seattle every day, but if it meant contributing and getting out of the house, that was fine.

When Nathan finally got home that day, he and Ada María got into the normal car and drove to Nessie and Jacob's house and managed to get them off work. As they walked up to the door together, Ada María looked down at her wedding band and topaz stone set in gold. It was a deep color an kt. Square. Since it wasn't a diamond, the metal was more expensive than the jewel and that was just fine with Ada María. The deep brown of the stone made her think of Nathan's coat as a wolf, so every time she looked down at it, she saw his face. When they reached the front door, Nathan knocked on the door and Nessie was the one to answer but she didn't look the least bit surprised to see her.

"I hear you're pregnant and married my son," Nessie said after letting the two of them in. Nathan looked at Nessie surprised.

"How do you know?"

"Yaretzi called me yesterday when she found out. Jacob knows and so does everyone else. You're registered at Baby's r Us and Sears and your baby shower's next weekend. Alice is taking care of the details. You guys might have deprived her of planning a wedding, but she won't let you cheat her and Rosalie out of planning a baby shower," Nessie said with a smile.

"So," Nathan started hesitantly, "You're not angry?"

"I was irritated at first, but only because you didn't call and tell me the moment you two found out you were having a baby and getting married. I feel like I was left out."

"The only person Ada María told was her brother and she told him not to tell anyone until we knew what we were doing. And I didn't say anything to you guys because I wanted one day of marital bliss before I had to admit that we screwed up."

"I know, Nathan, it's alright. You're an adult and you're in a position to take care of a baby. This isn't like you're in high school and in no position to be a parent; you have a good job and your own place. Besides," Nessie said as she walked over to Ada María and planted her hand on the bump, "I'm going to be a grandmother soon."

"Where's dad?" Nathan asked.

"He's in the garage. And your brother's coming home this weekend, so he'll be here for the baby shower."

"Speaking of Kevin," Ada María said after Nessie brought him up, "I was wondering if he'd be willing to put in a good word for me at his law firm as a receptionist or something. I might not be able to work immediately, but I do want to get a job once I can."

"You'll have to talk to him, but I'm not sure he's in a position as of yet to make a request like that. By the time you're prepared to work, that might change, but just keep your options open. For now, Ada María, just focus on the baby. So did you guys talk about names yet? I can already tell that this pregnancy will go by pretty fast."

Ada María nodded and smiled, "Yes. If it's a boy, Ariel. If it's a girl, Angelica."

"Ariel?" Nessie asked, "You mean Ariel from _The Tempest_ Ariel?"

"Ariel isn't just a girl's name. It's a boy's name too."

"I know that," Nessie answered, "Ariel from _The Tempest_ wasn't a woman. Although arguably he wasn't a man either. He was a sans-gendered wood spirit or something like that. Either way, they're both beautiful." Just then, Jacob walked in from the garage and smiled at Nathan.

"Got her pregnant did you?" Jacob said with some humor and causing Nathan to smile. "You both did the right thing. Now, I'm sure it's already come up, but I didn't hear it, so what are the baby names?"

Nathan answered this time, "Ariel if it's a boy, Angelica if it's a girl."

The look the Jacob gave them was similar to what Nessie's had been, but for different reason. "Angelica, like that bitch from _Rugrats_, Angelica?" Nessie shot a look at Jacob.

"Jacob!"

"What? You never watched the Rugrats so you don't know the character, but my God that Angelica. I guarantee you that your mom is going to think the exact same thing."

"I think it's beautiful," Ada María said while rubbing the bump that had gotten bigger again. That weekend, Kevin was finally home and eager to see how far along Ada María was with his future niece or nephew.

"I can't believe you're having kids before me," Kevin said after rubbing the bump a moment that was now approximately the size of a soccer ball. "I mean, Kyle's one thing, but me?"

Nathan chuckled and Kyle looked at Kevin meanly. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're the one that'll be in school for another ten years and you aren't having kids any time soon. Nothing more than that. Nathan, you turned twenty this year and just earned the badge and you've already got a wife and kid on the way. And are you and Ada María seriously going to name a boy Ariel? It's a girl's name."

"Maybe if you're American and stupid," Ada María hissed back, "but to the rest of the world, it's a unisex name that better suits a boy because it means Lion of God. I think it's perfect. Angelica is also a beautiful name."

Bella shook her head. "All I can think of is the _Rugrats_."

Jacob laughed, "I told you, Nathan."

"You two don't count dad. You're both fifty."

"Exactly," Bella said, giving a dirty look to Jacob.

"Next year, Bella. I turn fifty next year," Jacob answered with a childish smirk. Everyone had a good laugh together, even Bella, until Edward looked at Ada María with a straight face.

"Ada María, you have visitors." Preparing for the worst, Ada María took a deep breath and stood from the couch where the family was sitting and walked over to the back entrance facing the woods. Nathan followed after her and took a hold of her hand to offer comfort. A few seconds later, Ada María's family walked through the door, but it wasn't the family she was expecting. In walked Nahuel followed by Huilen, Citclali, and Atzi.

"Tio Nahuel! Tia Atzi, Citclali!" Ada María ran right to Nahuel and took him in a big hug. "Eu não vi você em dois anos," _(I haven't seen you in two years)_ Ada María said in Nahuel's shoulder.

"Eu sei, pequena flor. Eu só tinha que vir a minha sobrinha quando ouvi que ela está grávida," _(I know, little flower. __I just had to come see my niece when I heard she's pregnant)_ Nahuel said as he let Ada María go from the hug. After the hug, he started looking around the room. "So who's the one that knocked up my niece?"

Nathan chuckled and walked forward having been left behind when Ada María ran for Nahuel. "That would be me. I'm Nathan, Renesmee's youngest son." Nahuel walked over while Ada María had an equally enjoyable reunion with her aunts. When they were close enough, Nahuel reached out his hand and Nathan took it in a handshake.

"You married her, right?"

Nathan nodded, "Yes, sir, I did."

Nahuel smiled, "Good. I don't have to hold a gun to your head." They laughed together.

"No, sir, not at all," Nathan replied. Nahuel smiled and looked over at his sisters and niece, but he continued his conversation with Nathan while they continued the reunion babbling incessantly in Portuguese.

"I heard Rafael's none too pleased about this," Nahuel said as he looked back at Nathan.

"Not in the least. He left us an angry message on our wedding night. It's been a few days so I hope he's cooled down by now."

"Ha," Nahuel laughed, "Rafael isn't one to 'cool down'."

"Is that true or are you saying that because you don't like Rafael?"

Nahuel looked thoughtful for only a moment. "Both are true," he finally answered, making them both laugh again. "But seriously, I'm happy for you and Ada María. I've heard a lot about you from Marcelo when we talked and so far I'm pleased." Nahuel became suddenly stiff and Edward sighed heavily.

"Be sure to tell that to Rafael," Edward said when he heard Rafael's thought raging. Seconds later, Rafael was in the house and went right to Nathan. He didn't say a word, though. He grabbed Nathan's arm and started forcing him out of the house and into the woods. Yaretzi and Ada María followed after to control whatever would happen. When they were in the woods one third of a mile out, Rafael tossed Nathan in a certain direction and Nathan managed to land on his feet. Ada María went right to him.

"Father, stop!" was all Ada María said as she held Nathan's arm. Yaretzi took a hold of Rafael to help him calm down.

"Look, Rafael," Nathan started, "Ada and I–"

"Ada María," Rafael corrected. "How can you expect to be good enough for my daughter when you don't even call her by her name?"

"Alright," Nathan said, "Ada _María_ and I weren't expecting this to happen so fast. But the fact of the matter is that it happened. I've always wanted to marry Ada María and all the baby did was speed things up a bit. I love your daughter."

Rafael didn't answer. He stared Nathan down for a while as if he were contemplating or weighing his options. Yaretzi stayed close and waited for Rafael to react so she could either agree or mediate. She wasn't thrilled how this happened, but Nathan made Ada María happy and that was good enough for her. And they were getting a grandchild out of this! That was what had made Rafael slightly less furious. After a moment, he looked at his daughter's ever growing bump and finally spoke.

"What are the baby names?"

"For a boy," Ada María answered hopefully, "Ariel Hector. If it's a girl, Angelica Quilla."

"No," Rafael said bluntly and it took the two of them off guard. "If it's a boy, his name will be Ariel Rafael. If it's a girl, her name will be Angelica Yaretzi. If you name that child after me or your mother, then I'll allow Nathan to live long enough to be a father. Deal?"

Nathan and Ada María looked at each other a moment. They briefly spoke it over and agreed they would name their child after her parents to appease Rafael. Once Rafael was finally calm, the families were able to really sit down together and talk. That coming weekend, Ada María received enough baby toys, necessities, and clothes to last her for years. By then, she was about ready to pop. Ada María had managed to nab a really nice two bedroom, two bath apartment for her and Nathan earlier and they were getting things ready to move along with Ada María's things that had finally arrived when she went into labor. Nathan rushed her to the Cullen house and four hours later, their son Ariel Rafael Escada Black was born.

Just as the pregnancy had been rather fast, Ariel was growing at a fast rate, though it seemed to be slightly slower than a normal half breed. Within a week, though, the boy spoke fluent Portuguese and had been spoiled rotten by Rafael and Yaretzi before leaving. His exact words before Ada María's family all left for Brazil were, "Here, I've spoiled him rotten and he doesn't speak English. You can have him back now." Nathan had thought it was funny at first until Ariel persistently spoke Portuguese and Nathan had to teach Ariel English, which was officially his second language now.

By the time it was February Ariel (at two months old) looked like the average four year old and was always eager to get into things. That February, Natalie was playing the role of Nala in _The Lion King_. On Valentine's Day after Natalie and the theatre group had done their last showing of _Lion King_ for that day, she stayed after in the bar to relax a little. Since it was Valentine's Day, Gretchen had gone with a very romantic theme and most of the music playing or being performed were love songs that were predominantly slow. She'd found out that Travis was actually going on a date with someone tonight, so she was happy to hear that. It was nice to see him finally get out there again, even if any relationship he had right now would probably be nothing special. It was the fact that he was really moving on that was important.

Natalie was at the bar at the moment still wearing her costume from the play. She wasn't wearing her lioness headdress anymore, but she was wearing her light gold corset and gold dress that was made from material patterned in a traditional African look and she still had her makeup on that had black around her eyes to simulate the eyes of a lion as well as her pale blush and lipstick to simulate Nala's traditional coat color with her hair braided in micro braids upon Gretchen's insistence. It was without a doubt the most miserable four hours of her life. Even with a vampire doing it, it took way too long and to top it off, Otto's mate had to braid gold extensions into her hair and Natalie was stuck with this hair until they finished with _The Lion King_. They looked good, but sitting for four hours just wasn't worth it, no matter how good her densely curled black and gold micro braids looked.

"I should always make you Nala," Gretchen said to Natalie when she came over to talk. "You look beautiful as a lioness."

"Thanks, but if it means these braids, I don't know. Too much time and effort has to go into these braids."

"Time and effort that produces the perfect Nala," Gretchen said as she waved the bartender to give her a pint of blood. "How's Travis doing?" Gretchen asked regarding the unfortunate events from the past year.

"He's doing much better. He still misses Brandon, but then, he always will I think. He's starting to be more himself again."

"I'm pleased to hear it. It's such a revolting thing to have to experience and at such a young age. I'm glad he's starting to move on and get back to normal. You let him know that a free ticket to _The Lion King_ is still up for grabs if he wants it."

"Yeah, he knows, but he doesn't want to go to the theatre right now. It depresses him," Natalie said sadly.

"I can understand that. When you lose a loved one, especially a passionately loved one and in that manner, it seems like everything reminds you of them."

Natalie looked at Gretchen thoughtfully. "Am I to conclude that you're speaking from experience?"

Gretchen shrugged, "Perhaps a little. It was so long ago, but I had a husband when I was human." She looked sad, "I can't even remember his name. Isn't that awful? But I remember him in different ways. Most importantly, I remember that I loved him and no man will ever be like him. When I was first changed, he was all I thought about and I would dry cry every night thinking about him and wishing I could find him again. When I did find him, he was dead. He'd died from the plague."

"I'm sorry, Gretchen," Natalie said, resting her hand on Gretchen's forearm.

"No need to be, dear. I'm just relieved he didn't suffer the same fate as me. You might not believe this, but running a business can get monstrously boring when you're as old as me."

Natalie smiled, "I imagine so. Thankfully, I've got a while before I'm your age."

Gretchen laughed, "Yes, Natalie, you certainly do." Natalie and Gretchen shared a laugh and absently, Natalie looked to her right, but when she did, she saw someone.

He had short black hair and tan skin, paled slightly from a vampire's natural hue and his eyes were newly turned bright red. The man wore jeans and a black button down shirt and a leather jacket lined with fur but it was his eyes that had drawn her. Now, as she looked at him, she felt herself gravitate to him and the earth no longer held her down. Her heart pounded when she realized who he was.

"Natalie," Gretchen interrupted Natalie's thoughts and she looked right at Gretchen. "Are you alright dear? You looked miles away."

"Yeah," Natalie answered, slightly out of breath. "I'm alright, Gretchen. Um," Natalie looked over her shoulder back at the man who was ordering a second pint of blood, "Do you by chance know who he is?" Natalie discreetly pointed in the man's direction and Gretchen looked and shrugged.

"I'm sorry, dear, but I've never found out his name. All I know is that he's usually here at least three times a year for one night. He's been coming here since I've opened this place."

"Do you know why he comes here only three times a year? Is he a nomad?"

"Goodness, Peanut, I don't know. I assume he's a nomad. He may have a mate, perhaps, but he's usually alone." When Natalie heard that, she turned violently and looked at Gretchen with wide eyes.

"Who?"

Gretchen was surprised a moment, "Some blonde with a French accent which means she's either from France or Quebec. I've only seen her with him twice, though, so I may be wrong. Why the sudden interest?"

"Because—" Natalie started, but she stopped. She shouldn't be talking to Gretchen to find out about this man, she should be talking to him directly. He'd finished his second pint and looked ready to pay and leave, so she had no time to waste. If she missed him now, who knows when she'd see him next? Natalie ran to the man who'd just put money on the counter and stopped him from leaving with a simple hello. "Hello, I'm Natalie Black. I play Nala in our current production of _The Lion King_. May I ask what your name is?"

He looked somewhat dumbfounded as she spoke to him. He looked her over a moment, noting her odd clothing. When he finally did answer her after Natalie waited patiently and nervously for his answer, the reaction he had was hardly the one she was hoping for.

"Who the hell are you and why are you talking to me?"

"I…." Natalie tried to clear her throat and recollect herself. She'd expected him to be confused, yes, but she certainly wasn't expecting her imprint to be so flat out rude. "I'm Natalie Black and I'm talking to you because I saw you from across the bar and knew I just had to introduce myself. I've told you my name, sir, so please tell me yours." Natalie made sure her voice was as sweet as she could make it, hoping maybe it would relieve the initial uncomfortable-ness. However, he still didn't look impressed.

"Suerro Roux," he answered flatly before beginning to walk away again. There were humans in the bar, so all vampires were still required discretion so Natalie was easily able to follow him.

"Roux? You certainly don't look French. Are you something else too?" They stepped out of the bar together and Suerro had still not answered her. "Do you usually frequent the theatre whenever you're here? I'm told you only show up around here three times a year or so. Why is that? Are you a nomad?" The man suddenly stopped and turned around to look right at Natalie.

"What the hell are you doing? I went to the bar to get some blood. Not to be patronized and interrogated by a little girl in ridiculous clothing."

"It's not ridiculous clothing, it's my costume for _The Lion King_ and I wasn't interrogating you nor am I a little girl," Natalie said defensively when her surprise wore off. "I was trying to be nice. If I did anything to offend or upset you, please, I'm sorry." The man was about to say something, but he stopped when he saw the sad look on Natalie's face. She was suddenly pulling gently on her braids as if she were trying to make herself look normal and Suerro decided she meant no harm. Something about this girl was pulling at him and it was irritating him because he didn't know what the hell it was.

"You didn't offend me, young lady."

"Natalie, please. I'm not a child, so please don't address me as one."

"Alright, Natalie," he said, but he still had a tone one would use with a child, "you've followed me out of the bar. What is so important that you're following me?" Natalie was getting nervous now. This wasn't going the way she'd always pictured. She thought when she imprinted, she would walk up to her imprint and win his heart with her pretty face, gorgeous long hair, and charms that she'd learned from some of the best charmers in the world, including her grandpa Edward, and then they'd walk off in the sunset while she sang _Someday my Prince Will Come_, but it wasn't working. He could care less about her and it was making her really sad. "You demanded that I answer. I demand you answer as well," Suerro said, interrupting her thoughts. When Natalie finally answered, she found herself shaking, but not from the February cold.

"I just wanted to talk to you is all. I saw you across the bar and I wanted to talk to you. I thought I'd come over and get to know you better."

"Well," he said, exasperated, "Now you know me better. Are we done?"

"Why are you being so rude to me? I said I didn't mean to offend you."

He gave her a weird look and rubbed his face a moment before answering. "A woman dressed in micro braids and a weird African costume runs up to me and starts barking questions and introductions at me and you're wondering why I'm being rude to you? I don't know who the hell you are and I didn't know what your intention was. For all I knew, you wanted a fight with me."

"I'm sorry," she said again, now shivering both from nervousness and from the cold, "I promise my intentions are pure." Natalie walked over to Suerro, who had been several feet away from her, and stood right before him. It was a miracle: he's taller than her, even if only by four or five inches at best, but it's something. "Let me put on some appropriate clothes and we can take a walk together. What do you say?"

"What the hell for?" he asked, though he felt himself wavering. Whoever this girl was, something about her was drawing him to her.

"Please?" Natalie asked before she used her best puppy dog eyes. They worked 99.9% of the time whenever she used them on daddy, so maybe they'd give her luck here. His heart melted miraculously when he saw those eyes. They were so pleading and innocent and they made him want to agree to anything.

"You're a daddy's girl, aren't you?" he said more than asked. Those were eyes that only a spoiled child would know. Those eyes that made a man agree to anything, no matter how stupid the request might get. Natalie smiled at his comment, but this changed her eyes from the puppy dog eyes to happy eyes that sparkled and a smile that did the same. Suerro took a deep breath and said, "If you wish. I'll wait out here for you."

Her face brightened more, "Really? Okay, I'll be just a few minutes, I swear."

Then she ran, much faster than he'd figure, back to Red Night to get changed. That was strange. She didn't smell like a vampire a few seconds ago. She'd smelled like a pine car freshener, heavy paints from the makeup, shower fresh deodorant and coconuts. It was the oddest combination of smells and all that with an undertone of what could only be wet dog. The possibility that this woman owned dogs was, for him, a little off putting. The fact that she smelled like a hardware store and a Walgreens didn't help much either, though. As she ran away, though, she suddenly smelled like a hardware store, a Walgreens and exotic flowers. It was a subtle, but strange shift. It made him a little nervous that this girl evidently had a gift that allowed her to be human and vampire. He wondered if she might be a half breed like that Renesmee kid the Volturi had gotten into such a pinch over. That'd been over thirty years ago, so it was possible other vampires in the area followed suit and made their own half breed pets; like having a cat or something.

As he was waiting, he looked around on the streets. There were several people still wondering around at this hour, but it was mostly drug addicts, party goers and club hoppers. He was tempted to run off and leave tonight like he'd intended. He'd done what he came to Washington to do and he wanted to leave and go back to the east coast: the farthest point away from the past. It seemed just as Suerro was getting ready to leave and keep in mind to not come to this bar again, Natalie ran back out not wearing her costume. This time, though, she was wearing a heavy jacket, snow boots and yoga pants. The yoga pants threw him off and he wasn't sure what to think about that. She also lost her vampiric smell.

"Okay," she said when she was standing before him, "I'm ready now."

"Do you always go to work in your pajamas?" he asked suddenly. Natalie looked surprised and looked down at herself, confused. "The yoga pants."

"Oh," she said with a smile and a small laugh, "I don't wear jeans**. **Every time I wear jeans, they usually make my legs itchy. I'm allergic to polyester and most jeans have at least a little polyester. I have some pairs of jeans that are polyester free, but I have such a negative association with jeans, I just prefer to not wear them at all. I'll wear jeans when I absolutely have to, but even then I'd rather wear khakis or dress pants over jeans. Dress clothes don't often have polyester, especially when they're really expensive." Natalie laughed again, "Although if I had my way, I'd never wear pants at all. You should see me when I'm alone at home. I walk around in a shirt and my panties and I'm happy."

"Ah huh," Suerro said absently, not sure how to respond to that last comment.

"Was that too much information?" Natalie asked when she saw the weird look Suerro was giving her.

"I would consider it too much," he said to Natalie, but to his surprise, he was chuckling a little to himself. When she heard Suerro start to chuckle, she smiled right back.

"So why don't we get to that walk? There's a park near here that has bands playing until two in the morning."

"I know, I've heard them before," he said, beginning to walk in the direction of the park Natalie was referring to. Natalie followed after him and kept her gloveless hands in her pockets. "So what could a girl like yourself want to know of a stranger like me?"

Natalie sighed, "Please don't call me a girl. I'm twenty."

"Oh wow, twenty? I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were so old," he said, but it came out teasingly and earned a giggle from Natalie. It was cute.

"Well, Suerro, now you know better than to assume someone's age. You might offend someone if you do that."

"Because I'm really concerned about offending people," Suerro said sarcastically. Natalie finally looked at Suerro and when she retorted, it was with a very straight face.

"You're a huge butthead aren't you?" Suerro looked at Natalie a little surprised. The band playing that night was a cello and a violin from what he could hear, but he didn't know the song they were playing. He was more concerned about what Natalie had just said.

"Pardon?"

"A butthead," Natalie repeated herself. "Are you always this way or is it reserved for strangers that come up and talk to you?"

Instead of answering her question, he asked his own. "Did you really just call me a butthead of all things? No one has ever called me that before."

"I doubt that," Natalie said with a smile. "So is it safe to assume that you're a nomad?"

"Yes, for the most part, I'm a nomad," Suerro answered when he got over that a little girl had just called him a butthead of all things. He'd been called many things in his life, but that one was a first.

"Gretchen said she only sees you here three times a year. Why is that?"

"Who's Gretchen?"

"She's the owner of Red Night and my boss. According to her, she only sees you in her bar three times a year. I was wondering why?" Suerro looked at Natalie a moment keeping his face straight. It wasn't something he wanted to talk about, especially not with a complete stranger. He also didn't want to be rude to her, so he gave her an answer he was willing to give.

"I come here three times a year to pay my respects to someone."

"Who?" Natalie asked innocently. Suerro took a deep breath.

"Someone I knew a long time ago. No one you need to know about." Natalie looked at Suerro strangely. Instead of pushing the matter, she changed the subject back to something else.

"So you said your last name is Roux?" Suerro nodded. "I have to say, you don't look French or Canadian. You look more exotic than that."

"I'm neither Canadian or French. I lived in Quebec after I was changed."

"How did you get the name Roux? Was it your nickname?" Natalie asked, knowing Roux was French for red.

"In a manner. Other vampires usually called me savage or red."

Then, it clicked what his appearance reminded Natalie of. "You're Native American?" she asked with a smile. "I am too. What tribe were you borne from?"

"No tribe of note," he said hastily and Natalie found that rather strange. "I was changed by a blonde French Canadian woman named Juliette Darensbourg who took me to Quebec and taught me the way of things in a vampire's world. Juliette and I lived together as a coven for many years, but the moment she took me to the Americas, like Boston, Philadelphia, those places, she said I needed to have a surname so that the whites wouldn't find me as off putting." Suerro looked directly at Natalie. "In case you aren't aware, the Americans at the time didn't much like Indians. She wanted to try and pass me off to the human world as exotic. She cut my hair so it was short like a white man's, she taught me French and English, she put me in a white man's clothes, and she taught me how to present myself in proper society. All that from a woman who was the daughter of a French fur trapper and a tavern wench. She also tried to make me take her name, Darensbourg. But I didn't want that name. So I chose one of my nicknames given to me by Juliette's friends. It was either Sauvage or Roux. I picked the name that was the least condescending. After that, I left Juliette and lived my own life."

"Were you and Juliette ever lovers?" Natalie asked, merely curious. She clearly wasn't his mate, so Natalie saw no threat from her. The band playing the cello and violin changed songs and she didn't know the tune, but Suerro hummed it.

"Juliette was the one that taught me how this world works. Anything sexual was purely superficial. She took pity on me when I told her my story and I let her pity me for the sake of my own benefit until I didn't need it anymore." After he answered, he continued humming the song.

"Do you know what song they're playing," she asked.

"Sound of Silence," he answered bluntly and continued humming. How appropriate, she thought grimly, thinking that this really wasn't going as well as she would've hoped.

"Can I ask you why you don't want to tell me what tribe you're from?"

"It's an uncomfortable topic," Suerro said, "One that I would rather not speak about. Since you've insisted on asking me questions, why don't I ask you a few?"

"Feel free to," Natalie answered with a smile.

"You seemed awfully pleased to figure out I'm Native American. I assume you're partly Native American then?"

Natalie looked up confused at Suerro. "Well, yeah, but how did you know I was only half?"

"Because you remind me of one of those bastard kids I saw all the time. The ones who were spawn by fur trappers that had some fun with Cheyenne Indian women. The ones who looked distinctly French."

"I didn't know I looked distinctly French."

"You don't," Suerro said, "but you do look half white. After so many years in Canada, I know a half white half red girl when I see one, no matter how red she may look."

"You say that so negatively," Natalie said nervously, sensing that she may have said something that offended him.

"My negative feelings on the matter pertain to the Americans. Canadians weren't great, but they weren't quite as callous as the Americans. Comparatively, the Spanish were the worst, but that's another matter and completely different circumstances. Pilgrims come to these lands and are almost dead within months because they didn't know what they were doing and they parked themselves in a swamp of all places. The Natives that knew the land taught them how to run it and how to work the land and what's the thanks they get? The Natives earned a superficial dinner before being pushed further and further west, forcing them to be criminals and hunt from innocent tribes they encountered out of necessity. That's how my parents were killed," Suerro said the last part without even thinking. A miracle feat for a vampire, but he'd gotten himself riled up over the thing that made his parents came to his mind.

"I'm so sorry," Natalie made her voice sincere and she dared to take her hand from her pocket and rest it on his arm. Suerro surprised himself further by not taking his arm away from the unexpected touch. "Do you know what tribe attacked yours?"

"No," Suerro answered honestly. "They came out of the woods one day and we had to fight them off at the cost of some people of the tribe. One of them spoke our language and warned us of pale faced conquerors that shot fire to the sound of a loud bang. My mother and father died in the attack, among several others."

"Do you know how old you were?"

"Approximately fifteen I think. My little sister was about nine or so."

"You had a sister?" Natalie asked innocently yet again and Suerro realized this girl was milking more out of him in under an hour than Juliette had in thirty five years. As it stands, Juliette only learned about his tribe and sister after they'd met Claudia and the events that followed that meeting.

"Yes, I did. She died years ago obviously."

"How did she die? Do you know?" Natalie felt Suerro tense and it caused her to pull her hand away. He knew how she died alright and the image of it would haunt him for the rest of his existence. He chose his next words carefully.

"She was brought down by a greedy dog," Suerro said harshly. "It's another topic I prefer to leave under the rug. Do you have siblings?" Suerro asked rather suddenly.

"Yeah," Natalie finally answered, "Three brothers. One of them is my twin. The oldest is Kevin. He just earned his law degree from Yale," Natalie boasted on Kevin's behalf. Suerro raised his eyebrows for a second.

"From Yale you say?"

"Yes sir, Yale. He graduated top of his class. My brother Kyle's still in college and trying to earn his PhD in Psychology. He's looking at a good ten years or so."

Suerro chuckled. A rare sound for him, "Couldn't find a real science to get a PhD in could he?"

"Psychology is a real science."

"No it isn't," he said bluntly. "Science has constants and math. Psychology is a sadistic game played by people that like toying around with the mentally challenged and the mentally ill."

"It is not," Natalie said, but she laughed just a little. "Psychology is the study of the workings of the human mind."

"And the human mind is void of constants. No two people are ever the same. No constants, no science. It sure as hell isn't considered a science in schools and colleges. It's considered a social studies topic like history and sociology."

"Those are sciences too."

"No they're not. History and sociology are the study of beating a dead horse."

"Well, if beating a dead horse means we don't kill another horse the way we killed the last one, then that's the important thing. History and sociology are the studies of learning from past mistakes."

"And humans do that so well," Suerro said, yet again chuckling. He had to give this girl some props. She might be pushy, but she was cute and amusing.

"Exactly," Natalie said with a smile. "Now Nathan," Natalie continued, "he's my twin brother. And would you know it, I'm the one with allergies and he's perfectly fine. It feels like I'm allergic to everything sometimes."

"What all are you allergic to? You said polyester. What else?"

Natalie sighed, "I'm allergic to cats, peanuts, polyester, oranges, pollen, I can't eat nuts and I'm allergic to blueberries. The first thing I ever had a reaction to was peanut butter and that made my throat swell closed. Turns out my grandma Sarah on my dad's side had all the same allergies as me and we found out I had all these allergies over a period of time when I was a kid. Peanuts still give me the worst reaction, though. Most other things just give me rashes or hives. That's why I don't wear regular jeans. If I do, my legs break out in hives. I have to wear jeans that don't have polyester."

"It's a miracle you can function in real life."

Natalie snickered, "It certainly seems that way. My cousin Travis is planning to get himself some cats, so I won't be able to visit him in his house without getting watery eyed and congested."

"Sounds miserable," Suerro said. "So you're the youngest out of three brothers?"

"Yup, but on the bright side, I got to have a room all to myself and my brothers had to share a room."

Suerro smiled, "You really are a spoiled brat aren't you?"

"I'm related to worse," Natalie answered with a grin. "I'm a third vampire and my mom's half. She's a Cullen and my aunt Rosalie had a daughter named Valerie. I love her to death, but she really never grew out of her 'me, me, me' stage. I might still have a little 'me, me, me' in me, but not the way Valerie does."

"Your mother's a Cullen?" Suerro stopped suddenly when Cullen was uttered.

Natalie nodded, surprised by the sudden stop, "Yeah. My mom's Renesmee Cullen. You might have heard of her. According to Gretchen, my mom's a bit of a mini-celebrity in the vampire world for what happened with the Volturi."

"I know," Suerro said, "I was there," and then he continued walking.

"Really?" Natalie asked, stunned. "Can you tell me about it?"

"There's nothing to tell. The Volturi were rounding up vampires to witness what was supposed to be a great day in vampiric history and all it ended up being was some coven that had a half human half vampire child and the blonde had misinformed the Volturi. I never even learned her name."

"Irina," Natalie informed Suerro. "She was a family member. The Cullens and Denalis are close and are considered family."

"Ah yes. As I said, she gave the Volturi false information and was killed for it. Your mother and family were spared."

"That's all I'm ever told of the incident."

"That's all there is to tell. As I said, nothing really happened. It was one of the most anticlimactic events of my life to be frank. So your mother is that little girl I was dragged to Washington for nothing for?"

"It looks that way," Natalie giggled. "My dad imprinted on her when she was young and they've been together for twenty five years now."

Suerro looked at Natalie oddly when she said 'imprinted'. "If my math serves me right, your mother's only thirty one at oldest."

"She's about that age, yes. Half breeds grow at a faster pace."

"Ah, I see. I wasn't there long. I left the moment I saw the damn wolves."

Natalie snickered, "Scared you did they?"

"I don't fear a dog's descendants," he hissed back and it startled Natalie. Suerro retreated and lightened his tone. "I knew about the Quileute wolves and I didn't want to deal with them. Anything else that happened I was told about by Juliette when we saw each other next. I have a bad history with the Quileute wolves."

"Do you?" Natalie asked nervously. "I'm sorry about that. I promise I had nothing to do with it. I would've remembered you if I'd encountered you." Suerro stopped abruptly again and looked at her strangely.

"You're a wolf? But how? Even Taha Aki's daughters never changed into wolves," Suerro said, again without thinking.

"You knew Taha Aki?"

"I'd encountered him," he lied hurriedly. "It's a long story."

"Is it the reason you come here three times a year?"

Suerro sighed, "You could say that."

"Wow. I mean, I've heard stories about Taha Aki, but I never met anyone who'd actually known him. What was he like?"

"I'm not talking about Taha Aki," the harshness in his tone apparent yet again. Natalie looked down at her feet and knew she was suddenly treading on thin ice at the moment. How was she supposed to make her imprint love her if she kept offending him?

"Okay, we can change the subject—"

"I think we're done here," Suerro said suddenly. He ran away from her then at top speed and he was gone before Natalie realized something was that horribly wrong.

She stood there for several minutes in the cold wondering what the hell she'd done to earn him being so mean to her. Then she started crying because she may have scared away her imprint without thinking. She walked through the park making her way back home with a sad look on her face. When she got into her apartment, her new dogs ran over and greeted her. She'd adopted two three year old dogs at the adoption center. They thought the dogs had a little Chihuahua in them, but there was something else that made them both slightly bigger and tricolored. They were brothers according to the shelter and she'd fallen in love with them the moment she'd seen them. Tonight, though, even Caliban and Prospero running to her eagerly didn't lift her spirits.

Absently, she kneeled down and petted the dogs, but it wasn't long before she started walking to her room and fell down into bed and started crying. Prospero and Caliban jumped into bed with her and started licking her face. While continuing to cry, she hugged both Prospero and Caliban to her in the hopes that something fuzzy would make her feel better. What would she do now? Her imprint was a nomad that only came to Washington three times a year and she'd managed to screw up their first meeting and she wasn't even sure how it happened. Now she had to do three showings of _The Lion King_ tomorrow and would have to do them with this weighing on her mind. She felt like she wanted to talk to someone (naming-ly Travis) about tonight, but all she'd do is start crying and that wouldn't solve anything. She had to recollect herself and think this through, not whine and cry like a baby. Though after tonight, she wasn't sure what she could do. It seemed like every topic eventually led to something that made him angry.

She managed to fall asleep eventually, but considering she had to be up and at the theatre by nine, it wasn't nearly enough sleep. She decided not to tell her theatre group what happened last night. When Gretchen pressed, she simply told her that they'd spoken for a short time before saying their farewells to one another. Natalie made sure to hurriedly close the matter and went on stage when her time came and attacked Timon and Pumba because Scar had dried up the resources of Pride Rock. By the end of the night and after three performances, she felt more drained than she ever had. When she got home, Caliban and Prospero greeted her eagerly and she petted them before going to her shower to clean off her makeup and cleaning her micro braids the way Maleshia had instructed her to. She dared not tell Otto about what happened. The man was as much like an uncle to her as Embry, Seth, all of father's friends and Emmett and Jasper. If he knew about what'd happened, he might very well rip off Suerro's head and then where would she be?

When she was clean, she put on a baggy shirt and went with the dogs to the living room so she could give them their dinner. When their food was down, Natalie wandered to her desk to look over the script for the next play: _Avenue Q_. She would be playing the role of Garry Coleman. But when she went to her desk, her script wasn't there. She looked around until she saw that her script was outside on her patio and she groaned. It was a nice morning a few days ago and she'd read her script outside with a cup of coffee and forgot to bring it in. She walked over to her door and put on her fury boots and a sweatshirt so she could step out and retrieve it. When she stepped onto the patio, she grabbed her script and turned to walk in, but she heard her door slide closed and click.

"Not again," Natalie said to herself as she tried pulling open the sliding door. If she'd known the patio door was prone to locking people out all on its own, she'd have never rented this place. She pulled on the door desperately trying to open it while her dogs stayed on the other side of the door barking. Normally, she would call out to one of her neighbors and ask them to send for the landlord to help her, but this time she just broke down. She was out in the cold wearing nothing but a thin t-shirt, a sweatshirt and some boots and the cold was bitter. She continued to cry until a sweet smell that she remembered filled the air and she turned around to see Suerro, who only just then realized she wasn't wearing pants.

"What the hell are you doing out here with hardly any clothes on?" he asked.

"What are you doing here?" Natalie asked right back, barking more than asking.

"Let's go inside and I'll tell you. Honestly, coming out here near naked when it's below zero. You weren't kidding when you said you walked around half naked I see. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that I needed to grab my script really quick and get back inside, but the stupid door shut on me and locked me out!" Natalie kept crying. She was oddly happy to see Suerro, but she wasn't ready to face him just yet. She had no idea what to say. As far as she could tell, anything she said would upset him.

Suerro sighed heavily, "Alright relax, I'll get you back in." He stepped down from the railings and walked to the door.

"No, don't do that! You'll break it," Natalie said, stopping him as he prepared to force the door open.

"And how else do you plan to get back inside?"

"If need be, I can climb down and ask my landlord for help." This time, Suerro turned his body towards her completely and looked at her sternly.

"Are you honestly suggesting that you will climb down into the street barely covering yourself and running to your landlord for help? In this weather and at this hour? You'd be arrested for lewdness on site."

"A police officer won't arrest me when they know what I'm doing."

"And cops are well known for listening to explanations aren't they?" he responded sarcastically. Then without warning, Suerro lifted the door enough to pull it from the lock and slide it open. He moved aside and allowed Natalie to walk in and he followed. Natalie looked at the door and played around with it a little after Suerro stepped inside.

"Now it won't close," she said flatly. With a heavy intake of breath, Suerro walked to her door and forced it right back to where it had been. Natalie played around with it again and said in just as grave a tone, "Now it won't open."

"Do you want it opened or closed? Pick one." Natalie looked at Suerro after his harsh retort and walked to her coat rack and hung her sweatshirt.

"You owe me a new door," Natalie said initially while fiddling around with her now completely broken door and then going to her coat rack. Eventually she left well enough alone for now and got to the question she'd asked earlier. "What are you doing here? I'd assumed you were angry at me for something." Suerro didn't really answer her. Instead, he took off his boots so he wouldn't track snow around and rested them on the mat next to the door.

"I feel awful about last night. I was unforgivably rude to you when you were kind and lovely to me. I don't like talking about my past and certain things that happened to me, but that does not excuse the way I treated you." Then he pulled out a ticket stub. Natalie looked at the bright Lion King logo surprised. "I decided I needed to go and apologize to you, but I didn't know where to find you so I went to the third showing of your play. You were Nala and one of the Gazelles in the beginning song, correct?" Natalie nodded. "You were wonderful. I should've known you had such a beautiful singing voice."

"Thank you," she said meekly and blushed. She didn't want to say anything. So Suerro looked around and finally acknowledged the dogs.

"I should've known you owned dogs."

"I thought you were leaving," Natalie finally said, ignoring Suerro's initial comment.

"I was leaving, but my conscience ate away at me and I turned around to come back and apologize to you." Natalie smiled, but it wasn't a kind smile or a confident smile like he'd seen the night before. This was a nervous smile like she was scared to speak. "So I'm sorry for last night. You took me off guard; walking up to a complete stranger like that."

"Maybe if I knew what I'd said that upset you so much? You said it had to do with your past. What happened with you and Taha Aki that you hate him so much? I can't imagine it was anything simple based on how you reacted when I asked about him. Did he kill your mate?" Natalie finally dared to ask. Sure, Juliette wasn't his mate, but what if he'd had one at some point? Vampires usually mated for life and took the death of a mate very seriously.

"No, he didn't. I have no mate," he said curtly. "As I said, it's an uncomfortable topic and I'd rather not discuss it. If you swear to not bring such things up, then I promise I will never snap at you again."

Natalie looked down at her feet. "You also looked really upset when you heard I'm a wolf," she began. "Is that a matter referring to Taha Aki as well?"

"In a manner. I have a grudge against a dead man. I reacted poorly to you informing me that you're a wolf and for that I apologize. I should not punish you or insult you for the crimes of an ancestor."

"Will you ever tell me why the man enrages you so much? Will you ever tell me what tribe you're borne from for that matter?"

"As I've said, they're past issues that need not be addressed."

"They do if I'm at risk of bringing them up accidently and it sends you into a rage like last night. If I knew what it was I was to avoid—"

"I've told you what it is you need to avoid. The details of it are not important. Besides, what need do you have to know about my past enemies and heritage? I'm no friend or family to you."

"No," Natalie said sadly, "I suppose you're not." After having stared at her feet for most of the conversation, Natalie finally raised her head high and took a deep breath. "But then, what you are is far more than family or friend. You claim to know of the Quileute wolves, but do you know what it is for them to imprint? It's irrevocable love between the wolf and his or her imprint. It's as if gravity doesn't hold you to the earth anymore, but the imprinted. In common terms, it's basically love at first sight. The wolf would be or do anything for their imprint. It's a beautiful thing. I've seen what that kind of love looks like and I've always envied it."

"Sounds excruciatingly childish," Suerro answered after a moment's silence. "It also sounds grossly familiar."

Natalie became confused. "What do you mean familiar?" Then Natalie sighed. "I guess imprinting is something many stories write about when they talk of werewolves, especially in the romantic industry. I assure you though that imprinting is a genuine and deep love. I suspect that's why you felt the need to come back at apologize to me."

"Oh no," Suerro said before Natalie had even finished her explanation. He seemed to be pondering something. His eyes suddenly held a wicked red glint and he looked at her with a smile she'd never seen before and it immediately made her nervous. "You say that you feel such affections towards me?"

After a moment, Natalie nodded. "Yes, Suerro."

"Irrevocably and unapologetically?"

"Yes, Suerro."

"Well then," he continued as he approached closer until he was right in front of her, "I'd say we're wasting time talking."

Then, without a shred of warning, Suerro's lips pressed against hers with one hand gently holding her face and the other grabbing her butt and pulling her against him. Her mind went fuzzy and she wrapped her arms around Suerro's waist and reciprocated his kiss with equal passion. She had no clue what had caused this sudden shift, but she couldn't bring herself to ponder on it. Not with the taste of his lips on hers. He was firm just as any vampire. But she was a wolf and a third vampire. She was stronger. When any human felt stone, she felt hard flesh like that of a man built from pure hard muscle. His smell was consuming her senses: sea water, pine, and a sweet smell. The pine hint to him made her think of the pack. Suerro took his hand from her face and brought it to her thigh and began to gently nudge her in one direction. She was clouded until she felt her back plant firmly against the wall. The added firmness made something sharp touch her breast and she whimpered from it, but Suerro didn't stop. She tried pulling her lips away to tell Suerro about what was poking her, but he didn't let her take her lips away. He began to kiss her lips painfully and crush her enough against the wall that she couldn't breathe. She started hitting his chest, this time making him pull away from her lips only to go straight for her neck.

"Suerro," she said as she went between them and grabbed what was poking her breast. Suerro grabbed her hand to stop her, but as he did so, he looked straight into her eyes and the cruel look in his eyes suddenly went away. It was replaced by stunned eyes that looked ashamed. He pulled away from her and turned to go to the door, but Natalie grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Suerro, wait. What's the matter?"

When he turned to look at her, her eyes indicated concern and surprise, blissfully unaware of what he'd just planned to do. When he'd looked into her eyes though, he felt something tug at him and he couldn't do it. If he'd done what he'd intended, he'd be no better than the man he loathed so much, but there was another reason that he knew was festering in his gut. "Nothing," he finally answered and then he walked past her to her desk and saw the script. "Who are you playing?"

"Suerro, you're dodging my question."

"I answered your question and the answer was nothing. Now answer my question; who are you playing?"

Natalie kept looking at him for a time. Something had happened during their kiss that she didn't understand and she couldn't understand it unless he told her what was wrong. Imprint or not, this man was infuriating her. "Um…" Natalie finally started, "Gary Coleman."

Suerro straightened and looked at her strangely. "Gary Coleman?" Natalie nodded. "Aren't you a little tall to play Gary Coleman?"

Finally, Natalie smiled. "This play is usually done with puppets so most actors are a little tall to be Gary Coleman."

"I mean you in particular. You're 5' 10" for fuck sake."

"Maybe but I'm happy to play a washed up black child actor that owns an apartment complex in the crappiest part of town." Suerro smiled at her and she cheered up from the exchange earlier. Suerro walked over to her again and touched her hair.

"These braids are fascinating. They must've taken forever."

"Forever and ever. It took a vampire four hours to do this. Otto's mate Maleshia prides herself on getting micro braids done in under an hour on the average person, but with my hair and how long it is, it took her four hours."

"What did you do for four hours while she did your hair?"

"I stared at myself in the mirror. I tried reading a book, but Maleshia kept pulling my head up or around because I kept moving it and it became easier to just stare at myself and keep my head still. I love how these things look, but it just took way too much to do and Maleshia isn't exactly the most gentle hairdresser in the world."

"Why did you get them?" he asked as he continued to play with her strands.

"It was for the play. Gretchen thought it would be neat if I had these braids since I'm playing Nala. She tried convincing me to keep them through _Avenue Q_ but it's all being shoved into a weird cap that'll give me a black man's hair, so I don't see the point. Maleshia's taking them and the highlights out after we finish our last showing."

Suerro smiled, "I would be interested to see what your hair normally looks like. I love long hair."

"Well," Natalie blushed, "If you love long hair, you've got the right girl. I only ever trim my hair and I only let my Aunt Alice do it four times a year. I try to keep my hair no longer than just below my hip." Suerro almost laughed, but just smiled.

"You know," he said after a deep breath, "When I was a child, I remember my mother having really long hair. All the women in the tribe had long hair, but she had the longest. She always had it twisted around with a twig or something but when we were home and she was getting ready for bed, her hair would fall down to the ground, even when she was standing. Her hair was usually in a braid too. I shudder to think how long it was when it wasn't in a braid."

Natalie smiled more, "I thought talking of your past was off limits."

"My mother and father are a different matter," Suerro answered, continuing to play with Natalie's hair. "My memories of them are fond."

"Can I ask you something?"

"What's that?"

"When you'd pressed me against the wall, I felt something poking my breast. What was it?" Before she'd finished asking, Natalie brought her hands to his chest and felt around until she found the culprit. "Is it a knife or something?"

"No," he answered, taking her hands away. "It's a tooth. It's sharp, so leave it alone."

"Can I see it? What kind of tooth is it?" Suerro took a hold of her hands and held them still. Natalie looked up at him and waited for him to say what the problem was now.

"I said leave it alone," he said in a stern tone. Then he sighed and let her go, reaching under his shirt and pulling out the tooth he had around his neck. She looked at it and could swear it looked like the teeth her and her pack members had in their wolf forms. "It's a wolf tooth," Suerro confirmed.

"Who's tooth is it?"

"Taha Aki's," he answered bluntly. Natalie looked right at Suerro, her eyes wide, and then looked back at the tooth.

"According to our stories," Natalie started, "After the third wife gave her life for the village—"

"She gives her life for the sake of the village and you don't even know her name," Suerro hissed back, interrupting her. It took Natalie by surprise and he cleared his throat needlessly. "Ignore me. Continue," he said in a calmer tone. Natalie took a moment, but she eventually continued.

"Well, after her death, they say that Taha Aki stayed a wolf and ran from the village leaving one of his sons that were still alive to take over control. We never knew what really happened."

"He was a shell by then," Suerro started, earning Natalie's attention when his tone became, yet again, suddenly harsh. "When I found him, he was begging for death. When he did die, I took his tooth as a prize."

"A prize for what?"

Suerro looked at Natalie, breathed out, and touched her face gently. "We've known each other all of two hours and you've already been told more about my life than I'd told Juliette in the thirty five years I was with her."

"You mean you were worse than this?" Suerro chuckled under his breath and planted his forehead against hers.

"Yes, if you can believe it," he teased and Natalie smiled up at him. His face went serious then, but not an angry serious like before. "There are simply things I prefer not to discuss. I admit I still hold a grudge on a man that's been dead for centuries, but you've never grieved me. Maybe one day I'll tell you, but for now," Suerro brought his face closer, "I'd rather get to know this strange woman that spoke to me out of the blue."

Natalie smiled, "Well, I've told you about my brothers, I've told you I'm part of the pack, you know I'm an actress, and you know I own two dogs."

"You said that you look like a show dog when you're a wolf," he inquired with a small grin. "I'm curious."

Natalie sighed heavily and told Suerro to turn around for her. He did as she asked and heard her change. When she made a sound, he turned and looked at this strange long haired dog with pure white, micro braided locks. If an Afghan hound and Komondor had puppies together, they would look like Natalie. It was like a strangely elegant giant mop. He held up his finger, telling her to wait a moment and he ran out of the apartment. Natalie was surprised that he'd left so suddenly, but he was back a few minutes later and had the hair of her head tied up suddenly in a little pink bow and Suerro just started laughing.

"There we go Natalie. Now you're ready for the judges," he said through his laughter. Natalie growled at him and started pawing at her head trying to get the bow out. She failed, gave up, and just changed back and pulled it out with her thumbs. She pulled her t-shirt back on so she wasn't naked in front of Suerro. "I see why you're a decoy."

"Yeah. Even you started laughing in my face and you've got no sense of humor." Suerro and Natalie shared a laugh. "My pack mates overheard me. So I guess they know about you now."

"How many are in the pack? I've heard it's reached numbers in the twenties."

"Twenty two wolves to be exact. We patrol in separate groups so instead of all twenty two going on patrol in one night, we trade off. It makes life a lot easier for the pack."

"So are you the first woman to join the pack?"

"No, I'm the second. The first was Leah Clearwater, but since her and Hailey got married, she's retired now. So now I'm the only girl in the pack and my cousin Travis is the first gay guy to join the pack."

"You guys are just a forward pack aren't you," Suerro said, slightly chuckling. "So what are your dog's names? They finally stopped barking at me." Natalie looked over at her two dogs that were now napping on the couch.

"That one with the blue collar is Prospero and the one with the red collar in Caliban."

"I take it you're a fan of _The Tempest_?"

Natalie nodded, "Yeah. I got to play Ariel. I had to have my chest bound so I would look like I wasn't any one gender in particular and I wore a light blue toga, angel wings, my face was painted white, I was wearing those freaky blue contacts that look like a dead person's eyes, and my hair was all pulled back and covered so I could wear a semi crown like light blue hat. That was one hell of a costume."

"I imagine so. What will your Gary Coleman costume look like?"

"As far as I know, I'll be in red overalls and a black t-shirt with a black guy hair cut wig so I at least look like I have Gary Coleman's hair."

"I can't picture it," Suerro finally released her hair. "I can't picture you with short hair."

"Believe me, neither can I. I've had this much hair most of my life and I don't even want to think what it would look like short. I'll just be wearing a cap and wig, so it's not so bad."

"When's the first showing?"

"The beginning of March," Natalie answered hopefully. "The last day of _The Lion King_ will be the 27th and we'll start _Avenue Q_ the first Saturday in March. I know tickets are expensive. I can always get you a free ticket."

"I may take you up on that offer. Eighty dollars for a shitty seat is insane. I would've nabbed a better one, but those were upwards of $150."

"Theatre's expensive; what can I say? So does that mean you'll be going?"

"Why not?" he shrugged. "You were good tonight and Romney raves about _Avenue Q_."

"Who's Romney?"

"He's a friend of mine."

Natalie's eyes widened, "You have friends?" Suerro looked into her eyes. She seemed genuinely surprised, but somehow he knew she was just poking fun at him. He just smiled and shrugged.

"I know it's hard to believe, but it's true." The two shared a laugh and, quite unexpectedly to Suerro, Natalie closed the distance and wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder.

"If you promise to come to my next play, I promise to save you a really good seat."

"Alright," Suerro held her back, "I'll come."

Natalie smiled more. She was finally making progress with the man. She looked forward to the day when she would no longer feel like she was walking on eggshells with him and they could talk to each other freely and honestly on all respects. She was willing and ready to share anything he wanted her to and it bothered her that he wasn't of the same mind. But then, he was right; they had known each other all of two hours so far. How could she expect him to be ready and willing to share his life story with her when to him, she was still a complete stranger.

"You're a strange girl, you know that?" He lifted her chin so she was looking at him. "And I'm sorry."

"For what?" Natalie asked, confused.

"For what I did; forcing you against the wall and nearly raping you," he said the last part very quietly. He hadn't intended to admit this to her, but he couldn't seem to stop himself from telling her.

Natalie went rigid. "You were…." Then she held her head down and walked away from him. Here she was, thinking she was getting somewhere and less than an hour ago, the man was plotting to rape her and she didn't even know why. "Why?" she asked meekly. "Why would you do that?" Suerro went to reach for her, but Natalie stepped back.

"A petty rage against a man who's long since dead. When you said you'd imprinted on me…but when you forced me to look at you, I couldn't do it. I realized that if I forced myself upon you, than I would be no better than Taha Aki."

"What does he have to do with you almost raping me?" Natalie asked harshly. "Do you think so little of anyone but yourself that you think it's appropriate to punish me for a dead man's crimes? Whatever the hell those crimes even were." Suerro stayed silent and Natalie's gut kept twisting. "Please leave," she ended up saying and that was the end of the conversation. Suerro walked out of her apartment without a word.

After he'd left, she cried a little, but not as much as the night before. Instead, she was just moping and not quite herself. He'd admitted his intentions, but he wouldn't tell her what it was that made him decide to place blame on her and plan to rape her. Obviously, he had a grudge against the first wolf, but what could he possibly begrudge against him that would lead him to think raping her would be equal payment? She didn't understand it and no matter how much she thought it over, nothing new or different came to mind that offered even a remote explanation. The only conclusion was that somehow, she'd imprinted on a selfish bastard that wouldn't let a grudge die. And everyone thought Nathan had had it bad. Wait until they heard the details of this little encounter for a second time, knowing far more details.

After Suerro left her home, he went back to his original routine and hurried back to Philadelphia where he and Romney had agreed to reconvene once Suerro was through with his visit. When Suerro arrived in Philadelphia, he eventually found Romney in a small house in the suburbs owned by a lovely elderly couple he'd killed. Romney was a decent 5' 11" with light brown hair that was on the longer side. He wasn't French Canadian like most of Suerro's other acquaintances. Instead he was an American born and bred in New York in the 1750's and was changed one day when he was on his way home from his factory job. He and Suerro had met when Suerro had first come to the Americas and once he'd gone off on his own, he and Romney struck up a money stealing business deal that, beyond belief, became a genuine friendship between them. They'd been partners ever since 1799. Now, however, Romney was sitting on the couch watching _Cheaters_.

"Why the hell do you watch this crap?" Suerro asked when he walked in.

"Because I enjoy watching people get what they deserve. I was under the impression you were rather fond of that too." Suerro ignored the comment as Romney stood from the chair and turned off the TV. "You're late coming back. Did something happen?"

"No," Suerro lied. "I just stayed longer. So did you grab any money and cards that were in the house?"

"You know I did. We'd better withdraw their money soon, though. These two have been dead for two days and people will eventually start to worry about them. Speaking of money, what the hell did you buy at Red Night that was eighty fucking dollars? Did the owner boost her prices suddenly?"

"No, she didn't. I went to a play."

Romney did a double take on Suerro and placed two fingers behind his ear. "You went to a what now?"

"I went to a play. It was _The Lion King_ and I was intrigued."

"Bullshit," Romney said. "What's the real reason you went? You didn't go to a play for some damn lions. You know I know you better than that."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You also know that I don't care if you don't want to talk about it. You needlessly spent eighty dollars and I will know the reason. We didn't save up money for you to spend it frivolously."

"Romney, we're multibillionaires. What's a lousy eighty dollars at a play?"

"Answer the question, Suerro," Romney demanded. Suerro groaned to himself and rubbed the back of his neck. There was never any secret keeping with Romney.

"There was this girl—"

"A girl? You spent eighty dollars to go to a play for a girl? I thought I knew you, but this is a first for you. Since when do you care about a woman?"

"I don't," Suerro began, but when he tried forming the word 'care' it wouldn't come out. "It wasn't like that. I owed her an apology."

Now Romney looked like a deer in headlights. "You apologized for something? Who the hell are you and what did you do to Suerro? My sleazy, asshole business partner that doesn't give two shits if he's offended someone?"

"Hell if I know. When you find him, you tell me immediately." Suerro took another deep breath. "There's something about her that's different. It's the only way I can describe it."

"What does she look like?"

"She's a Quileute for starters."

"How fitting." Suerro ignored him and continued.

"She has this slender little face and this straight, long nose and her skin is so even toned. She's got long hair too. It was in micro braids for the play she's in. She's playing Nala and her boss thought micro braids would fit the role. There were gold highlights in her hair too for the same reason. She has deep brown eyes, long lashes and those eyes give puppy dog looks that could disarm a militia. She's a daddy's girl to the bone I tell you. And…what?"

This time, Romney looked surprised, but delightfully so. "You like this girl. What's her name?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on, Suerro, don't play stupid with me. You know it never works. What's her name? Tell me now."

"Christ, fine," Suerro relented. "Her name is Natalie. Natalie Black."

"Black?" Romney searched through his brain for the name and remembered it from an awful tale he'd heard from a vampire that had ventured into that area and killed a human, narrowly avoiding death when the wolves caught him. "She's related to one of the wolves?"

"Not just related. She is one." The memory of her, bleach white braids with a little pink bow in her hair that he'd put there, flashed in his mind and he smiled. "She's only a decoy though."

"Wait," Romney stopped him, recalling the story, "Natalie's that white wolf that everyone keeps talking and laughing about? The one that's supposed to catch vampires off guard with her over all un-scary appearance before the real pack attacks?" Suerro nodded. "I feel sorry for the poor kid. You probably ripped her a new one when you found all that out."

He did, but he wasn't about to admit it. "I didn't really say anything about it."

"So you got a chance to talk to her? How did that go?"

"Bizarrely and ultimately very badly. When she'd admitted to me that she'd imprinted on me, I—"

"Hold on, imprinted? Like what Taha Aki did with Zur—"

"Taha Aki took advantage of an innocent love struck girl…and I almost did too." Suerro groaned. "And for what? Just to get petty revenge against a man whom I've already watched die. What's wrong with me, Romney?"

"Simple," Romney answered. "You're a bitter asshole." Suerro leered at Romney, but he continued. "If my understanding of Quileute wolf imprinting is correct according to my sources, she's already madly in love with you and will be anything you need her to be. And what you need is a swift kick in the ass to let go of the past. Yes, what happened to your sister was very unfortunate and it is partly your fault but—"

"Claudia and I had an agreement," Suerro growled. "She was to kill Taha Aki and _only_ Taha Aki. That's why I led her to the people who'd killed her mate; because she'd agreed to kill the only man deserving of death. She didn't do that."

"In other words, your plan backfired and now you have to live with that forever. Suerro," Romney said sternly, "life's just one damn thing after another and that doesn't change just because we're immortal. In fact, it's worse because we're immortal. And the worst part is that our regrets will always be there. We won't die and be free from our regrets in death. We're stuck with them no matter what. It sounds to me like this Natalie gal might be the answer to your putrid past and regrets. Though based on your reactions thus far, I assume you ruined it by being yourself." Suerro didn't say anything, earning Romney's exasperated sigh. "Figures. Your one chance at happiness and you fucked it up."

"Just get the damn cards and money so we can leave. This place smells like old people."

"And you smell like an asshole," Romney smelled the air a little, "And wet dog." Romney grabbed the loot and they left the house unseen and withdrew the couples' savings until there was nothing there. Eventually, Romney managed to get the whole story out of Suerro and reassured him that, again if his resources proved correct, she would forgive him and he could start again. This time refraining from being his usually grumpy and rude self. "So how's Zurra?" Romney asked suddenly when they'd finished talking about Natalie.

"Same as always," Suerro answered solemnly.

"When you're dealing with the dead, nothing new is the best case scenario. When will you be visiting her again? Much sooner than usual I assume seeing as this Natalie girl has made such an impression on you."

"I'm not going back any sooner than usual. She didn't make that much of an impression on me," Suerro lied again.

"Whatever, Suerro. But when you realize you actually like her and try to win her over and she's already seeing someone else that doesn't talk to her like a child and treat her like a piece of shit, you'll have no one to blame but yourself."

"I never treated her badly. I knew the woman for a few hours. And, also, don't your resources claim that once a wolf imprints, they never love another?"

"Sure they did, but you might be an exception," Romney scratched the back of his head. "You said that she'd offered to reserve a good seat for you to her next play. I say take her up on that offer, even if only to see if she decided to still provide it. If not, then buy a damn ticket and watch her belt about sex, racism and laughing at people's pain with a big smile on your face. Then, you go to her apartment, get on your knees, and beg her to forgive you for being a huge asshole. From what you've told me, she doesn't sound like the type of girl that will forgive easily even if you imprinted on her. She may have imprinted, Suerro, but that doesn't mean she's void of a backbone and self-respect. And another thing; what do you think her daddy's gonna have to say about this?"

"You act like I give a shit. We aren't talking about this anymore Romney. Why are you desperately trying to get me to apologize to a girl I barely know?"

"Because I'm a hopeless romantic and I've heard a lot about Quileute wolf imprinting. I also think that it's something you need. You need someone who will love you unconditionally and try to make you happy. In all the years I've known you, Suerro, I've never seen you happy. You didn't even gloat over that damn tooth when you get it. You just looked depressed."

"Because this tooth doesn't change that my sister was disgraced and killed herself. I thought that if I killed him, that would be enough to make us even. But when it cost my sister's life, his death meant nothing to me. He wanted to die, so he did. Keeping him alive would've been the best punishment I could inflict on him, but that's not what happened. I've lost, Romney."

"Why keep that tooth around your neck then?"

"When I'd taken it, I made it my prize but that didn't last long at all. After a while, it became a weight on me that I couldn't drop. Now it's just a tooth that mocks me and I can't let it go. I like to think I'm saving it for something."

"Maybe you are," Romney said. "Look, fix this, don't fix this, it's up to you. If you do intend to try and fix it, though, I can guarantee you that it'll take nothing less than a number of thoughtful and selfless gestures on your part. Now let's drop this nonsense and start robbing people."

"Will we ever be done robbing people? It's not like we're broke."

"It's not about being broke or not, it's about keeping ourselves occupied. Meet me at that Laundromat down the street when you finish for the night," Romney said before running off into the night to start his work, leaving Suerro with a lot to think about.

Back in Washington, as Natalie expected, the news of what happened with Suerro went over badly. Jacob was livid and made it clear that, imprint or not, he'd make sure Suerro got a piece of his mind if and when he saw him next. When the Red Night staff found out, it was even worse. Otto promised, no matter how much Natalie begged him not to, that if he ever laid eyes on the man, he'd 'bounce his ass 'til he was dust', were his exact words. Gretchen stuck with simply refusing him service, yet again ignoring Natalie's pleas that she let it go. This was her problem and everyone was making it their own. Now she knew how Kevin had felt with the pregnancy scare and the cheating girlfriend. If this is what it felt like, no wonder Kevin had gone into such a rage. Either way, Natalie tried her best to perk up in front of people and did her work as she always did. When she was alone, however, that's when she would let herself cry. It wasn't because she thought it was her fault. She knew this wasn't her fault. What hurt her and made her cry so much was the fact that the man she'd dreamed of for years thought so little of her that rapping her as a way to get back at someone so much as cross his mind. It didn't matter if it'd happened or not. What mattered is that he was prepared to make it happen.

With the closing of _The Lion King_, Natalie was finally freed from the braids and her hair was back to normal. She'd gone home happy and petting her hair, taken a shower and rushed to her mirror to brush it. But when she did, she remembered Suerro's hands petting it with such tenderness and it made her break down again. The man was a walking paradox. He was cold and hateful one minute, and then he was gentle and kind the next. He seemed to have a hair trigger that would shift his two sides at the flip of a coin. And when Hailey, upon learning what everyone else knew, innocently suggested the man might be bipolar or borderline personality, it was the first time Natalie cried in front of people. Natalie held her head high as best she could, though. Maybe she'd be the first wolf in the pack that didn't make it work with her imprint; not only didn't make it work, but made it not work in so little time. Either way, crying about it wouldn't change what happened. Unfortunately, in her spare time that seemed to be all she could do.

She didn't reserve a ticket for Suerro as she said she would. For one, if she'd asked, Gretchen would've refused outright. For the other, if Natalie gave Suerro a free ticket, it was like she was saying taking advantage of her (or considering it) was a.o.k with her. The first Saturday of March came and she swallowed her problems and went on stage singing and dancing. After the first three showings that Saturday, Natalie made her way to go straight home, but Gretchen stopped her.

"Natalie, dear," Gretchen said and Natalie stopped, her purse in hand. "There's someone here that wants to talk to you."

"Who?"

"He said his name is Percible Romney. He came to the show and requested to speak with you personally. He even paid extra for a backstage pass."

"You said Romney?" Gretchen nodded. "You know what, I'm not sure I want to talk to him. He might be the Romney Suerro's friends with."

This grabbed Gretchen's attention. "Is that so? Well, if I'd known that, I would've never agreed to let him talk to you. I'll tell him to leave, so you wait here. He's in the lobby."

"No," Natalie sighed, "I'll talk to him. Who knows; maybe he'll be able to shed some light on the matter."

"Are you sure? He didn't look like he had ill feelings or mal intentions, but then, looks can be deceiving."

"I'm sure, Gretchen. You said he's in the lobby?" Gretchen nodded and with that assurance, Natalie walked to the lobby and looked around for whoever had come to talk to her. After a moment, a man walked up to her that was about her height with brown hair, red eyes, pale skin wearing a sweatshirt and jeans.

"Natalie Black correct?" Natalie nodded and the man, she assumed it was Romney, smiled kindly. "It's a pleasure. I'm Percible Romney, but please just call me Romney. I'm not a huge fan of Percible or Percy." Romney looked her over a little before continuing. "Well, I've heard a lot about you, but I have to say, you're far more beautiful in person. When Suerro described you—"

"Please get to the point," Natalie interrupted. "State your business so I can leave. I have to go on patrol tonight."

Romney sighed, "I'm going to assume you're this sour because of Suerro. Believe me, I don't blame you. The man's brought out the worst in me on more than one occasion. Sometimes I wonder why we're friends, but then he reminds me that he's not a complete asshole."

"Point," Natalie demanded sternly.

Romney groaned, "Look, what I want to talk to you about will take a while, so why don't you let me treat you to dinner or something and we can talk and I'll explain Suerro's actions on his behalf. And before you say no, Suerro has no clue I'm here and did not ask me to speak for him. In fact, when he finds out I've done this, he'll be furious with me."

"Why isn't he talking to me on his own behalf if he wants to apologize for attempting to take advantage of me?"

"To be fair," Romney said, "he didn't take advantage of you, he only considered it and also, he did apologize for it and admitted to that being an intention that was ultimately fleeting." Natalie didn't answer. Instead, she began walking around Romney so she could leave, but Romney stepped in front of her and blocked her path. "Okay, okay, you're right; that's not really the point, but please sit down and let me explain his actions. I've known Suerro for a long time and think of him like a brother, so I know how he is and why he did what he did. Please, let me treat you to dinner. What are you in the mood for?"

"I'm not in the mood for anything. I don't want to sit down with you and talk. I've had a really long day and I'm about to have an even longer night. Please just let me pass so I can get to patrol."

"With all due respect, Ms. Black, your pack has twenty two wolves. I'm sure they'll live for one night without you. Please? I'll even treat you to some place expensive. I'll even buy you a bottle of their oldest, most expensive wine. What do you say?"

Natalie kept looking at Romney as he looked pleading. It reminded her of her puppy dog eyes, but more masculine. She was really hungry, but she wasn't sure if she would be compromising herself if she agreed to let Romney buy her dinner. Then again….expensive wine? Really expensive dinner, his treat? She thought about it a little more. This was just a friend of Suerro and having dinner with him didn't necessarily mean she was of a forgiving mood. Natalie took a very deep breath and nodded her head.

"Fine, I'll let you treat me to dinner."

"Good!" Romney interjected. "I admit we'll have to walk, but I promise the dinner and conversation will be well worth your time. Do you want to go home and change into something different before we go out to dinner?" Romney asked, acknowledging her yoga pants and graphic t-shirt that wouldn't be exactly condoned in the restaurant he'd be treating her to.

Natalie was about to say no, but she sighed and shrugged. "Sure. I'll get changed before we go."

"Perfect. I'll walk with you."

"No, really, that's fine. I'll meet you at the restaurant." Natalie began to walk away, but Romney stepped in front of her.

"I didn't even to you which one we're going to," Romney said, calling her bluff. Natalie groaned and rubbed her face. "Please, Natalie, I promise you to tell you everything you want and need to know if you just cooperate with me."

With a smile, Romney followed Natalie back to her home and waited at the entrance of the building for Natalie to change. She went from her yoga pants and cheap shirt to a pair of black pinstripe pants and a silk long sleeve shirt. When she was ready and came down with a more appropriate outfit and a more appropriate purse, Romney walked with her to Canlis Restaurant. It was later in the night, so the dinner crowd was dying down, so they were seated rather quickly. When seated, Romney told the waiter to bring Natalie a bottle of the restaurant's finest Pinot Noir and a platter of oysters.

"I'm not twenty one, Romney."

"Oh, of course, my apologies. Never mind the wine. You aren't allergic to seafood, right? Suerro mentioned you had allergies, but he wasn't specific."

Natalie glanced at Romney a moment. "No," she finally said, "I'm not allergic to seafood. Really, you don't have to go to all this trouble." Having the order, the waiter walked away to put in the orders.

"I do, Ms. Black."

"Just call me Natalie."

Romney smiled. "Alright, Natalie."

"Also," she stopped Romney, "red wine with oysters? You must be out of your mind."

Romney noted Natalie's small smile and it made him smile in kind. "You will forgive my carelessness. I can ask the waiter for a white wine that you can't drink."

"I may just ask you to do that." Natalie smiled just a little more and it made Romney chuckle.

"Of course, Natalie." The waiter came over with the bread and more water and assured them the oysters were coming.

"So you said you and Suerro are business partners?"

"Scam artists more appropriately," Romney said when the waiter was gone. "We steal money and save it. We're extremely rich already after so many centuries. Believe it or not, the twenties was a good decade for us financially. Everyone was earning big in the stock market at the time, so there was plenty of money to steal. We never used banks either. Every dime Suerro and I ever stolen is locked away in a safe place where only we know where it is."

"You mean a Swiss bank account?" Romney lost his cocky smiled and held his head down.

"Yes," he said awkwardly, "A Swiss bank account. It used to be more creative than that, but once the digital age came along, it was time to adjust."

"I see," Natalie said, but turned her attention to the oysters when they arrived. She wasn't a huge fan of oysters like her brother was, but she was really hungry and decided to give them a go. She hadn't eaten all day or any of yesterday, so just about anything would've been fantastic at the time.

"Anyway, I think it best we begin our discussion after you order dinner. Have you decided what you want?"

"I admit I'm really hungry and the prawn starter sounds delicious right now."

"By all means," Romney assured. Then he waved over the waiter and allowed Natalie to order a second course. "You know, when Suerro got back to Philadelphia he had a lot to say about you. Whether he realized it or not, it was all good. He really likes you; I can tell. When I asked him to describe you, he perked up more than I'd ever seen."

"Glad to hear I made an impression," Natalie said sarcastically and sourly. She didn't want to start tearing up, so she did her best to keep a firm stance.

Romney sighed, "Look, Natalie you have every reason to be upset with him, but I doubt you know the full story."

"I don't know much of anything. All I know is he had a sister, he's Native American, he lost his parents in an attack, and he has a grudge against Taha Aki and it's evidently the reason he was planning to rape me."

"That is all true, but that's really only thirty percent of the story. It was many years ago, yes, but Suerro has a great deal to be angry about. That's why I'm so eager to see him be with you seeing as you've imprinted on him." Natalie looked up at Romney like she was surprised, though she really shouldn't be. "He's suffered so much and he's so angry about it. I think your love would be good for him."

"I would be a little more sympathetic if I knew the extent of his hardships," Natalie finally said. "I want to understand, but I can't if he won't tell me. I realize we haven't known each other long, so him being a little defensive is understandable, but how am I supposed to build a relationship with Suerro when he's being so closed off with me?"

"Trust me Natalie he's being much more open with you than he's ever been with anyone else. You've known him a few hours at best and he's already told you more about himself than he told me in that time. In two hours of knowing Suerro, all I knew was that he was some Native American that Juliette had found and taken pity on and dressed up like a white man. She didn't know what tribe Suerro was from and Suerro never really answered when someone asked. I found out his back story the same time as Juliette only because she told me what happened with Claudia."

"Who's Claudia? His former mate?" The word mate came out with a shudder and a pressure in her throat.

Romney almost laughed, but he refrained. "Suerro never had a mate. He and Juliette used to be lovers, but—"

"Suerro told me it'd been a purely superficial relationship."

"Indeed it was. Juliette may have wanted more for a time, but that stopped when Suerro firstly refused to take her name and secondly expressed no desire to be with her for the long term. He hasn't been with anyone romantically since her and as he said, it was worth nothing. And I'll get to Claudia in a moment. She's a small piece of a very large puzzle." The waiter came over with Natalie's prawns.

"Excuse me, but would you two like to place your orders for dinner?" the waiter asked.

"Yes," Natalie started, "I'll have the Wagyu tenderloin medium rare."

"Of course, Miss. And what would you like sir?"

"I'll have the king salmon. You like king salmon, right Natalie?"

"Yes," she said, figuring he was planning to make her take the salmon. She didn't mind. The salmon had looked delicious too.

"King salmon it is then."

"Very good. I'll put your orders in." When the waiter walked away, taking away the empty plates on the table, Romney at least began the tale.

"As you've noticed, Suerro is easily agitated when his past is brought up and I you'll think I'm crazy for this, but I'll defend him to the death that he has every right to be angry about his past. To start, did Suerro tell you he's Quileute?"

This time, Natalie's eyes did go wide. "He is? Why didn't he say it when I told him I'm Quileute?"

"Because it shames him," Romney answered bluntly. "As I said, Suerro is Quileute, so that's how he knows Taha Aki personally. He's the oldest and only had one sister named Zurra. Now, here's my understanding of the matter. You know Taha Aki was married three times correct?"

"Yes, I know that. Was Zurra one of his wives then?"

"Not just one of them. She was the infamous third wife." This had Natalie interested and at the edge of her seat. "Taha Aki's first wife was named Asa Silii and she gave him six sons. They were married for a long time but Suerro wasn't alive when those two were married. Of those six sons, only his eldest remained a wolf. Naturally, Asa Silii aged while Taha Aki stayed the same and he swore to her that he still loved her, but she confided in friends and family that she always felt that wasn't true. When Asa Silii died, she was buried and mourned by her sons, but an intense animosity grew for Taha Aki because he took on a second wife only three months after his first wife died. According to Suerro, Taha Aki's sons always resented him for that. They always resented that Taha Aki had been able to move on so quickly when he was still technically supposed to be in mourning.

"The second wife was a woman named Sulia and she bore him four sons and three daughters. Now, Suerro was born around the tail end of Taha Aki's and Sulia's marriage. The same pattern followed where Sulia was aging and she had the unrelenting feeling that Taha Aki didn't love her the way he used to because, again, she was getting older and he was staying the same. There was that lingering animosity in the village, but of course he was their chief and their Great Wolf. From what I can tell based on Suerro's story, the man got away with more than he should have. Though that also could be due to fear. He'd exiled Utlapa's followers, wives, and children after his death and many thought that had been excessive. Anyway, when Suerro's little sister was born, that's when a larger wedge formed between Taha Aki and Sulia. She complained to friends, one of those friends including Suerro's mother, that Taha Aki wouldn't touch her anymore. In other words, they weren't having sex anymore and it was bothering her.

"Naturally, their children knew of these problems and that only made the resentment fester, especially with his older son that was still alive. Taha Aki made himself a very prominent part of Zurra's life from the beginning. Suerro's parents found it to be strange and they really didn't much like it. It's when Sulia finally died that things really got nasty, though. It was well known to all in the village that Sulia was discontented and Taha Aki was paying more attention to another family's daughter than his own wife. And then Sulia died. 'She didn't even have time to rot' were Suerro's exact words, 'before he set his sights on Zurra'."

"That's not how imprinting works, Romney. Taha Aki was to Zurra what she needed him to be. It's a form of love that's special and different."

"Well, tell that to Taha Aki's village, Suerro, and Zurra's parents. Sulia was buried in the morning and that night, Taha Aki came to Suerro's parents and told them he wished to remain a prominent part of Zurra's life and that, one day, perhaps she could be his wife when she was of age. Suerro's father refused Taha Aki and told him he could find another woman, a woman that was already grown, to be his third consecutive wife. Now, Zurra didn't help. She pleaded with her dad not to be so mean to Taha Aki. It was a childish crush for her at the time according to Suerro, but that didn't lessen anything. Despite her father's disapproval on the matter, Taha Aki continued to make himself a part of Zurra's life and Suerro always took issue with the fact that Taha Aki was stealing his sister away from her family because she cared more about what Taha Aki thought than her mother, father, and brother." Their dinners finally came and Romney waited until the waiter was gone.

"Now," Romney continued as Natalie listened intently, "As Suerro already told you, his parents were killed when the tribe was attacked by a group of Indians that came from the East and warned of conquerors. After his parents were killed, Suerro had to take on the responsibility of caring for the family, which meant he was the new father figure to Zurra. It was Taha Aki's hope, from what I can tell, to convince Suerro that his eventual union with Zurra was a good thing and that he truly hoped that Suerro would see things his way. Naturally, Suerro refused him, rather colorfully I might add, and swore that he'd sooner spit on his parents' graves before he gave Zurra to Taha Aki in marriage. Again, however, Taha Aki ignored Suerro's disapproval and continued to 'court' Zurra. When Zurra was much older finally, their love turned into something romantic and Taha Aki asked Zurra to be his wife. She was overjoyed and went to Suerro begging for his approval. Suerro refused and promised to find her a more suitable, more worthy husband. Zurra cried and begged and pleaded, but Suerro never relented.

"Not long after the proposal, Taha Aki made one last attempt to reason with Suerro and try to allow them to be married. They argued for hours and eventually Suerro scream, and I quote, 'I'll see you to the afterlife before I see my sister to your bed', and Suerro threw Taha Aki out of his home and demanded he never speak to Zurra again. Now Zurra came to Suerro and screamed at him for being so cruel and she insisted that she loved Taha Aki and that she would have him or no one. Suerro told her that she'd have no one then and she went to her bed crying."

"How did they get married, then," Natalie asked. "Did Suerro eventually give his approval?"

"Not at all," Romney answered. "Here's where the story gets really sticky. Two days after that confrontation, Taha Aki called the village to come to him so that he could make an announcement. He'd chosen a new wife and her name was Zurra. He claimed that, due to the fact that Suerro wasn't her father, he had no right to keep Taha Aki from marrying Zurra. Zurra was overjoyed and the two kissed in front of the whole village. However, it was well known to everyone, and I mean everyone, that when Zurra's father had been alive, he'd made it very clear that he didn't approve of the union between Taha Aki and his daughter. Taha Aki was discrediting Suerro's inherited authority, in front of everyone no less, and Zurra was going against what her father had expressly told her. At the time in your tribe, that was a big no-no. She lost a lot of friends from that incident because people lost respect for her. Suerro demanded that Zurra not marry Taha Aki and she refused and ran out of the tent crying. Then, the next morning, everyone and I mean everyone saw Zurra come out of Taha Aki's tent early in the morning and what they'd done was obvious. When Suerro saw that, he snapped and attacked Taha Aki. Taha Aki's sons eventually broke up the fight, but Suerro was still angry. He took all of the things Zurra had in the tent they shared and threw them out in front and told her that a whore sleeps outside."

"That's an awful thing to say," Natalie said, though she couldn't fight the feeling that Suerro (though reacting poorly) had a reason for being angry.

"Awful or not, Zurra blatantly went against her family's wishes and as I said, back then it was a huge taboo. The other huge taboo was a woman having sex with a man that isn't her husband. After that day, the village lost all respect for her and completely shunned her. Realizing what was happening, Taha Aki went to Suerro and demanded, that right he demanded, that Suerro give his approval for the nuptials and help repair Zurra's tarnished reputation. In short, Suerro told Taha Aki that he and Zurra had made their bed and now they had to lie in it. Zurra was living with Taha Aki from then on and that only made things worse. Suerro never wavered and the day of the wedding, he went into the woods to clear his head and that's when Juliette changed him. Taha Aki and two of his sons found him after he'd been attacked and Taha Aki decided it was best to kill him, but Suerro fought back and Juliette saved him from drowning and allowed him to change. Juliette was the first vampire your village ever encountered, not MacAllister, Claudia's mate. Now, speaking of Claudia, Suerro had been away from his tribe for about twenty years when this happened. There were whispers going around that Claudia's mate MacAllister was killed by a pack of wolves, but Claudia didn't believe it. All she knew for sure was that her mate was dead and she wanted blood for payment.

"When Suerro heard the rumors that wolves were at fault, Suerro knew immediately what peoples were at fault and he went to Claudia and told her." Natalie went rigid, but Romney continued. "He told her that he would show her the way to the Quileute village, but only under the condition that she only kill Taha Aki, who was the one deserving of death. Claudia agreed to these terms and she, Suerro, and Juliette made their way to Washington."

"Suerro led a vampire to his own village out of spite?"

"It wasn't out of spite, it was a desire for revenge and as I said, they'd agreed that Taha Aki would be the only fatality. But when they got to the village grounds, Claudia went mad and attacked everyone while still demanding Taha Aki pay for his crimes. When Claudia murdered one of Taha Aki's sons, he changed into a wolf and attacked her. Now, Claudia had almost bested Taha Aki and she would have had it not been for Zurra. She committed suicide, drawing her own blood, so that the man she loved would live. Suerro watched his sister die for a man he despised and his heart broke. Later when she'd been buried, he took her away and buried her somewhere else. That's one thing I don't know. He never did tell me where he buries her. I wish I knew, but he will never tell me. After Zurra's death, Taha Aki wandered north and cried in pain. Suerro found him eventually and the two began to fight. But Suerro noticed that Taha Aki wasn't fighting back and he realized Taha Aki wanted to die. So instead, Suerro allowed Taha Aki to live and watched him die slowly from hunger and a broken heart. When Taha Aki finally died, Suerro took a tooth and kept it. First it was a prize, then a reminder, and now it's a burden that he can't let go of."

Natalie poked at her meat, having lost her appetite. "So that's why," she said weakly. "He hates Taha Aki for sleeping with Zurra and he thought that raping me would settle that score."

"Exactly right. But, and these are his own words, when he looked into your eyes, something inside him snapped, he felt a pull, and he just couldn't do it. He doesn't admit it to me exactly, but he feels horrible about it. He does have feelings for you already and I think his blind rage towards Taha Aki made him have a momentary lapse in judgment."

"He still tried to take advantage of me to pay for another man's crimes. How do I know he won't hold this grudge against me forever?"

"Honestly, I can't say there's any way of knowing. All I can say is that I sincerely feel that Suerro needs a woman that will love him and help him come to terms with his past. I think that you might be that woman. In fact, I'm sure of it."

"Sure of it or not, Romney, if I have to live in fear of my imprint, then I won't put myself through that. I'd rather be heartbroken and without him than with him, in love, and fearing when the next snap would come." Romney sighed as Natalie waved the waiter over to bag their food. When the waiter came back with boxes and bags, Natalie packed away the salmon and steak and scooted from her chair. "Thank you for dinner and the story, Romney."

"Let me treat you to dessert and coffee before you completely give up on him. The Mille-Feuille sounds delicious." With a heavy sigh, Natalie sat back down with him.

"Fine. I'll let you treat me to dessert and coffee."

Romney smiled, "That's the spirit. Waiter!" Romney called out and ordered the Mille for Natalie. When it came with coffee, Natalie took one bite, but stopped.

"Shit," she said, stopping Romney from talking.

"What?"

"This has peanut butter in it." She spit out the dessert and wiped her tongue, but she could feel the closing of her throat and it took everything in her not to panic. But as the reaction got worse, panicking was all she could do.

"You're allergic to peanuts? I'm so sorry, I didn't know. Are you alright?" Romney came to her and patted her back, but it wasn't helping and her throat was closing up.

"Call an ambulance, she managed to get out before Romney pulled out his phone, called an ambulance, and asked if there was a doctor in the restaurant. The ambulance got there in a matter of minutes and were in enough time to help Natalie. She was moments away from turning into a vampire so the anaphylactic shock wouldn't kill her. She was driven to the hospital and Gretchen, upon hearing the sirens and one of her scouters telling her it was Natalie in that ambulance, came to the hospital seconds later and already called her family.

"What in the bloody hell is wrong with you?" she screamed at Romney when she spotted him. Romney was surprised to see her, but held his ground as this British woman proceeded to yell. "Are you trying to poison her? She's allergic to nuts you bleeding wanker!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. Suerro only told me she had allergies; he wasn't really specific."

"And what, might I ask, is the most common allergy in this country?"

"I don't know if the answer is peanut butter, but I get your point: I should've asked if she had an allergy to peanuts first before I ordered a dessert with peanuts in it. But she should be up and running by tomorrow right?"

"That's not the point you idiot! You could've killed her. You're lucky an ambulance got there in time to open her airways. Though how she didn't notice there was peanut butter in that dessert before eating it I will never know. You'd think she could smell peanut butter a mile away, but I suppose not." Gretchen briefly shook her head, "But that's still off topic. You mark my words, Mr. Percible Romney: if you ever come near her again, especially under the pretence of talking about that horrible man Suerro, then I'll see you crucified in the streets!"

"That threat's just a bit archaic, wouldn't you say?"

"Don't test my patience, sir. I've lost my Gary Coleman because of you and now we'll have to find a replacement for tomorrow's performances. Do you know how people tend to react when there's a sudden change of casting especially when that change involves a rather famous actress?"

"I'd never heard of her until now."

"I mean a locally famous actress you clod! My patrons as a whole have grown rather fond of Natalie and her performances and now I'll have to explain to them that she's down for a day. They'll demand refunds, compensations of some nature, I'll lose money and it's all because it never occurred to you to ask a person with allergies if she's allergic to peanuts."

"Look, just calm down Gretchen."

"That's Miss Mason to you, wanker."

"Whatever, just shut up and listen. I'll reimburse you for any lost earnings for this if it'll make you happy and get you off my back."

"Oh, you'll reimburse me alright! And just so you know, when her family gets here, they'll want a few choice words with you too."

Romney groaned. "This chick really is a daddy's girl isn't she?"

"The worst kind. A daddy's girl with a daddy that can break even a vampire's bones. You can also let Suerro know that he's not to go anywhere near Natalie ever again, daddy's orders."

"Oh yeah? Says him and what army?"

"How about the pack, the Cullens, the Denalis, and the Red Night Theatre group and employees?" Kevin retorted when he'd entered the hallway and walked up to the two.

"That's a good army," Romney said, deflating. "I understand all your animosities and they're well founded."

"I would damn well say so," Gretchen hissed back.

"Please let me finish. Suerro was wrong and I won't argue that and I know he's rough around the edges; jagged even. But he's a good guy when you get past his initial asshole-y exterior. He's kind of like a coconut. He has a hard exterior on the outside and it's a bitch to get past and sometimes it can fall on your head and knock you unconscious, but once you're in, the fruit is fantastic. Well, Suerro assumed she likes coconuts, hence the analogy, but the point is the same. It took me years to really get to know Suerro the way I do and it might take Natalie that same amount of time to win over Suerro. I'll I'm saying is she needs to understand Suerro's a work in progress, especially with the whole Natalie's-Quileute-and-it-reminds-him-of-bad-history thing—"

"Just stop right there," Kevin ordered Romney. "I don't care if Natalie imprinted on Suerro and I don't care how great a fruit he is. The man attempted to rape my sister. Yes, it didn't end up actually happening, but the fact is he tried. For all we, meaning me and all involved, know, Suerro might try this again or end up abusive. I speak for everyone when I say we'd rather avoid that outcome all together. If it ever got to that, believe me this would get a lot uglier. Nat might be a bit of a brat and somewhat self-absorbed at times, but we love her anyway and we'd all defend her to the death if she needed us to. Now," Kevin walked closer to Romney, "I suggest you just get going. Once the family gets here, it'll be at least thirty one against one."

"Fine," Romney finally relented, "I tried." Romney walked out of the hospital and immediately made his way back to Philadelphia. Romney found Suerro right where he'd left him: the roof of a Hotel Hilton.

"You were gone a while," Suerro said when he saw Romney. "Where have you been?"

Romney was about to lie, but he rubbed his face and shook his head. "I went to Washington."

"D.C?"

"State." Suerro seemed to get angry. "I wanted to try and fix what happened with Natalie and—"

"What the hell were you thinking? You wasted precious time trying to fix a momentary encounter I had with a fucking child?"

"Damn it, Suerro, lie all you want to anyone else, but not to me. You know damn well that you like her and feel bad for what happened."

"So you try to fix it for me?"

"Yes, Suerro, I tried to fix it for you because, frankly, you're not exactly the easiest personality to swallow and I thought I'd do some damage control and, well, I almost killed her over dinner because I didn't know she was allergic to peanuts."

"You what?" Suerro yelled. "She's allergic to peanuts, you moron!"

"Okay, one: you said it was allergies, but you never specified what allergies. Secondly: if you care so little for this child you had a momentary encounter with, why are you getting so angry at me for my oversight?"

"It's," Suerro began, but he stopped and went in a different direction. "Fine, Romney, I like her. She scared the shit out of me when she walked up to me and started talking to me suddenly, but in the time I had with her, she was charming and I was drawn to her. There," Suerro raised his hands in surrender a moment, "I admitted I like her. Are you happy?"

"Only a little. You've admitted you're smitten, but at the moment that doesn't do you shit. It's not just her. Every family member of hers and coworkers are mad pissed off at you and rightly so. It's going to be hard to undo that. Why did you have to admit to her that you were going to rape her, Suerro? Seriously, why'd you choose then to not be closed off and secretive? I'm sure she could've happily lived without knowing you were going to rape her."

"Because I felt awful about it, Romney. I tried changing the subject and avoiding the topic and getting to know her, but she knew something was up when I kissed her and if you make a sexual innuendo right now, I'll smack you off this roof." Romney stayed silent and Suerro continued. "Anyway, she knew something was wrong and I told her what was wrong."

"Damn it, Suerro," Romney groaned. "You're void of any social common sense aren't you?"

"And you're void of shut the hell up! Also," Suerro walked over and held up the phone he'd begrudgingly gotten (Romney wouldn't even answer him when he called anyway, useless fucking thing) and pointed at the credit history from their joint account, "What the hell did you buy that you spent $300 dollars at Canlis? Yes, Romney, I can bitch about frivolous spending just the same as you."

"I was trying to butter her up while I told her your story."

"You…" Suerro's blood would be boiling if it could. "You told her everything?"

"Everything, yes. She knows your history, so maybe she'll show a little more leniency next time you go to Washington. Seriously, Suerro, now she knows the whole story and can be more sympathetic. Isn't that's what's important?"

"This isn't your side to tell! Maybe I didn't want her to know all that about me. Did you ever think of that?"

"Yes, I did, and look where not telling her the truth got you. You managed to alienate the love of your life after knowing her a total of an hour and forty five minutes."

"She's not the….fuck, Romney, this isn't your business. I know how you say imprinting works according to you God damn sources, but I don't….."

"You can't say it can you? You can't say she means nothing to you and you believe me, I won't let you say it. I've had dinner with her and even when she was depressed, I grew very fond of her. She's very charming and a beautiful woman. Frankly, Suerro, if a catch like that loves you, you shouldn't throw it back in the water. You keep it and mount it on….okay, bad analogy so scratch that but you get my point right?"

"Romney, don't meddle in this." Suerro wasn't harsh when he said it. He actually looked deflated, disheartened, and defeated. Then he pulled out Taha Aki's tooth and stared at it. "He's taking things from me even from the grave."

"He's not taking anything, Suerro. You're letting your anger and bitterness prevent you from being happy and that's no one's fault but your own."

Suerro continued to look at the tooth. "It's a palpable thing to hate someone so much."

"Loving someone with the same intensity has a far better taste I can assure you."

Suerro finally tucked the tooth back under his shirt and stared into the city. "Perhaps. But bitterness can ruin even the best of dishes."


	24. Dagger on the Island

**Dagger on the Island**

When Natalie recovered from her near death allergic reaction, she stayed home for a day and let someone else take her place as Gary Coleman. As Gretchen knew would be the case, when it was learned by the patrons that Natalie wouldn't be playing Gary Coleman that day, forty percent walked out and demanded they get free tickets to a showing in which Natalie would be playing. Gretchen lost about eight thousand dollars and she made sure to send Romney the bill for it. When asked, Natalie really didn't want to talk about that night (the pack knew the whole story anyway) and asked that people help keep things as normal as possible so she could try to get back to business as usual. She continued to keep her stage life as normal as possible and allowed herself times to mope when she was home or out on patrol.

"I like this kitten," Natalie said, pointing to a little white kitten. Travis and the rest of the pack really wanted to find something to cheer up Natalie, so Travis drugged her with allergy medication, a white mask, and took her with him to help pick out his new kitten. Natalie might be allergic to cats, but she still thought they were cute.

Travis read the description on the cage, "Neutered white male, he's a three month old and his litter was found in an abandoned house with a feral mom." Travis looked at the other two kittens in the cage. "Evidently these other kittens are his sisters. All three are really close to each other."

"Oh," Natalie sighed, "I guess you'd have to get all three. Let's look at the other kittens."

"Wait, wait, Natalie, just give me a second." There were three kittens in the cage that were from the same litter but looked nothing alike. The little boy kitten was mostly white with splotches of cream in there and he had cute little brown, almond shaped eyes. Travis pressed his hand against the cage and the little white kitten rubbed against him and purred. The other two kittens were spayed females, one a blonde tabby, the other a grey kitten with pounds of hair, unlike her two siblings that were short haired.

"Are you seriously considering getting all three kittens?" Natalie looked at them. "I know they're adorable, but can you afford three?"

"They're already fixed and have their shots. All I have to pay is the price on the tags." Travis looked for a vet-tech that worked there and asked if he could have the three kittens. Before anything, he gave them all his information and did a background check.

"Why is the background check necessary?"

"They have to make sure I don't have any animal related criminal history, Natalie." Once Travis was cleared, the vet-tech put the three kittens in a carrier with something of theirs from the cage and the two left the shelter and made their way back to Travis's apartment. He already had his apartment stocked up on cat things that kittens would love. Travis set the carrier on the floor and opened the door so the kittens could come out. When the kittens walked out, Travis pulled the collars out of the bag. The little blonde tabby would be Ginger, the grey long haired kitten Zoe, and the little white kitten Max.

"What do you think Maxi will say when he finds out you named one of your cats after him?" Natalie asked with a giggle as Travis put the collars on.

"We'll find out next time I'm on patrol I guess. He won't be thrilled, but you know what? That's okay. This little white kitten just looks like a Max. Don't you agree?" Travis stood up and watched his new kittens start wandering around the apartment and getting used to the new toys and climbable scratching post. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. My eyes aren't getting itchy and I haven't had a runny nose. That pill you gave me really did the trick."

"I wasn't really talking about the allergies," Travis said quietly. "You still seem really down. I would say he's just a guy, but then—"

"Travis," Natalie interrupted Travis and took a gentle hold of his face. "You don't need to worry about me. Imprint or not, I still have my dignity and I'm not going to forgive a man so readily that tried to take advantage of me."

"I'm not saying you should forgive him; far from it. I'm just asking if you're feeling better. I'm entitled to worry about you, Natalie."

"And I love you for that, but for now, enjoy your new kittens. It's June for god's sake. It's time to move on now."

Reluctantly, Travis nodded, "If you say so. Are you at least planning to fix your patio door? You know Uncle Jacob would be happy to fix it for you."

"Of course I know that, Travis. I'll get to it when I feel like it." Natalie sighed. "If I can't open my patio, I can't step out and get locked out of my apartment now can I?"

"Sure, but your landlord will expect you to fix it before you move out."

"Indeed, but until I'm actively planning to move out, the landlord can deal with me having a broken patio door. He certainly didn't care when he was showing the unit to me, so he won't care now. I don't think he even knows about it."

"Why do you even keep putting it off?"

"Because Travis, I don't have a day to devote to staying home so someone can fix my door. Daddy has his own job and work to do."

"What about your uncles? Emmett and Jasper are good at that stuff aren't they?"

"I'd rather I was present when they fixed the door and it'd be so late by the time I got home that they'd stop me from getting any sleep."

"You just want it to stay broken I see," Travis mumbled to himself while he played with the kittens.

"Yes Travis, I want it to stay broken," Natalie answered with a sigh.

"Why?"

"Because Suerro still owes me a new door," Natalie admitted before going to Travis's couch to sit down, picking up a dangling cat toy and playing with Ginger from the couch. "These kittens are adorable."

Instead of forcing the matter, Travis smiled and sat next to Natalie. "Yeah, they are. Speaking of which, how are Prospero and Caliban?"

"They're fine," Natalie answered briefly.

Natalie spent a few more hours at Travis's apartment until the meds were wearing off and she needed to leave. She went right home and started looking through her script. They'd be doing a play she wasn't particularly fond of, but then it technically wasn't finished because the author had died halfway through productions. She'd be playing the part of Maureen Johnson in _Rent_. She was, at least, looking forward to being dressed up in an eighties style. There were times when theatres would try to bring _Rent_ into a more modern setting, but since it's based during the time when AIDS was at its worst, eighties was really the only way to go. Her hair was going to be massive and she'd be showing off half her body in tight, short clothes. As she was reading, she remembered that she was supposed to go to her parents' house that night for dinner. Nessie liked having everyone home now and then to have dinner and keep up with each other. Jacob did that anyway during patrol, but Nessie didn't have that luxury and wanted the kids over.

Natalie left so she'd have at least an hour and a half to drive to La Push and be in time for dinner. When she arrived, however, she saw Embry sitting at the dinner table talking to Jacob and drinking a beer. Her brothers were at the table talking to him too. He looked extremely depressed and she walked over to the table and overheard Embry talking about divorce and child custody.

"Embry," Natalie said when she was in the dining room. "What's the matter? You and Brie are getting a divorce? Why?" This was the first she or any other member of the pack for that matter, had heard about there being divorce-able problems in their marriage. Sure, Embry was out on patrol and worked other nights, but he did what he could to make time for Brie and he most certainly makes time for Lauren and Jenna.

"Because I met her lover this morning," Embry answered before taking another gulp of his beer.

**Earlier That Day**

It was almost noon that day. Brie wanted to take a personal day to go to the salon and Embry had agreed to look after the girls while she was gone. He'd been working (not on patrol: working) the night before and was exhausted. He stayed in the living room with the girls as they played with their toys. At the moment, Embry was out cold sleeping and the girls knew to try and be slightly quieter. While the girls were playing, they heard the doorbell ring.

"Should we wake daddy?" Jenna asked Lauren. The two looked up at Embry and Lauren shook her head.

"No, leave daddy alone," she answered. Then Lauren ran to the front door and reached on her tiptoes for the doorknob. When the door was open, Lauran looked up at a big man. "Can I help you?" Lauren asked politely.

The man looked at the little girl. The twins looked similar and he could never tell them apart when Brie showed him pictures. Both little girls had black hair, brown eyes, little button noses they both got from Brie and everything else seemed to be their father.

"Hello, I'm John Boiteger. I'm sorry, but are you Lauren or Jenna?"

"Lauren."

John took a deep breath and looked at his feet, "Alright Lauren. Could you do me a favor and get your father? I need to talk to him. It's serious," he said to the little girl. He'd felt sick to his stomach since yesterday. Talking to Lauren didn't help. He'd felt like shit already, but looking at that little girl reminded him bitterly that he was about to break up a family possibly.

"Daddy's sleeping," Lauren answered.

"Oh…..well, please wake him anyway. Please Lauren, this is really important."

"Okay," Lauren finally answered and walked over to the couch where Embry was sleeping. Jenna watched Lauren.

"Lauren, daddy's sleeping."

"That man at the door says he needs to talk to daddy." Lauren began to gently nudge Embry while John closed the door behind him and stayed at the front waiting patiently. His anxiety grew the longer he waited. "Daddy," Lauren began as she continued to gently nudge Embry's arm, "Daddy, wake up. There's a man here to talk to you." Lauren chanted daddy until Embry finally woke up with a groan.

"Honey, please, I've had a long night," Embry half whispered.

"But daddy, there's a man here that says he wants to talk to you. He said his name is John Boider." John smiled a little, but the mispronunciation of his name didn't lighten his mood.

"Who?" Embry asked as he rubbed his face until he was awake. He looked towards the front door and saw the man that Lauren was talking about. "Who are you?"

"Hello," John started nervously. "I'm John Boiteger. There's something I should talk to you about. It's a private matter so maybe Lauren and Jenna should go to their room." Embry looked at the man strangely before he told the girls to go to their room so he could speak to whoever this person was. When the girls were in the room with the door closed, Embry walked over to John.

"Do I know you?" he asked, wondering how this man knew his daughters' names.

"No," John answered, shaking his head. "You don't know me. I'm here because there's something you and I need to discuss and you're not going to like it." John waited a moment and looked at Embry. The knot in his stomach kept twisting as he stayed silent, so finally, John just spit it out. "Look, Brie and I….we've been having an affair." When Embry's face began to contort between rage, surprise, and sadness, John hurried to continue. "I swear, I didn't know about you. Brie told me that you and she'd never been married. I only knew about the twins."

"Did you ever—"

"No!" John blurted out, seeing where Embry was going with the anger in his voice, "I've never met your daughters before. Brie never brought the girls around to my place and I've never been here before. She never let me over here." John groaned. "I guess that should've been my first clue that something was off. I swear to you that if I'd known you and Brie are married, I would've never laid a hand on her."

"You've been sleeping with my wife?" Embry finally asked. He wasn't sure how to react. A million questions crossed through his mind. "Why?" he finally asked.

"I don't know. She lied to me just as much as she lied to you." John reached into his wallet and pulled out a family photo that Embry, Brie, and the girls had taken just a month before. "This is what tipped me off. I started to think she was cheating on me because she never let me go to her house and sometimes when I called her, I'd hear you on the other end of the line. When I found this picture and looked at the date it was taken and I found her wedding ring in her purse, that's when I realized you're her husband." Embry grabbed the family picture and just stared at it. "She kept swearing to me that she wasn't cheating on me, so I suspect she'll deny it if you confront her for it—"

"Hold on a minute," Embry interrupted. Then he went to Lauren and Jenna's room. "Girls, come with me. I'm dropping you off at Uncle Jacob's house."

"Yay!" the girls both cheered, completely unaware of what was happening.

"You wait here. Help yourself to some water or soda," Embry said absently to John as he stepped out the door and walked the girls to Jacob and Nessie's house. It was a Saturday and the two were home on weekends, leaving the shop to their manager that got his own days off. When they arrived, Embry knocked on the door and waited for Nessie to answer.

"Hey Embry," Nessie greeted cheerfully, "What brings you here?"

"I need you to look after the girls for a while. Something's come up. Is that alright?"

Noticing his discontent, Nessie lost her smile and nodded. "Sure, we can watch the girls. What's the matter?"

"I'll tell you later." Embry kneeled down to his daughters' level. "Alright, girls, I need to handle a few things with the man at our house. You guys behave yourselves and I'll be back before too long okay?" Embry kissed both their heads, nudged them into Nessie's house, and took a deep breath. "Thanks a lot, Nessie," Embry said before walking back to his house. Nessie watched Embry walk away as Jacob came to the front door from the garage.

"What's the matter?" Jacob asked.

"I don't know, but it looks serious." Nessie turned and looked at Jacob. "Follow him home and make sure everything's alright. He looked really disturbed and he said something about a man being at the house. I'm probably over thinking this, but I'd rather be safe than sorry."

Jacob nodded, "Sure thing, Nessie." Jacob kissed Nessie before stepping out. "I'll be back soon." Unaware that he's being followed, Embry half ran back to his house and stepped in to see John sitting at the kitchen table drinking a glass of water. With the girls gone, Embry went to the table and slammed his hands down.

"How long have you been fucking my wife?" Embry yelled. This startled John and made him leap from the chair. "How long did it take you to figure out she's married?"

"A year and a half!" John yelled back. "Look, don't get mad at me. I didn't know about you. She told me she was a single mother and that you weren't really in the picture. I didn't even know your name." Embry was pacing now, trying to control the rage he was feeling and trying hard not to faze. His body was shaking and John noticed. "I really am sorry. I never would've started dating her if I'd known about you. I came here to tell you because you deserve to know the truth." Just then, Jacob walked in and surprised them both.

"Who is this Embry? What's going on here?" Embry was still shaking and Jacob walked over and gripped Embry's arm. It was a way to keep pack members calm if they were under extreme stress and a hair away from fazing.

"This guy's Brie's lover," Embry mumbled. Jacob looked right at John and John held up his hands.

"As I've explained, I only found out Brie is married yesterday when I found a family picture and wedding ring. I never wanted to be responsible for breaking up a family, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't at least tell you what Brie is doing."

"Embry," Jacob said, looking at Embry now. "Why don't you sit down and I'll crack open a beer for you?"

"No," Embry mumbled as he released himself from Jacob's hold and started walking to his bedroom. John stayed in the kitchen while Jacob followed and watched Embry started packing his things. "Do you mind letting me stay with you until I find a place to stay?"

"Of course," Jacob said. "You're going to let her keep this house?"

"I'm not ready to deal with the details yet. I want to confront her about it and leave." Embry took in a deep, shaky breath. "Once I'm calmed down, she and I can work out custody and any financial matters."

"Embry, I'm really sorry."

"It's not your..." Embry stopped midsentence and went to his knees before the bed and start sniffling. "What did I do wrong?" Embry asked.

"Only Brie can answer that, Embry," Jacob answered. Jacob was helping pack Embry's clothes since he was currently on the floor. "You can use whichever of the kids' rooms you like and you just focus on taking care of what you need to take care of. Our home is open to you as long as you need it."

"Thanks," Embry sniffed and stood back up. "I'll get out of your hair as soon as I can."

"Like I said; take all the time you need." Jacob left Embry to finish packing and went to the kitchen where John was still waiting. "Let me ask you," Jacob said when he was close to John. "When this is all said and done, what are the chances that Brie will try to move in with you? A year and a half is a long time to be dating someone."

"I'm done as far as I'm concerned. If she lied to me about being married, who's to say she won't do something like this to me again? I'm willing to stay and help him confront Brie."

"No, just get going. You can deal with Brie later if you still want to, but this is something between her and Embry for the time being. I know it doesn't feel like it, but Embry really does appreciate you coming here and telling him. This is Brie's fault, so let her lie in the bed she's made."

"Alright," John said, feeling a little relieved now that he'd done the right thing. "I'll get out of your hair then. Again, I'm really sorry to have had to come here and delivered this kind of news to him."

"I know. Thanks for this." Jacob walked John out of the house and went back to the bedroom with Embry. He'd already packed all his things and was ready to leave at a moment's notice. "Do you want me to stay?"

"No, I need to deal with this myself. Keep an eye on the girls for me until I get to your house. I'll get them back here with Brie and start looking for a place."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Jacob finally left Embry's house and walked down the road back home and let Nessie know, out of the girls' earshot, what was going on and that Embry would be staying with them for a while. Brie didn't get home for another half hour and Embry was sitting on the bed waiting for her when she arrived. Completely unaware of what happened earlier, Brie launched into a happy speech about her hair.

"Oh Embry," she sang out, "You'll never believe it. I got some highlights and I got layers. You'll love it, I know." Brie looked around a moment and noticed the girls weren't there. "Where are the girls?"

"They're at Jacob's house." When Embry answered her, Brie finally looked in the bedroom and noticed the packed suitcase next to him on the bed.

"Honey, what are you doing? What's with the suitcase?"

"Does the name John Boiteger ring any bells?" Brie's eyes went wide and she became stiff. "He came over today and told me you guys have been having an affair for a year and a half. He claims he never knew about me." Embry looked up at Brie, who now looked upset instead of surprised.

"Is that why you've got a packed suitcase?"

"Yes." There was a moment of silence. "Do you have anything to say to me about this?"

"What is there to say? I've been caught red handed, so there's no point in trying to deny it."

"How about telling me why?" Embry stood from the bed and started raising his voice. "Why did you do this in the first place?"

"Oh don't play dumb with me, Embry. You think I'm so stupid that I didn't figure out your cheating on me too? Do you honestly think I believe that you're working every night of the week?" 

"What?" Embry was dumbfounded. "I've never cheated on you Brie. I am working at night."

"Oh yeah," Brie challenged, "Then why is it when I called your night job, they told me you aren't there every night? Where are you those nights you aren't working?"

"I'm not cheating on you, Brie," Embry said. "I'm helping Jacob out on those nights."

"Oh, helping him out? Doing what exactly?"

"It's…..it's a family matter."

"A family matter that you can't share with me? Bullshit, Embry. Just admit you've got some skank on the side and we'll call it truce. I cheated with John because you're cheating with someone else."

Embry stared her down a moment before finally answering. "You broke up our family for nothing." After his last words, Embry grabbed his suitcase and started walking out.

"Don't put all this on me, Embry."

"You know what," Embry pulled out his phone and tossed it to Brie. "Go ahead and check that. There's no one in there that you don't know. If I were cheating on you, I'd probably have her number in my phone now wouldn't I?"

"How do I know it's not one of your friends' wives?"

"Brie, even if I did decide to cheat on you, I would never attempt to take one of my friends' wives. You should know me better than that." Brie looked at Embry a moment and finally started looking through Embry's phone. Just as promised, there wasn't a single number she didn't know. Brie handed Embry back his phone.

"How do I know you didn't delete her number before I got home?"

"I didn't. If you want to think I cheated on you, fine, but I'm not going to stay here and watch you beat a dead horse. I'm going to drop my things off at Jacob's house and bring the girls back home. Let's try to keep this as cordial as possible in front of Jenna and Lauren."

"Embry," Brie walked to Embry and looked up at him, "we don't need to put the girls through that. We can go to counseling. All I ask is that you admit—"

"Damn it Brie there's nothing to admit to! I have never once cheated on you and if admitting to something I didn't do is the only way we'll save this marriage, then we're screwed."

That was the last thing Embry said to Brie before he left their house and walked down the street to Jacob's house to drop off his suitcase. Lauren and Jenna saw the suitcase Embry was holding.

"Are we having a sleepover daddy?" Jenna asked innocently, getting excited. The excitement on his two little girls' faces crushed him.

"No, girls," Embry said, the shame in his voice getting palpable. He glanced up at Nessie and Jacob, who remained silent, then glanced back at his daughters. "Listen," he began, kneeling down to their level, "I'm moving out of the house. You two will stay with mommy while she and I work out the details of a…." he couldn't say it for a moment, "divorce." Jenna and Lauren seemed unsure what Embry was getting at. "Your mother and I are getting a divorce," he said again.

"You mean you're leaving?" Jenna spoke up. The two were getting upset.

"No, no, I'm not going anywhere. I'll always be around. It's just, your mother and I won't be living together or married anymore. We'll have to work out custody in court, but don't you two worry about a thing. We're going to keep your lives as normal as possible."

"Why are you getting a divorce?" Lauren asked. "Whatever we did, we're sorry. We'll never do it again." Embry's stomach churned.

"This is not your fault. It's mine and your mother's fault that this is happening. You two did nothing wrong. I want you both to understand that." Embry stood before continuing. "I'll drop you girls off back home. I'll come by and see you tomorrow before going back to work." He planned on telling Jenna and Lauren one day about the wolf lineage and how he goes on patrol some nights of the week, but they were too young for that and with a mother that wasn't his imprint. The girls might tell her and she wasn't supposed to know. "I'll be right back," Embry said to Nessie and Jacob before dropping the girls off home.

**Present**

"I know you won't like me offering," Kevin started, "but let me handle the divorce for you. I can even offer to provide services for a collaborative divorce."

"How does that work?"

"It means I can represent both of you and I'll make it as fair as possible. Neither of you have to pay me. Consider it a favor from a nephew."

"I can't let you do that," Embry said, but Kevin pressed.

"Yes you can, Embry. It's certain you'll have to start paying child support and spousal support. The last thing either of you need is me charging you for divorce proceedings. I'll make sure you get weekends with the girls and I'm sure Brie will be happy to give you access to the girls any other time through the week if you want."

"Really, Kevin, I can't give you nothing and I can't afford you."

"That's true, I am pretty expensive." Kevin smiled and patted Embry's shoulder. "It'll cost you a dinner and drinks. Can we agree on that?"

Embry finally smiled a little and nodded, "Alright, dinner and drinks it is. I know she and I have two kids together, but is there any way we can make this a quick divorce? I want this done so the girls don't have to suffer too much."

"He can't promise that," Kyle chimed in. "Divorce on a child, at best especially when the marriage wasn't abusive in any way, is devastating. I'm not trying to change your decision or make you feel bad; I'm just telling you that the girls won't be untouched. Believe me, I wish they could be untouched, but it's not possible."

Embry groaned and rubbed his face. "Do you think I should try working things out with Brie?"

"I wouldn't toss it from the table," Kyle said. "If she's willing to admit fault, which she is, and is able to accept that you didn't do anything wrong to earn her cheating, then I'd say try and work things out with her. If not, then divorce might be the better option. If she can't accept that you did nothing wrong, then it'll be a cloud over the marriage and things will just get worse. Unless you're willing to give up the pack, there's not much that can be done."

Embry became very still, "I don't know," he said. "I'm not sure I can give it up for her." Embry sighed and rested his head on his arms. "I guess I'm still hoping…"

"If that's the case," Jacob said, "You're just setting yourself up for something bad later. If an imprint is really what you're hoping for then staying married to Brie isn't the right thing to do for either of you. It's not fair to you and it's certainly not fair for her." The group agreed but Natalie said nothing. An imprint wasn't the answer to everything.

"What if she never comes?" Kevin was the one to ask this.

"Or she's a huge bitch?" Natalie chimed in. There was a long silence that made the air choking and far too tight.

"What happens happens," Jacob finally said. "Alice can't predict our futures and I say that's for the best. Kevin," Kevin looked up at Jacob, "You can't keep living hopelessly and think she'll never come. You don't know that. And Natalie…" Jacob groaned, "I don't know what to say."

"Neither do I," she answered. "I'm going to the kitchen to help mom cook." It certainly didn't smell like Nessie had started dinner and Natalie was eager to get away from the pack. When Natalie walked into the kitchen, Nathan, who'd stayed silent most of the conversation, looked at Jacob.

"Do you think things will work out with Suerro?"

"That man tried to hurt my little girl," Jacob answered. "I certainly won't forgive him so easily." He took another sip of his beer. "Suerro feels something for her I already know. There's never been an instance where things haven't worked themselves out. But I will say this: if that man ever wants any hope of working things out with her, he'll have to get through me. Nobody hurts my little girl and lives to tell the tale." The group all nodded in agreement.

Natalie walked into the kitchen and saw Ada María mumbling something in Portuguese to Ariel. Evidently, he'd gotten into something he shouldn't and he was being scolded for it. Ariel had proven to be a very mischievous little boy and there was a running joke that it was Rafael's fault that Ariel was so mischievous because of the week Rafael and Yaretzi had spent with him. When Ada María finished scolding Ariel, she patted him on the back and told him to go play with daddy so she could help his grandma. Natalie noticed her mother grin a little at the word grandma. She still got a giddy and happy feeling every time she heard the word. Being a grandma helped alleviate her empty nest syndrome. A grandchild was the best type of child to have in the house. The grandkids could visit and be spoiled and once she and Jacob were tired of them, they could send them back to their parents.

"How're you doing honey?" Nessie asked Natalie when she looked over her shoulder at her daughter. Natalie smiled.

"I'm alright. Do you want me to help you cook dinner?"

"Sure," Nessie answered, "why don't you start peeling potatoes for me while I get some water boiling?"

Natalie did as Nessie asked and started peeling potatoes. Ada María got started on chopping some other vegetables while the three talked about everything they could, avoiding the topics of Embry's impending divorce and Natalie's troubles with Suerro. Natalie had tolerated enough pity as far as she was concerned and she didn't talk much about it when she was asked anymore.

"Guess who I got a call from," Ada María said to Nessie and Natalie. The two looked up at Ada Mara. "My father called and asked if we'd baptized Ariel yet."

"Are you planning to?" Nessie asked. "You've never really struck me as devoutly Catholic."

"I'm Catholic in name only to be honest. Father's the one that's devoutly Catholic and that's just because he came from a wealthy Portuguese family. But if I don't baptize Ariel, father will throw a fit and might do it himself." Ada María smiled. "I don't want to risk my son's soul being damned forever because we didn't have a priest do the baptism."

"So you'll be doing it then?" Natalie asked. "How does Nathan feel about it?"

"As long as it shuts my father up, he wouldn't care if I made our son a scientologist. I'm looking into churches right now, but I'm not sure how a priest would react if I asked him to baptize my seemingly five year old son."

"Make up some bullshit sob story and sprinkle water on his head. No need to make it overly complicated. Please tell me you aren't going to bother with a huge party or anything. You're pretty much the only one in the family that's Catholic, so it feels like a waste."

"My parents are Catholic," Nessie said, "Well, daddy's Catholic. I think mom's technically Methodist or something. I don't remember. She and Grandpa Charlie never really discuss that topic and when they do, they're really vague about it. I don't think mom was baptized, so I'm pretty sure she's not Catholic."

"That still doesn't give a high count, mom," Natalie said once she'd cut up the last of the potatoes.

"Don't be so sour, Natalie," Ada María said. "I never said we'd throw a huge thing for Ariel's baptism. As far as I'm concerned, we'll get it done when we can and once it's done, it's done. I'd rather you didn't snap at me, Natalie, "Ada María wacked Natalie over the head with a carrot. "My patience it running thin with you and your poor- me poor-me attitude."

Natalie leered at Ada María, "What poor-me attitude? I haven't been walking around with a poor-me attitude."

"Yes you have," Ada María retorted.

"Alright, that's enough," Nessie barked at the two. "Ada, don't hit Natalie and clean that carrot. You're not helping anything by nagging Natalie."

"I'm not helping anything by saying nothing either. Either get off your showgirl ass and do something about this Suerro crap or get the fuck over it."

"Ada," Nathan said, coming into the kitchen after overhearing where the conversation was going. "That wasn't necessary."

"Well, maybe it was," Ada María hissed back, looking right at Natalie. "I have to say, I've never known you as one to wallow in self pity."

"I'm not wallowing in self pity."

"Ada, stop it," Nathan finally said, his tone much more stern.

"No, I won't stop until she finally gets the hell over it and stops moping."

"You know what, Ada, just because you can get over a man at the drop of a hate doesn't mean I have to. Not all of us can be as much of a—" Natalie stopped suddenly and went back to cubing potatoes.

"Not all of us can be a what, Natalie?" Ada María challenged. "What am I exactly? Just say it."

Natalie dropped the knife in the sink. "I really don't think I need to, Ada." Natalie began to walk out of the house, having lost any desire to stay and have dinner. She glanced in Embry's direction and hoped that, if he insisted on waiting for his imprint, he had more luck than she did. As Natalie stepped out, Jacob caught up with her and stopped her on the porch.

"Natalie, you don't need to leave. I promise we won't bring that up again."

"No, I'm going home. I'm not hungry."

"Nat, you haven't been eating properly. It's worrying your mother and me. You're welcome to leave right after dinner if you want to, but at least stay for dinner." Jacob hugged Natalie, "At least stay because I'm asking you to." Natalie was going to say no, but she looked up at her dad and Jacob looked like he was pleading. Natalie finally sighs and rested her head on Jacob's chest.

"Alright, daddy, but only for dinner," she finally said. "But if Ada brings up Suerro again, I'm leaving."

"Alright, Peanut."

Natalie and Jacob walked back into the house together and Natalie went right to her nephew instead of going back to the kitchen to help with dinner. Ariel was a lot more fun than his mother anyway. When dinner was ready, Natalie stayed quiet while Kevin helped Embry mull out the details. While Nessie and Ada María were making dinner, Embry called Brie and let her know that Kevin was willing to provide a free collaborative divorce for them and Brie agreed to the arrangement. Kevin would file the paperwork for divorce that Monday and promised he'd try to get them divorced within a few short months.

"I can't believe I'm getting divorced," Embry mumbled after Kevin brought up possible options for child custody. "The girls must hate me."

"They don't," Kyle reassured. "Brie told them the same thing you did: it isn't their fault you two are getting divorced and you'll always be around for them. She still thinks you've been unfaithful, but she knows full well that you'll bend over backwards for Jenna and Lauren. She's making sure they understand that too."

"She isn't telling them I cheated is she? You guys know I didn't."

"She isn't, don't worry. She's only telling them you're getting divorced." Kyle took a deep breath. "I'm not in a position to offer help like Kevin, but I can recommend an instructor of mine. She's my child psychology professor and she has an extensive history treating children whose parents are going through a divorce. Her name is Dr. Kenning. I'll talk to her Monday and ask her about her practice and get you a business card. And if she's a little too far for your liking, I'll ask her to recommend someone closer."

"Do you think Jenna and Lauren will really need therapy over this?"

"I would recommend it so they have an unbiased source to talk to that can let them know this isn't only happening to them and help them come to terms with things. You can also ask the tribal school if there are some services available to help."

Embry sighed, "As long as it'll make things easier for them."

"It will," Kyle reassured.

Natalie left immediately after finishing dinner. When she got home from her parents' house, the dogs were laying on the couch staring at the TV she'd left on. She found that the dogs were better behaved if she left the TV on for them. It made them feel like they weren't alone. She had to go into rehearsal early the next day, so Natalie took her script with her to bed and fell asleep reading through her lines. Natalie woke up early the next morning and threw herself into practice. Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, Suerro was standing in a Menards with Romney staring at sliding doors.

"She's probably had it fixed by now," Suerro finally said.

"Maybe but all things considered you're sort of scraping the bottom of the barrel. It's been four months and not a word from you. Flowers and chocolates aren't going to cut it at this point. A grand gesture is your last hope. Even this probably won't do any good if you want to be realistic about this whole thing."

"You're really not helping, Romney."

"I don't know how you expect me to be very helpful. I've suggested countless times that you go back to Washington, get down on your knees, and beg for forgiveness, but you always said no. It's not my fault it took you four months to swallow your pride. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if she's found a better man by now. I know I sure as hell would've in her situation."

Suerro glared at Romney, but softened after a moment. "I guess so."

"Don't get discouraged," Romney jumped in, "I'm just talking. You know I don't know what I'm talking about. Just pick a nice sliding door and bring it to her and offer to install it. You know how to install a sliding door right?"

"How hard could it possibly be?"

Romney sighed heavily, "I guess that's a no." Romney wandered until he found someone that worked there and asked the man to explain how to install a sliding door. "You remember the measurements right?"

"I can eyeball it," Suerro answered Romney once the employee finished explaining installation.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"What do you want me to do, Romney? Sneak into her apartment and measure her current sliding door? I remember what it looked like and that'll be enough for getting her a new one." Suerro finally picked a run of the mill sliding glass door. "Maybe I should get her better shades too."

"Couldn't hurt," Romney shrugged. Once the door and blinds were paid for, Romney and Suerro left the Menards just as it was closing and shoved their purchases into the back of a huge SUV they'd stolen and changed the tags on so the owner and police would never find it. Suerro was leaving for Washington that night, but Romney insisted on making one last stop. It wouldn't take Suerro long to get to Washington (maybe two days if he cut through Canada) so Romney decided to stop by a garden store and stole (it was after hours) a bouquet of pink carnations. "Be sure to give her these from me."

"Why?" Suerro asked, giving Romney a strange and even slightly suspicious look.

"The card is in there. It basically says I'm sorry for almost poisoning her. Tell her I said hi." Romney closed the passenger door after putting the flowers on the seat and ran away into the night so Suerro could start driving to Washington. Outside of buying that door for Natalie, he really had no plan for what he was going to do next. He had no clue how to approach her or how willing she'd be to listen to what he had to say. Natalie had somehow managed to really get under his skin in their short time together and he wanted to be with her more. The problem was that he'd ruined it 'simply by being himself' as Romney had put it.

Suerro left Boston at ten that night and arrived in Washington at four in the morning two days later. Crossing the Washington borderline was when he finally slowed down to a normal pace. He'd entered Washington through Rossland, Canada which meant at a human driving pace, he would still take about four hours to get to Seattle. It was midmorning by the time Suerro made it into the city. Natalie wouldn't be at her apartment yet, so Suerro found a place to park the car and waited. He wasn't allowed in Red Night (so Romney informed him) so getting blood was out of the question. It was another overcast day, but that broad, Gretchen, had scouters all over the city making sure humans weren't being hunted. Evidently it was one of the conditions of Gretchen being allowed to keep her establishment. So Suerro waited in the car until it was finally nightfall.

When Natalie came around to her apartment complex, Suerro took a good look at her. Her hair wasn't in micro braids or highlighted anymore. Instead, her hair was loose and flowing as she walked up to her door. She was wearing her usual yoga pants. It made Suerro smile. One of these days, he'd see her in a pair of real pants if it was the last thing he did. The summer breeze also allowed Natalie to wear a light sweatshirt that was unzipped and revealed a little pink tank top. She unlocked the door to her apartment complex and walked in without ever looking in his direction. When she was in the building, Suerro stepped out of the car and grabbed the sliding door, blinds, and slightly dead pink carnations and (somehow) managed to carry all those things to the apartment door. He waited only long enough to be sure she'd made it to her apartment building before letting himself in and walking up the stairs to the second floor and going to Natalie's unit. When Suerro stopped in front of her door, he stood still for a moment. He really hadn't thought about what he was going to say. But then, he wasn't going to accomplish anything by just standing there, so he knocked on her door and waited. When Natalie opened the door a few seconds later, she didn't slam the door in Suerro's face, but she didn't look especially pleased either.

"I believe I still owe you a door," Suerro said with his kindest smile, presenting the sliding door to Natalie. "I thought I might install it for you if you didn't get it fixed already."

"It's June," Natalie said, but a smile was creeping onto her lips, despite trying not to allow it. "You're lucky it's still broken or you'd have wasted your money."

"Aren't I lucky?" Suerro said sarcastically, not liking her tone. But then Suerro caught himself and smiled. "I got you some new blinds too. Also," Suerro presented the slightly dead carnations and Natalie took them, looking at them strangely. "Those are from Romney. It's his way of apologizing for almost killing you." This time, Natalie did smile.

"I suppose I can forgive him for pink carnations." Suerro smiled somewhat awkwardly. "Since you finally bought me a door, you can get to work on installing it. And thanks for the new blinds. I like them." Natalie stepped aside and let Suerro into the apartment, maneuvering the door inside. "I assume you know how to install a door?"

"Yes, the brat at Menards taught me how. Just relax and let me fix your door." Suerro cleared his throat after he realized he'd raised his voice and he needed to stop. "Sorry. It's been a long drive. I guess I can't really say I'm tired, but—"

"The door, Suerro," Natalie ordered. Suerro sighed heavily and needlessly before walking to her patio door and began undoing the old one.

"I'm sorry about our last meeting. I know I owe you a lot more than an 'I'm sorry', but I'm hoping fixing this door will be a start."

"We'll see," was all Natalie said before she walked away from the living room and went to her room to take a shower. The dogs followed after her and hopped onto her bed to nap while Natalie got cleaned up. When the water began to shower down, Natalie took that time to try and get a hold of herself. This was really unexpected. Suerro seemed to have a habit of surprising people and Natalie wasn't sure what to do. She hadn't seen Suerro in four months. She'd actually begun to give up hope that she'd ever see him again. But now that she had, she couldn't forgive him just like that.

She felt like she should punish him somehow, but she didn't want to do anything bad. But if she didn't do anything bad, then she wouldn't be punishing him. She rarely ever used her mind control gift. Maybe she could think of a way to use that in punishing him. But if she did that, she'd feel ashamed of herself. Doing things like that to her brothers was funny when she was a kid, but Suerro was a different story. It was like a reversal of _Taming of the Shrew_. She was Petruchio (with more loving intentions than just daddy's money) and he was Katherine (a meaner spirited attitude and a man to boot). Natalie kneeled down and took deep breaths. She needed to relax before she did anything else. After taking several deep breaths, she stood back up and focused on just getting clean. She stayed in the shower longer than she needed to, but when she did come out, she decided to just throw on a t-shirt and call it a day. She would go to bed as soon as he was done anyway. What need did she have for anything else? When Natalie came back to the living room, she saw Suerro finishing up the door. Suerro glanced at her and seemed momentarily surprised, but immediately collected again.

"You weren't kidding when you said you walk around with no pants, were you?"

"I don't like pants, so sue me," she answered.

"I don't either, but you don't hear me complaining about it. I grew up in a society where walking around naked was no skin off anyone's backs, but apparently white people don't much care for nudity."

"You used to walk around naked in this weather?"

Finally, Suerro smiled and it made Natalie smile too, "Not completely naked." There was a moment of silence, but it was far more comfortable than previous bouts. "Romney tells me that he told you about my past."

"He did," Natalie answered. "And tell him thanks for the carnations. It almost makes up for nearly killing me."

"He would've gotten you roses, but they'd be dead by the time I'd gotten here."

"Deader than the carnations already are you mean?"

Suerro chuckled, "Yes, much deader." Suerro finished up the door and began sliding it back and forth, making sure it was right. "Do you want to test it? Make sure it opens." Natalie walked over to the sliding door and opened it all the way. It was sturdy and didn't feel the way her old door did, which meant this one wouldn't close on its own. Then Natalie closed the door and locked it.

"Would you look at that? It even closes," Natalie teased. Suerro smiled and stood back, watching Natalie open and close her new sliding door.

"I'll get the blinds on for you," Suerro said before he glanced at Natalie's computer desk and saw the script for _Rent_. "Who are you playing this time?"

"Maureen Johnson."

"Ah," Suerro said, "which one was she: the druggie that had AIDS, the lesbian lawyer that had AIDS, or the lesbian performance artist that had AIDS?"

"The lesbian performance artist that had AIDS," Natalie answered. "I'm the lesbian lawyer's girlfriend."

"I've never actually seen _Rent_. All I've heard is people either love it or hate it. Romney hated it."

"Why'd he hate it?"

"Because he said there were too many characters to follow in a limited setting where the ending was incredibly stupid because the druggie chick comes back from the dead because some drag queen in heaven said she wasn't allowed to be dead yet or something. It takes a lot to make a vampire's ass sore, but he claims that play made his ass sore."

Natalie smiled, "Yeah that sounds about right. The author of the play died before it was finished, so the team working on putting it on Broadway had to come up with something and the _Rent_ we know now is the final product. I've never seen the movie, but I imagine it's better because there's more flexibility with the characters that isn't available with a play."

"It still sounds weird. Frankly, when the AIDS epidemic was going on, all I remember about the whole thing was that Reagan didn't bring it up for most of his presidency and babies were getting it. I also remember one of the first names they gave it."

"GRID?"

"Gay Related Immune Deficiency, yes," Suerro answered. "I remember thinking that was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because a disease doesn't discriminate against sexual orientation," Suerro answered. "Unless it's something like ovarian cancer or testicular cancer where it attacks specific parts of the body that are different for each gender, a disease doesn't usually get picky about whom they attack. The idea that people thought a disease would be strictly a gay thing was archaic and idiotic. But in the late seventies and early eighties, who the hell cares about what some red guy has to say about common sense. In fact, if I remember correctly when I was passing through about fifty plus years ago, one of the Uley's contracted AIDS back in the day and it wasn't because he was gay. It was because he was a heroin addict. In fact, one of the first recorded cases of this disease was some woman in Europe and last I checked women weren't gay men."

"I think you might be missing the point of the play."

"What is the point of the play? All I know is it's about a bunch of people with AIDS that live in a shit neighborhood because they're all artists. Well, except the lawyer I guess."

"It's about people that are trying to discover themselves despite adversity."

"Sounds generic," Suerro shrugged. "But then, put AIDS on it and it'll get rave reviews. It's good guilt press as I like to call it. I guarantee you; if this play didn't have the AIDS epidemic backing it, no one would give two shits about it."

"Just install my blinds," Natalie said after there was a moment of silence.

"Did I say something to offend you?"

"A little," Natalie admitted. "You're undermining the importance of a play's message."

"Plays have messages now? I thought they were purely entertainment. If that's the case, what's the message of something like _Taming of the Shrew_? 'Got a bitch wife? Beat her around a little, starve her, and take away her will to fight and she'll be the perfect wife?' That's a good message for the children isn't it?"

"Now you're insulting me," Natalie replied, her tone harsh. "I've been belting all day. I'm not exactly in the mood to argue with you over the art of storytelling through performance. I would think a fellow Native American would appreciate such oral forms of art."

"Young lady, when we did performances, we were all high as fuck from passing drugs around while a medicine man spouted nonsense. Nonsense that had a point, granted, but it wasn't the same as what you call performance art now. Let me ask you this," Suerro challenged, "Do you even know the Quileute story of creation?"

"Of course I do. We were spawned from wolves by a wandering transformer."

"That's the abridged version, yes," Suerro answered. "The full story is far more complex and much more interesting when you're high on those herbs the priest would pass around the fire for everyone to smoke while a group of men performed the story told by the priest. Do you guys still do that?"

"Not really," Natalie sighed, "But we do tell stories around the fire. There are just no drugs or performances."

"Then you're missing the whole point. Special priest herbs and storytelling coupled with the tribal elders performing the makings of our tribe: that's performance art."

"That doesn't mean what I do isn't art and why this sudden concern? Romney told me you're ashamed of who you are."

"Hardly," Suerro retorted pointedly. "I'm proud of my lineage and the people I come from. I have a lot to be proud of and so do you. You're a descendent of the wolf, just as I am and we've always been a powerful people with great tradition and superiority over our enemies. What I'm not proud of is the conduct of my sister's husband." Suerro gritted his teeth at the last word.

"Then why were you so reluctant to tell me you were Quileute? You certainly weren't proud then."

"I was reluctant to share anything with a stranger out of nowhere. When I found out you're a wolf that was descended from the Quileute lineage and Cold Ones that furthered my reluctance. Frankly, such a combination is absurd and, by true tribal standards, completely unacceptable. I hold no love for the man, but Taha Aki is rolling around in his snowy grave right now."

"You're such a hypocrite, you know that?" Natalie snapped. "You _are_ a Cold One! Who are you to lecture my father for imprinting on my mother? My father and mother love each other more than most people can ever hope to love. You have no right telling me that what they have is blasphemy. Also, you're the one that came crawling back after I kicked you out of my apartment. Or is it okay for you to commit blasphemy against tribal laws because you're you?"

"I didn't choose to become this way!" Suerro yelled back and it startled Natalie. "I was bitten by some French Canadian bitch that didn't just let me drown when I had the chance! I never wanted this and I won't have you accuse me otherwise!" The two stood in silence yet again and the silence was more awkward than ever.

"My grandparents never asked to be changed either," Natalie finally said. "My grandpa Edward was changed because it was either be a vampire or die of influenza. With Grandma Bella, it was either be a vampire or die from childbirth."

"As I remember the story, your grandmother was the one hounding your grandpa because she didn't want to be human anymore."

"How would you even know such a thing?"

"Vampires gossip too, Natalie. I might not be very social, but I still overhear things."

"Then you would know that my grandma almost died giving birth to my mom. Grandma was dead five minutes before the venom started working and her heart was beating again. Even if that hadn't been the case, my grandma wished to be a vampire so she could be with grandpa."

Suerro huffed, "To be with your grandpa, huh?" Suerro finished up the blinds hurriedly before he went to the door. "Enjoy the new blinds and door."

"If this is your solution to every problem, it's no wonder everyone hates you," Natalie hissed back as she began to make her way to her room. She was stopped when Suerro was suddenly standing in front of her.

"Don't speak to me that way," Suerro demanded.

"Why? It's how you speak to me. If you're going to insist on being cold with me, then I'll be cold right back. You have no reason to treat me this way, Suerro."

"No," Suerro groaned, "No, I don't and I'm sorry."

"I'm sick of walking on eggshells with you. I was hoping maybe you'd be a little nicer to me. I assumed that, because you came to fix my door, you were genuinely sorry for what happened and would never get mean like that with me again."

"I wasn't planning to," Suerro interrupted. "Look, Natalie, I really am sorry. I'm used to saying what's on my mind no matter whose feelings I hurt. I don't really like anyone so with you it tends to spill over. I hate agreeing with Romney, but he's right: I'm a little socially retarded."

Unexpectedly to Suerro, Natalie smiled, "You think?" Then she took a deep breath. "I love you Suerro, whether it makes sense or not. I'll always love you no matter what. That's how imprinting works. At least, that's the extent of it that we know. The point is, it's a special type of bond and now I share it with you." Natalie held her head down and held back tears. "I just wish you didn't hate me so much."

"I don't hate you, Natalie." For the first time since February, Suerro closed the distance between them and took Natalie in his arms. "I don't hate you at all. If I hated you, I would've never come back. You got under my skin and I can't get you out."

"But you want me out," Natalie said, not bothering to take her face from his chest. "You don't want me but you tolerate me because I was persistent."

"I don't tolerate you," Suerro argued. "If I tolerated you, I would never bother with you unless I absolutely had to. I tolerate Juliette, I tolerate her friends and I tolerate Romney's friends. But you I like. I want to be in your company."

"Then why are you always so mean to me?"

"I never want to be mean to you. It's how I am with everyone else, but when I try to hold back with you, it seems to slip out anyway. I don't deserve to request anything from you, but I do need you to be patient with me." Suerro tightened his hold slightly on Natalie and rested his head on hers. Natalie wrapped her arms around him and breathed him in.

"I'm willing, Suerro." Natalie reached her arms up around Suerro's neck and finally looked at him. "I just need you to be willing too."

The look Suerro gave her made her happy. He was looking at her with gentle eyes. He'd not fed in a while she could tell. His eyes were a deep dark burgundy going on black. Even if his eyes were scarlet, the message would be the same. They were kind and loving, a look she suspected he'd never given to anyone. As if to test, Natalie rubbed her nose against Suerro's and licked her suddenly dry lips. Then Suerro smiled genuinely and gave her a kiss. Natalie sighed and fell into the kiss. It was so different from their first. This was gentle and sweet; a reassuring kiss that let her know he really did care for her. Natalie tightened her hold on him, but she paid for it when the tooth around his neck poked her breast.

"Ow," Natalie said, taking her lips away and staring at his chest. The tooth was under his clothes like always.

"Are you alright?" Suerro asked while he pulled the necklace over his head. He was about to toss it off to the side, but something stopped him. So instead he shoved it in his pocket.

Natalie nodded, "Yeah, I'm alright." She brought her arms back around Suerro's neck. "Why do you keep that thing if you hate it so much?"

"I don't know," Suerro answered honestly. "Please don't make me talk about it, Natalie."

"Alright," Natalie answered and rested her head on his shoulder. "I love the door," she changed the subject, "and the blinds look great. Thank you for coming and fixing my door for me."

"I'm sorry for ruining your other door."

Natalie shook her head. "It was broken to begin with. You did me a favor." With a smile, Suerro kissed the top of Natalie's head.

"I should leave, though. It's getting late."

"I wouldn't mind if you stayed with me," Natalie responded, breathing in his scent. "You can tell me about the East Coast. Tell me about the work you and Romney do."

"We don't really do anything honestly. We steal money where we can and make a living off of that. We're basically money hoarders."

Natalie giggled. "I was too when I was younger. I started at Red Night when I was a girl and I've always kept my paychecks in my drawer saving up my money. I was the one my brothers would go to when they needed money. Now that I have expenses, I spend my paychecks, but I've still got a tiny treasure trove that I keep in the bank now for emergencies."

"We keep ours in a foreign account."

"Yeah, Romney said so. A Swiss bank account I believe he said."

"Pretty much," Suerro kissed the top of Natalie's head. Suerro knew it was getting late, so he lifted Natalie bridal style in his arms, trying to ignore that the t-shirt was all she was wearing, and walked her to her room. She trembled and Suerro noticed her heart rate go up.

"Suerro, I've never done this before."

Suerro looked at her strangely as he rested her on her bed. "Never done what?" Natalie blushed and Suerro realized what she was talking about. "Natalie, I wasn't going to…." He stopped. He never realized that Natalie was a virgin. Natalie was a beautiful girl and men probably surrounded her like bees to honey. Suerro had actually assumed her maidenhood was long since gone. "You're a virgin?"

Natalie's blush deepened and she smiled. "Yes," she answered innocently. Suerro quivered, their last encounter flashing through his head. He'd planned such a thing against not just a good woman, but a _virgin_. He'd thought himself recovered from his shame, but it was swiftly returning with this new revelation. "Suerro?"

"I'm sorry, I was just thinking." He pulled away from her and sat beside her on her bed. "I was not aware you were untouched. I guess I assumed you would've had a lover at least once. I can't imagine there was a lacking of men that desired you."

"There were plenty of men who've been attracted to me and have wanted me, but I never wanted any of them. I've always envied what my mother and father have. That type of love where I knew I would be cherished and I would return the feeling. I remember telling Travis that I would have imprinted love or I would have none at all. I've stayed true to that."

"I'm happy to hear it," and it was true. He was happy to hear it. During his human years, a woman's greatest gift was her maidenhood and Suerro always believed that. The fact that Natalie really was as innocent as her youth put on pleased him immensely.

"Are you really?" Natalie asked eagerly, scooting closer to Suerro and resting her head on his shoulder. "I wanted my first time to be with my imprint. It's more special that way. Neither of my parents had ever been with anyone but each other. I always thought it made their union all the more special."

"It does," Suerro agreed. Then he stood from the bed, took out the tooth from his pocket, and put it back around his neck, its weight feeling like tons. "I imagine belting can be tiring. You'll need your rest."

"You're leaving?" Natalie was confused. Her first instinct told her she did something wrong, but she didn't say anything.

"Yes. Staying while you sleep wouldn't be proper." Suerro turned to look at Natalie and smiled as he kneeled down and took her hands. Natalie instantly felt better, but she was still a little surprised. "I was planning to go to my sister's grave and go back, but I'll make you a deal."

"What kind of deal?"

"If you can get Gretchen to agree to let me get blood at Red Night, then I'll stay for a few more days. As you can see, I haven't fed in a while and I'm a little famished."

Natalie smiled, "Alright." Scooting to her nightstand where her cellphone was (Suerro looking away from her bare figure), Natalie dialed the number to Gretchen's phone and waited one ring before she answered.

"_What are you still doing up, Natalie?"_ Gretchen asked as soon as she answered, _"You've had a long day today. You should be sleeping."_

"I'll go to bed soon, but first I have a request to make. Suerro hasn't fed in a while and he'd really like to stop by the bar and have some blood." There was an awkward silence on the other end of the line for a moment.

"_You know, Natalie, leopards never change their spots."_

"Gretchen, just let him feed and he'll be out of your hair. Do it for me?"

Gretchen sighed heavily. _"Fine, he can have some blood, but I'm charging him extra."_

"No you're not, Gretchen. Hell, take it out of my pay if it'll make you feel better."

"_I won't take it out of your pay, Natalie. Calm down. I'll make sure everyone knows he's no longer blacklisted, but this is the only chance I'll give."_ With that, Natalie hanged up the phone and smiled sweetly at Suerro.

"You're no longer blacklisted."

"Thank you," Suerro said before going back to her and giving Natalie a loving kiss. "I'll go there right now and get some blood. Do you have rehearsal tomorrow?"

"Yes, I do, but I can always sneak out early."

"No, no, don't do that. Don't skip out on work for me. You heard your overbearing boss: get some sleep." Suerro kissed Natalie again as he took her phone and typed in his number. "I'll need to go back east soon, so whenever you feel lonely, all you need to do is call me."

Natalie took back her phone once Suerro had typed in his number, "What if you get lonely?"

"Then I'll come over," he answered with a smile. "Sleep tight, Natalie." After that, Suerro left, leaving Natalie alone in her room. The departure was slightly sudden, but still Natalie was pleased. It was their first encounter that had ended with them both in good moods. It left her hopeful and she slept better that night than she had in a long time. The next day at the theatre, Natalie was especially exuberant and everyone noticed. She was in a better mood and she was her old bubbly self again.

"You let Suerro have some blood, right Gretchen?" Natalie asked when she got to the theatre.

"Yes, dear, I let him have some blood," she groaned back in her heavy British accent. "Frankly, I think you let him off the hook a little too easily. Any wanker can say 'I'm sorry' but it takes a real man to make good on his word."

"Well, he can't very well make good on his word if I don't give him a chance to wouldn't you say, Gretchen?"

"He's lucky I told Otto to leave him be. That's my point. You know Otto was threatening to use Suerro's head as a bowling ball."

"I get it, Gretchen, but leave him be. He apologized in his own way. He even bought me a new patio door."

"Did he now?" Gretchen asked, unimpressed, "Honey, if you wanted a door, I'd gladly give you a bonus so you could buy one."

"Suerro's the one that broke my door and I wanted him to fix it. He gave me a new door and even got me new blinds. He's trying, Gretchen, and he's never physically hurt me. You guys keep forgetting that."

"You sound like a battered wife that keeps returning to an abusive husband, Peanut," Gretchen said with a sigh. "I hope you know that."

"I'm not a battered wife and I'm not a battered girlfriend either. He's a good guy, Gretchen. You just need to look under the surface. Sure, I learned that the hard way, but the point is I learned."

"You learnt, dear," Gretchen corrected, "Now enough of that. Get in line and we'll work on the opening number," she yelled out the last part to everyone. "Luke!" Gretchen yelled out to the conductor, "Start _Seasons of Love_."

When Gretchen let everyone off from rehearsal, Natalie walked back to her apartment so she could get her car. Today was family dinner night and she was eager to tell everyone that she and Suerro were working things out. When she arrived at her mom and dad's house, she walked in to see Kevin and Embry talking. The divorce was already underway and while Embry had been looking for a place to live, Brie insisted that Embry keep the house since it's on the reservation and she didn't want to make him leave when he didn't want to. Embry would be moving back into his house by the end of the week after Brie signed on her own place in Forks and Embry was eager to get out of Jacob and Renesmee's hair.

"Is she sure she wants to wave spousal support?" Embry asked when Kevin let him know that detail.

"I'll make sure next time I talk to her, but she was pretty certain earlier. She said that the child support you'll be paying will be more than enough on its own. She can afford to pay for her expenses on her own. The only thing she wants help with is the girls. Since she's moving to Forks, they won't be too far away."

"So they'll be changing schools too?"

"Yeah, they will. If you want, we can argue the point, but as far as getting you full custody over Lauren and Jenna, that's not really possible. The law requires that unless the mother is an unfit parent, children remain in the mother's custody. Cheating doesn't necessarily make a person an unfit parent."

"I wasn't suggesting it," Embry said with a sigh. "Is there any way they could keep going to the Tribal School even if they live in Forks?"

"That's something we'll need to call the school about. Keep in mind, though, if you want them to keep going to the Tribal School, either you or Brie will have to drive them there."

Embry groaned, "I guess that's true." He took a deep breath. "I hate this."

"I know," Kevin said. "Divorces aren't exactly anyone's idea of a good time. Don't worry, though. We keep up our current pace and you two will be divorced by the end of the month. How are the girls handling things?"

"They're handling," was all Embry said. "That psychologist you suggested," Embry continued, looking at Kyle, "she's helping a lot. Lauren and Jenna aren't happy, but Dr. Kennings is helping them through it. I feel a lot better knowing they have someone to talk to."

"I'm happy she's helping." Not wanting to bother them, Natalie went to the living room expecting to find Ariel there. But when she walked in, there was no sign of him. Only Ada María was sitting on the couch talking to Nessie. When Natalie walked in, Ada María and Nessie looked up at her.

"There you are Natalie," Nessie smiled, "how was rehearsal?"

"Great," Natalie took one more look around. "Where's Ariel?"

"He went outside to play," Ada María answered. "He's probably climbing around in the trees. You know how he is, Natalie. Sometimes I think the boy's half squirrel instead of half wolf." There was a shared laugh. "You're certainly in a better mood," Ada María finally said. "I don't suppose Suerro has anything to do with it." Suddenly, after Suerro's name was mentioned, the whole room went deathly quiet and everyone was looking right at Natalie.

"Since you ask," Natalie began, unwavering, "Yes, it does have to do with Suerro. He came to my apartment yesterday with a new screen door and blinds and replaced the door he broke. And I'm very pleased to report that when he left my apartment, we were on very good terms."

"Very good terms?" Ada María enquired, impressed.

"Get your head out of the gutter, Ada. Nothing happened except an understanding and phone numbers. All in all, I'd say it was very successful."

"Natalie," Jacob said, now in the living room, "is there anything you're not telling us? Did he—"

"He didn't do anything, daddy. We had a small argument, but it amounted to nothing. All that matters is that we parted ways on good terms." Natalie walked closer to Jacob and hugged him. "Please don't be angry at him, daddy. I've managed to fix things with him and I don't want to ruin them."

"Honey, if he crumbles from you just because of me, then he doesn't deserve you. Your grandpa didn't like me when I was dating your mother, but that didn't stop me now did it?"

"He won't, daddy. I'd just rather you all be nice to him. It'll be a while before you meet him anyway."

Jacob took a deep breath, "I'll trust your judgment, then. But just because you've worked it out doesn't mean I have to like him."

"I don't think he cares if you like him, dad," Kevin said from the dinner table.

"He had better if he wants to be good enough for my little girl." Jacob patted Natalie's back and let her go. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it I guess. So Nessie, what's for dinner?"

"Beef Stroganoff," Nessie answered. "I think you'll like it."

"Anything you make is good." Nessie smiled and asked Ada María to join her in the kitchen. As they made their way to the kitchen, the front door flew open, Ariel coming in soaking wet and with a big grin on his face.

"Why are you all wet?" Nathan asked when he saw Ariel.

"I went to the water and played around."

With a heavy sigh, Ada María went right to him. "Look at you. You're filthy Ariel!"

"_Mãe__," _Ariel whined,_ "__Está exagerando__." (You're overreacting)._

"_Não se queixam, Ariel. Vá lá em cima e tomar um banho antes do Jantar." __(Don't complain, Ariel. Go upstairs and take a bath before dinner)_. Ada María gave Ariel a spank to move him to purpose and Ariel begrudgingly went upstairs as Ada María instructed and took a bath using the spare bathroom. "Nessie, you wouldn't happen to have some spare clothes here do you?"

"I'm sure some of Nathan's spare clothes are somewhere in the garage. I'll go grab something for him while you get his wet clothes and throw them in the washing machine." While Nessie went to the garage to get Nathan's old clothes, Ada María went upstairs to grab Ariel's dirty clothes.

"Ariel," Ada María said from behind the door, "give me your dirty clothes." After a moment of rustling, Ariel cracked open the door and handed Ada María his dirty clothes. Nessie came upstairs around that time and handed Ariel fresh clothes. As soon as Ariel grabbed the clothes, he closed the door behind him. Thirty minutes later, he came back downstairs in fresh clothes and eyeing something. Nathan was the first to notice when Ariel walked into the living room and sat next to him on the couch.

"What is that?" Nathan asked, looking at the little dagger. It was crafted from stone and woven with thick bark string to be held onto a wooden hilt.

"It's a knife," Ariel answered. Everyone was looking at him now.

"Where did you get that?" Jacob asked, not recalling having one anywhere in the house or in Billy's house for that matter. Most native weaponry was kept at the Tribal School on display for students, parents, and tourists (whenever they actually go there).

"I found it," Ariel answered innocently.

"I figured as much. What I want to know is where." Jacob's voice became stern and finally grabbed Ariel's full attention.

"I found it on that little island that's off the coast of the beach." Everyone went stiff, wide eyed, and Jacob stood from his seat.

"You stole that from a Chief's burial site?"

"A what?"

"That little island is where Chiefs are buried," Jacob answered, his tone sharpening. "You're telling me that you stole a knife from a Chief's grave?" Jacob was starting to yell and it was this that brought Nessie, Ada María, and Natalie running to the living room.

"Jacob, what's the matter?"

"Ariel stole a knife from a Chief," Jacob answered, taking deep breaths. "Ariel, whichever grave you found that in, I want you to put it back right now. When you steal from the dead, you incur their wrath. Put it back now and maybe my house won't become haunted."

"Jacob, there's no such thing as ghosts," Nessie said.

Jacob took a deep breath, "Yeah Nessie. There's no such thing as vampires and werewolves either." Jacob looked back at Ariel, ignoring the look Nessie was giving him. "You heard me, Ariel. Wherever you found that, put it back now."

"But grandpa, I found it. Please let me keep it."

"You will put it back and you will do it now," Nathan said sternly. "You should know better than to steal from a grave site; what the hell's the matter with you?"

"Oh come on, look at this thing! Isn't it neat?"

"Put it back!" Nathan yelled.

Just then, the door to the house, which was unlocked, flew open and caught everyone's attention. Surprise, though, was swiftly replaced with anger when the group realized exactly who it was that had barged into the house unannounced. Suerro glared right into the group, his now scarlet eyes burning with a rage Natalie had never seen before. Suerro's rage sent the whole group in a defensive mode, ready to fight the moment Suerro acted any further out of turn. Natalie stepped forward a little, hoping her presence would calm him, if only a little. It didn't work. It seemed to only enrage him further.

"Give it back," he finally hissed.

"Give what back?" Jacob demanded.

"You know what: the dagger that was buried with my sister. Someone in this house stole it, I know, I can smell the dagger and the villain. I want the dagger back; give it to me!"

Natalie was the one to walk around the couch where Ariel remained hidden and held out her hand. "Ariel, give me the dagger." Slightly frightened (Ariel was thinking there was actually a ghost at the door) Ariel handed the dagger over to Natalie. With the dagger in hand, Natalie walked around the group to Suerro. Natalie held the dagger out to Suerro and he finally relaxed before taking it. He walked out of the house as soon as he'd come in, but no one relaxed, especially when Natalie started walking after him.

"So that's Suerro," Nessie said awkwardly.

"I promise he's nicer once you get to know him."

Natalie walked out of the house without saying anything further to anyone and started following Suerro. She knew that Suerro was aware she was following him, but he didn't seem bothered by it. He wasn't running fast at all, as if he was making sure she could keep up with him. He stopped a moment when he reached the water's edge long enough for Natalie to catch up and see him go into the water and start swimming to the little island. Before getting in the water and following him, she took off her jacket and boots so that she wasn't being weighed down. It wasn't awful outside, but it wasn't nice and sunny either. By the time Natalie made it to the little island soaking wet, Suerro was standing before a slightly dug up grave and not looking at her. Natalie took a moment to ring her hair and get out some access water before going to Suerro's side and looking down at the grave where the upper body was exposed. Only the bones of the body were left with dark hair sprinkled with grays attached to the skull. The boney hands were holding the dagger now.

"So this is where she's buried?" Natalie finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes," he answered in a hushed voice, "this is Zurra. That dagger is what she used to kill herself so Taha Aki would live. That image has haunted me for three hundred years: Zurra holding up that dagger and stabbing herself in the heart." His voice hardened as he spoke of Taha Aki, but then became weak and stinging upon mentioning the way Zurra died.

"That's the dagger that killed her?" Natalie asked, surprised. She looked back at the dagger carefully. It was a piece of the tribe's history and she'd held it in her hands just moments ago.

"Yes, it is," Suerro answered with his voice no longer harsh. He turned to Natalie and held out his hands for her to take. Natalie complied and when she did, Suerro gently pulled her closer to him and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Who's Ariel?"

"He's my nephew," Natalie answered with her hand going around Suerro's waist as a way to keep him less agitated. "Please don't be mad at him. I know what he did was bad, but he's just a little kid."

"Little kid or not, he should know better than to rob a person's grave. And he should certainly know this is a Chiefs' burial site. It's not just inconsiderate, but it's bad luck too."

Natalie giggled, "You sound like daddy. I know its sacred ground, but he didn't mean it. He's still only a couple months old. I know he looks about five, but he's really only six months. His mother has enough vampiric lineage that he grows up faster."

"If you say so," Suerro sighed. "Just make sure he never does such a thing again." After that was silence. Natalie looked at the bones intently and it caused her to shiver. She'd been told the story of the third wife a million times in her life. The woman was a hero, and yet she always wondered why the tribe didn't know her name.

"Can I ask you something?"

"What's that?"

"Why did the tribe forget her name? She saved the village and was buried here. Doesn't that mean she's entitled to her name lasting through the ages?"

"As I've said, Taha Aki ruined her reputation. To the village she was a brat and a whore because she deliberately went against my orders and allowed herself to be deflowered by a man that was not yet her husband. She's remembered only as the third wife because that's what she'd been reduced to before she took her own life to save the village. As far as her being buried here, I'm the one who did that. The tribe might never remember her name, but I would be damned if she did not receive an honorable burial."

With her free hand, Natalie reached up to where Suerro's hand was on her shoulder and laced her fingers through his. Natalie glanced in Suerro's direction and saw the indentation of the tooth under his shirt. She'd come to intensely dislike that tooth because it always poked her if she got too close.

"Have you ever considered just throwing the tooth in her grave?"

Suerro looked at her strangely, "Why would I do that?"

Natalie sighed and rested the weight of my head on Suerro's shoulder. "It just seems like the right thing to do. It's her husband's tooth," Natalie felt Suerro tense and she tried for a quick save. "I know your feelings of the man, but the point is that your sister loved him. Isn't that enough?"

"Until recently, you didn't even know my sister's name," Suerro's tone returning to that harsh one that made Natalie cringe. "Don't presume to tell me what she felt." Suerro took his arms away from Natalie and began to walk off the island, but Natalie grabbed his arm to stop him.

"I know how she felt because I'm in her place, Suerro. That one look into your eyes was all it took. When everyone in your village saw a brute, your sister saw a man worth loving and that loved her in return. When everyone sees a brute in you who thinks only of himself, I see a man who suffered and needs the touch of a woman that loves him."

"Don't do that," Suerro said in a commanding voice as he turned around and looked Natalie in the eyes. "Don't compare what we have to Taha Aki and my little sister. Taha Aki took advantage of a dreamy eyed girl with misplaced kisses and tender whispers of love. That is not what you and I share."

"What do we share then Suerro? Did I not win your heart the same way?"

"I'm nothing like the man. I won't take what isn't mine like he did." He ignored the odd look Natalie gave him and continued. "I know my previous actions say otherwise, but I won't lie with you before you're my wife and I certainly wouldn't discredit your father and marry you against his wishes. By the tribe's laws, I have no right to do such things."

"Wouldn't you?" Natalie asked, suddenly letting go of Suerro's arm. "If you went to daddy and asked him for my hand in marriage and he refused, you wouldn't marry me anyway? You love me right Suerro? Isn't that enough?" Suerro saw the tears begin to form in her eyes, so he closed their distance and embraced her.

"I do love you, Natalie. That's exactly why I wouldn't marry you unless your father allowed me to. When I was human, before the tribe encountered the settlers, and when Taha Aki had become the first among us to become a wolf, women had certain manners of conduct expected of them. Consequently, there were certain obligations a man needed to meet if he wished to marry a woman in the tribe. First of all, he needed to win her father's approval. He would go to the bride's father and ask for his permission to marry his daughter. The father always made the same demand of the bridegroom and that was to prove to him that his daughter would be well taken care of if he said yes. That was the official courting period if you want to call it that. The bridegroom showers the bride with gifts like fish he'd caught, animals he'd hunted, a collection of fur so she could make a shawl for herself, and a woven bracelet that was to be her symbol that she was married. If a bridegroom could do all these things, then the father would say yes or no to the proposal. If the father said no but the bridegroom still wished to marry the bride, he would continue with the previous pattern until the father was impressed. I recall a woman in our village that had seven bands around her wrist because her father had said no many times but her husband was extremely persistent. If the father said yes, the bridegroom would be required to offer a service of some nature to the mother out of respect. That usually entailed making dinner for the family with fish the bridegroom caught or making the mother a shawl or taking over for a time any other responsibility normally held by the mother. Once those things have been done, the couple go to the medicine man and ask when the marriage would be blessed. The medicine man would perform a ritual to track the moon and afterwards, he would announce at what cycle the moon would be when the marriage would be blessed. For example, when my parents were wed, they were told they could only marry on the night of the quarter moon if they wanted their marriage to be blessed with healthy children and lasting love. That's what a proper Quileute woman deserves and that's what I want to give you."

After Suerro's speech, Natalie was left feeling stunned and speechless. She couldn't say how happy it made her to know that Suerro thought so highly of her despite their previous encounters. Most of which had resulted in them arguing. Yet here was Suerro proclaiming that he not only loved her, but respected her enough to take on the tribe's traditions, however archaic they might be viewed by most of the tribe today, and court her the way a man would when he was human. Edward had done the same with Bella when they'd been dating and Natalie always thought that had been romantic. Suerro was going to do the same for her and it made Natalie elated. However, this was far off topic for what Natalie was trying to do.

"Even so, if anyone should have that tooth, it should be Zurra. You don't have to do it for Taha Aki, but for your sister; out of respect."

Suerro looked at Natalie intently a moment, "When I found Taha Aki after my sister's death, he really was a shell of a man. I remember, even in their wolf forms, Taha Aki and his sons always held that glint of humanity in their eyes. He didn't have that anymore. He walked through the snow whimpering and never eating. I attacked him on site. I called him many things, but above all I called him a serpent. I told him Zurra's death was his fault; that everything could've been avoided if he'd just left her alone. I wouldn't have been condemned to my fate and Zurra would've lived to be an old woman surrounded by her children with a man that deserved her. I remember breaking bones, scratching skin, but I never dealt a fatal blow. I wanted him to suffer and feel the pain he'd caused me. The fact that he wouldn't fight back made it better. It was like he was accepting responsibility for what he'd done. I realized in time, though, that he wanted me to kill him."

"Of course he did," Natalie interrupted. "Few in our tribe have ever lost their imprint in that way. But when they did, it was devastating for the wolf that suffered the loss. Even worse for the wolf that lost his mate to a brother's wrath, however accidental that wrath may have been. It's the catch for imprinting. That person becomes what holds you to this earth. So when they're gone, so is your own personal gravity."

"He stayed planted firmly on the ground just fine after Zurra's death. A little too firmly for my liking," Suerro answered. "But then, I wanted it that way. I wanted him to live with the knowledge of what he'd caused to happen. That's why I didn't kill him when he wanted me to. It would've been a kindness to let him die so easily. I refused to give him the satisfaction of joining Zurra in the afterlife. I'd been about to deal a final deadly blow when I saw the sadness in his eyes. He was suffering more alive than he would if I killed him. The injuries I'd dealt him were certainly enough to make him suffer more. Ultimately, he died from starvation and one day, he went to sleep and just didn't get back up. I took his tooth as my trophy when I was sure he was dead."

"And now, all it is for you is a bad omen." Suerro didn't answer. He only stared at Natalie, which gave her initiative to elaborate. "You're so much like daddy in your superstitious beliefs. When we were little, daddy and Grandpa Billy reminded us of the dangers that come from disturbing the dead or taking what belongs to them. By keeping Taha Aki's tooth, you're only being haunted by its presence and the rage that it forces on you. Whether you believe it to be a ghost or not, you're only hurting yourself by keeping it. I've seen you try to cast it aside before, but when you tried, you couldn't do it."

"You're trying to tell me I'm cursed?"

"By your own anger," Natalie added. "If you can't let go of the past, then you'll never be able to move forward. Curse and ghost or not, that'll always be true." Natalie wrapped her arms around Suerro's neck then and kissed him. Suerro was surprised at first, but eventually returned the affection and held Natalie close. The kiss ended abruptly when the tooth around Suerro's neck poked Natalie's left breast and caused her to step back and out of Suerro's arms. When Natalie looked back into his eyes, she just smiled and walked into the water and began swimming back towards the shore, leaving Suerro alone on that island.

Natalie made her way back to her parents' house, but she didn't enter. She knew there would be questions and she wasn't in the mood to answer. They could find out what happened tonight when she went out on patrol. She wanted to spend some time relaxing before tonight when she'd have to be up most of the night. That night when she was out in the woods with her pack, Jacob had a few words about her running off so suddenly, but was relieved to know that Natalie had handled the situation. Besides telling the pack what happened on that little island, she asked the pack to embrace Suerro when they saw him again. She had a feeling that, after their encounter on the island, he would be doing a lot of soul-searching. It was certainly something that he would need to do. They hadn't left each other on bad terms at all, but it wasn't the happy parting that Natalie had boasted about before. Even so, Natalie was hopeful that she and Suerro were making progress and that was enough to make her happy.

Before Suerro left the island, he made sure to cover Zurra's grave, keeping the tooth around his neck. He sent a message to Natalie letting her know that he was going back to the East Coast and that he'd come back in time for _Rent_. The date of the play had been noted on her script when he looked at it and, despite Romney's avid dislike for the play, Suerro wanted to see Natalie perform again. He had failed to see her perform as Gary Coleman and he had no intention of missing her again. From her performance of Nala in _The Lion King_, Suerro could see why she was a mini-celebrity among the Red Night Theatre patrons. She had an enchanting figure on the stage and she had a heavenly voice. It was that performance that made Suerro realize he may love her. Now he knew. But their last discussion left him in a feeling of being in a rut. When he met up with Romney in Buffalo, he seemed to know immediately something was off.

"You screwed it up again didn't you?"

"No!" Suerro barked back, but then he sighed. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? What happened?" Suerro relayed everything that occurred during his trip to Washington. Romney listened to Suerro as he spoke without interrupting as was his typical habit. "Well," Romney began when Suerro was done, "At least you didn't screw things up. That tidbit about the woman from your tribe with the seven wedding woven bands was cute. I'm pleased you were able to sneak in a romantic conversation. Bitches love romance," Romney chuckled at his joke, but returned to a serious expression. "Okay, seriously, it sounds to me like she's giving you a challenge, an ultimatum of sorts if you will. I have to say, though, what she told you makes a lot of sense, even if purely from a metaphysical perspective. You've really never been happy since I've known you and I've seen you try to get rid of that tooth a million times over the years. Maybe Natalie has a point: giving that tooth to your sister would lift the curse."

"A curse you say?" Suerro sighed heavily, "I told Taha Aki that I would haunt him when I died. I guess he wound up haunting me."

"I think you haunt each other," Romney answered. "Think about it for a moment. You brought Claudia's wrath on the tribe and caused the death of Zurra."

"I didn't cause Zurra's death. Claudia went against our agreement and attacked more people than just Taha Aki."

"Okay, fine, you indirectly caused the death of your sister."

"I didn't—"

"You caused your sister's death Suerro. Let's call a spade a spade. There's no point in arguing with the truth. Anyway, by not killing Taha Aki and stealing his tooth, he's haunting you in return and not letting you forget when you try to discard the tooth. And you told me that every time you and Natalie get very close, the tooth pokes her. I don't mean to get literary on this matter, but it feels like from beyond the grave he's doing onto you what you did onto him."

"Alright," Suerro said, his tone now becoming challenging. "For argument's sake, let's pretend that there is a curse on me because of this tooth and Taha Aki is having his own vengeance. If that's all true then why should I give him what he wants and bury his tooth with my sister?"

"You can't reason with the dead, Suerro. And you certainly can't reason away the wrath of a dead man. Maybe Natalie's suggestion isn't so absurd."

"I never said it was absurd," Suerro said defensively, "I said it was unlikely."

"Whatever you want to call it, she might be onto something. I say swallow your pride and throw that tooth into your sister's grave and be done with it. I imagine Natalie would know how her ancestor felt seeing as she's imprinted on you."

"Her ancestor," Suerro mumbled to himself. "Taha Aki had three different wives and he had many children with all of them. With Zurra, he only had four though. It's a smaller line."

"So you can't be certain which line she even comes from? Either way, that's not what's important. What's important is you take Natalie's advice and get rid of that tooth. I think it would be good for you, curse or no curse."

Suerro wasn't listening to Romney anymore. He heard what he was saying, but he didn't really care about what Romney was saying. He was more concerned about the possible ancestry of Natalie's line of wolves. To Suerro's recollection, there were only three specific families that held the gene for becoming wolves: the Uley's (being the biggest of the families), the Clearwaters, and the Blacks. There were some pack members from different families, but they were all connected to one of those three families in some way. To Suerro's recollection and knowledge of the tribe, Taha Aki had the most children (naming-ly sons) with his first wife and when the pale faced settlers began to come, that line took on the Uley name because that was the name of the family's eldest patriarch at the time. With regards to the other two, the names were taken on either because it was a way to embrace nature spirits, or in the case of the Black family, it was due to the color of their hair. There was another detail Suerro remembered all too well now that Romney mentioned it. Zurra's youngest son, the one who lived through the attack from Claudia, took over control of the tribe as chief. It was the son that Zurra had named after him, Suerro recalled. That was the line that kept the chiefdom through the ages. It was also the line, Suerro realized, that eventually became the Black family line. Which meant Natalie was a direct descendent of Taha Aki and Zurra.

"Stop ignoring me!" Suerro was suddenly paying attention to Romney. "Answer my question. Are you going back to Washington any time soon or not?"

"Sorry, Romney, I wasn't listening."

"Well, answer what you did hear."

"I'll go back to Washington later this month. I'm no longer blacklisted at Red Night, so I plan to see Natalie as Maureen Johnson."

Romney shuddered, "It made my ass sore, Suerro. It's too many characters in too short a time span to make me give a shit that they're all gay and have AIDS. Frankly, that's all I know about any of those characters. And you can't build a riveting play on the backs of cardboard gay people that all have AIDS. That's not how a play gets an audience's attention."

"I'm not concerned about the play. I'm just interested in seeing Natalie perform."

"Fair enough," Romney answered. "She did a great job as Gary Coleman when I saw her. Hearing that girl sing about racism and sex was the highlight of my night."

Suerro chuckled, "Well, I get to listen to her sing about love. At least I think so."

"That's the gist of it, yes. She'll sing in the opening number, which is about love, then she'll have a song about her performance art and honestly, I have no idea what Maureen's talking about, so I'll let you figure out what Natalie's singing about there, and she'll have a song where she's arguing with her lover. I don't know if Natalie can make that a bearable play, but at least her parts will be something to look forward to. When you go back, let me know what her next play will be. I might drop by and watch."

"I'll let you know."

Natalie resisted the urge to text or call Suerro back through the time he was gone. He needed time to think about what she'd said and what had happened. Natalie just hoped Suerro was utilizing their time apart. Suerro had promised to come and see her perform, so Natalie devoted herself even more to rehearsal until it was finally opening night. Her family had come to see her the day before during dress rehearsal and Aunt Rachael told Natalie that she looked exactly like Sarah. For her costume, Natalie's hair was teased, crimped, curled and out of control, conforming to a popular eighties hairstyle. It reminded Natalie of Farrah Fawcett hair if Farrah didn't bother styling her hair after a hard night of partying. Natalie was in a pair of yoga pants (the spandex gave her hives) with pink leg warmers, black ballet slippers and a ripped up _Queen_ t-shirt advertising Bohemian Rhapsody. Natalie's pink sports bra was the only think keeping her breasts from being exposed seeing as the shirt was so mangled. Natalie was wearing a million pounds of make-up: bright pink lipstick, blue eye shadow, and pounds of mascara and eye liner combined with fake exaggerated eye lashes. By modern society's standards she looked absolutely ridiculous. By eighties standards, she was a looker that would turn heads in all the right ways.

When on stage, Natalie threw herself into her role and made sure not to look around for Suerro. She smelled him faintly, but she made sure to ignore the scent and focus on being Maureen Johnson. Natalie delivered a passionate performance during all three performances. Her family came to the first one and wished her luck for the rest of the night before going back home. After the last performance of the night, Natalie got changed back into her normal clothes but kept her hair the same. She was wearing three cans of hair spray, so her hair wasn't going anywhere. She looked around for Suerro as she left, but she couldn't find him. According to Gretchen, Suerro had left as soon as the last showing was done with. Slightly disappointed, Natalie made her way home, but her spirits lifted when she smelled Suerro nearby. He was waiting for her at her door when she got home holding a bouquet of assorted flowers.

"Thank God that makeup's finally gone. You didn't look like you on stage."

Natalie smiled and accepted the flowers, "That is the general idea." Natalie let herself and Suerro into the apartment and Natalie began preparing a vase to keep the flowers in. "Why didn't you stay after the show? Did you like it?"

"I found the play to be excruciating and dull to be honest. Romney's right. There are far too many characters to focus on and absolutely no time to make them real people to me. Honestly, all I got from your character is that you're a performance artist, a lesbian, and evidently you and your girlfriend have problems. By the way, whoever thought that Angel coming out of nowhere and telling Mimi she's not allowed to die yet: dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard in my life."

"But what didn't you like about the play?" Natalie teased.

Suerro chuckled, "You sang beautifully. That's all I came to the play for anyway. What play will you guys do after this is done?"

"It's almost the end of summer, so this is our last summer play. Once Roosevelt High starts back up, we'll get into Shakespeare. We'll be doing _Hamlet_, _The Tempest_, and I think _As You Like It_. Normally the school studies Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Midsummer Night's Dream, but apparently, they're switching things up this year and we promised to accommodate them."

"You said you played Ariel last time you did _The Tempest_ am I right?"

"Yeah," Natalie smiled. "I got Gretchen to let me do that role again. I really like playing Ariel. I also told Gretchen that the next time we do _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ I've got dibs on the role of Puck. Now that's a fun part to play. I like to think of him as delightfully wicked and mysterious."

"I can't wait. I've never actually read _As You Like It_, so I'm eager to see it." Finally having a vase to put her flowers in, Natalie rested the arrangement on her tiny dining table before finally walking to Suerro and hugging him. "Do you notice anything?" Suerro asked suddenly. Natalie looked up at him, then at his chest. She touched where the tooth normally was, but it seemed to be gone.

"The tooth," she enquired.

"I gave it to Zurra."

Natalie looked up at Suerro, "You did?"

Suerro smiled back and nodded, "Yes, I did. I thought about what you'd told me and what it would mean to her if I gave it back. That tooth felt like a led weight the whole time I've had it, but when I threw it in her grave, there was no hesitation and it felt like the world was being lifted from my shoulders."

"Does that mean you've forgiven him and Zurra?"

Suerro slightly lost his smile and breathed deeply, thinking how to answer her. "At first, the whole reason I refused to give back to tooth was because it was like admitting defeat to the man that had taken what wasn't his. But when I was talking to Romney and he brought up your ancestry, it occurred to me. When Taha Aki died, the tribe was taken over by his youngest son by my little sister. It was the son they'd named after me. I didn't find that out until later, but it touched me that Zurra wanted to honor me in some way. But that line has always held the title of chief in the village from that point on. Taha Aki's lineage can be tracked through three major families on the reservation: the Uleys, the Clearwaters, and the Blacks. It was Suerro's lineage that eventually embraced the surname Black."

"So I'm from the line of the third wife?"

Suerro nodded, "Which means that if Taha Aki had never married my sister, you would've never been born." Suerro's previous smile returned and he held Natalie close. "I was finally able to forgive him then, if only a little. I'll never care for the man. I will always think of him as a serpent. And yet, despite my hatred of the man, his actions eventually led to you, a statistical impossibility of mitosis that created you." Suerro gently brushed away a tear from Natalie's cheek. "I will never stop hating the man, Natalie. But I love you more than I hate him. Whether I like what he did or not, it was the circle of events that eventually led to you being born. And that's the greatest retribution Taha Aki could ever offer."

Natalie smiled and held back tears that wanted to fall. She could only whisper Suerro's name before she closed the rest of the distance between them and hugged him tightly. There was no sharp tooth to keep her away and Suerro had taken the ultimate step in their moving forward and finally let go. There was still a great deal of work he would need to do before the pack and her family would ever embrace him as part of them, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that Natalie and Suerro could finally be completely and irrevocably in love.


	25. Moving On - Part 1

Moving On – Part 1

"You have cracks," Suerro said suddenly. Natalie looked at Suerro strangely a moment. "On your ceiling," he specified, pointing at the ceiling while they lay in Natalie's bed while Suerro played with the collar of her t-shirt, Natalie's only article of clothing save a pair of panties.

"Oh," Natalie mumbled, examining the ceiling and putting down her script. "I never really looked at the ceiling. Are you saying you want to fix it for me? I don't know how my landlord will feel about that. My door was one thing, but the ceiling is another."

"No," Suerro shook his head, "I don't want to waste money on this place when I can just get you something better."

Natalie looked at Suerro again with a light smile. "Are you honestly suggesting that you plan to pay for another apartment for me? I can't let you do that."

"Yes you can, Natalie. Consider it one of my gifts to prove to your father I can take care of you. The man hasn't warmed up to me since July and I need to start changing that."

"Suerro, believe me, I love that you want to ask daddy for approval, but I love you enough to marry you with or without his okay in the matter."

"I know you do," Suerro smiled and kissed Natalie's forehead, "but I want to do this properly. Now, back to the topic of an apartment, I know a collection of condos that are close to the Red Night Theatre. In fact, it's closer than this place is. They're probably much nicer too."

"I know which condos you're talking about, Suerro, and the answer is no. Those places cost upwards of $400,000. That's way too much money."

"Don't worry about that. I'm a money hoarder remember?"

"We should talk about that now that you mention it." Natalie lifted herself from Suerro's shoulder to look at him. "Daddy isn't really thrilled with that. He knows it involves stealing from victims and he doesn't approve. I admit it makes me uncomfortable too."

"I see," Suerro sighed and lifted himself up in a sitting position. "So you want me to stop?"

"It would make me happy. And daddy would be more likely to warm up to you if you did."

"Possibly," Suerro answered. "I'll talk to Romney when I get back east. Half that money we made over the years is still mine and I'm sure he won't take issue with that. The issue that arises is without that, I'm not making any money. Sure, I've saved up plenty of money over the years, but there's only so long that'll last."

"I'll let you decide what you want to do. All I ask is that you find another way and," Natalie stopped and took a deep breath, "I want you closer. It's been two months of you going back and forth and I don't like not having you here."

"You see me far more than Kyle and Evalina see each other."

"That's not the point. The point is that you're in a position to come be with me. Evalina's under different circumstances and even if she weren't, she's still a Russian citizen and becoming an American citizen legally isn't the easiest thing to do. Not to mention, Kyle's still in school and he has no way to support the two of them. He has money for school thanks to his grades and the government, but that aside, he's broke. Evalina isn't poor per se, but she isn't really in a place where she can just up and move and pay her way without any source of income. You and I don't have that problem and I'm pleased for it. You don't have other obligations that are keeping you from coming here and living here permanently."

"Natalie, you're asking me to move in with you and that's not—"

"Please don't say it's not proper," Natalie interrupted. "I swear if I hear that word again, I'll rip out my hair. I'm sure daddy would understand if you came and lived with me. He certainly didn't mind when Ada let herself in the house and practically lived there."

"That's your brother, Natalie. You're his daughter and whether you like it or not he thinks of you differently. Every man thinks of their daughter differently. When my father was alive, he always treated Zurra differently and it wasn't just because of cultural expectations. Zurra needed father to take care of her until a husband came along and when father was dead, that responsibility fell on me. It's not quite so cut and dry with your father and the time you live in, but you're still his little girl until he lets me marry you. As his little girl, it's his responsibility to look after you. There isn't that need when dealing with sons. Universally, sons have always been seen as independent and in no need of a father or mother to protect them. So if Nathan wants to keep his girlfriend around and do with her what he wants, he doesn't mind because Nathan can take care of himself. Daughters are something special, even if some cultures claim otherwise. American culture typically dictates that a daughter is someone special and someone that needs protection."

"That's the most sexist thing I've ever heard."

"It may be sexist, Natalie, but it's a fact of life. I can understand you wanting me to live here in Washington and that I'll be happy to do, but moving in with you would almost certainly make Jacob dislike me more. That doesn't mean, however, that I can't buy you a condo that isn't at risk on falling on you in the night." Natalie sighed heavily and picked up Prospero and started petting him.

"If it'll be just me then I don't want a condo. It's too much space for just me and I don't want to wallow around alone. If you really want to get me a better place, then make it one of those really nice higher end apartments for a single person."

"Fair enough," Suerro answered, "as long as you let me move you out of this place. I can't stand your neighbors."

"My neighbors?" Natalie enquired. "You've never even met my neighbors."

"And yet I know them intimately. Your downstairs neighbor always buys Indian food and it stinks up the whole unit. Your neighbor across the hall own five cats and they're not fixed I should point out. The landlord told her she has three months to vacate the apartment complex, but even so, it'll take a lot to get that smell of cat piss out of the floors and walls. The guy to your right down the hall holds parties at all hours of the night and the music is playing way too loudly and his apartment also has a distinct stench of cat. This is why you're sometimes congested in the morning; your neighbors all have cats."

"Suerro, that'll be a problem no matter where I go unless it's an apartment with a 'no animals' policy. If I moved to a place like that, I wouldn't be allowed to keep Prospero and Caliban. Besides, the cats in this unit rarely bother me."

Suerro sighed heavily, "Women and their rats."

"Yes, Suerro, women and their _dogs_," Natalie corrected.

"Natalie, those things don't count as dogs. They're fat rats at best with yappy barks that wouldn't scare a rabbit."

"How dare you, Suerro," Natalie teased, finally smiling again, "don't you two listen to him. He's just jealous." Natalie scratched Prospero's ear and cooed to him and Caliban while the two dogs contentedly gave no fucks about what Suerro said or anything else outside Natalie's affections.

The next morning, Kevin was preparing the final paperwork for Embry and Brie. The two were able to come to a consensual agreement concerning the assets from the marriage, so going before a judge in court wasn't necessary. Considering that Kevin provided his services to the Calls for free, bringing a judge in the matter would've complicated things anyway. Kevin was happy with Embry and Brie considering they handled their divorce with cordial grace and understanding. In the years Kevin had been working with Perkins Coie LLP, Kevin had dealt with many couples that were less than respectable during their divorce. It was always a breath of fresh air when he could handle something other than a divorce, but considering he was still new to the industry, he needed to get clients where he could and divorce was always a good route. And since divorces could get really messy and really expensive, it was a good way to make money in law.

"Kevin," Kevin looked up at Mary, his receptionist, "your eleven o'clock is here."

"Good, send them in."

"Also, really quick, your four o'clock canceled."

Kevin groaned, "Again? I don't know how this woman expects me to represent her if she never shows up. Did Mrs. Taylor at least leave an excuse this time?"

"She didn't grace me with one. This is getting ridiculous; do you want me to tell her to find another lawyer?"

"I'm tempted," Kevin admitted, "Did she reschedule?"

"She said she could meet you tomorrow morning at 10:30."

"I'll be in a meeting most of tomorrow morning."

"That's what I told her, but she's insisting."

Kevin groaned, "Fine, I'll see if I can sneak out of the meeting early and meet her. But if she cancels on me again, then tell her to find another lawyer. Is there anything else?" Kevin glanced past Mary at the door where Embry and Brie were waiting.

"That just about does it for now. I'll let you know if something else comes up." Mary turned and began to walk out and smiled at Embry and Brie. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Its fine," Embry answered. The two stepped into Kevin's office upon his invitation and sat down across from him.

"Alright," Kevin started, "I've got the final papers here so once you both sign these you're officially divorced. I know I've asked, but Brie, are you sure you want to wave spousal support?"

Brie nodded, "Yes, I'm sure. I'll be able to afford my own way. As long as Embry pays child support and can forward any money for anything else they need, that'll be more than enough."

"Alright," Kevin answered. "Now let's review everything before you guys sign the paperwork. Embry, you're keeping the house on the reservation and the Sudan while Brie, you're renting an apartment in Forks and keeping the Ford?" The two nodded. "With regards to the twins, Brie, you'll have them for the school week while Embry will get them on weekends. During the winter holidays, Embry, the girls will stay with you until school starts up again. You're both still happy with this arrangement?" They both nodded. "Now Embry, you also agreed that you would help Brie furnish the apartment."

"Only for the girls," Embry chimed in. "I'll pay for beds and a dresser for them and whatever else they'll need, but Brie I want you to buy your furniture yourself."

Brie looked surprised, "Embry you said you would help me buy furniture."

"I said I'd buy furniture for the girls' room. If you want to take anything from the house to keep and make things easier, I don't mind letting you take the dining table and the couch."

Brie sighed and slouched back in her chair, "Alright that works. Can the girls and I at least have the TV in the living room?"

"No, that's mine," Embry groaned and rubbed his face. "Look, I'll buy you guys one for the living room, but it won't be anything spectacular."

"Alright, I'll take it," Brie answered. Kevin waited a moment just in case there was anything else. When there was nothing added Kevin took a moment to make the changes to the document and reprint it.

"Mary," Kevin said through his intercom, "Do me a favor and bring me the documents I just printed." A moment later, Mary came in with the up to date divorce contract and handed it to Kevin. "Thanks. Have this old one shredded for me, please." Mary nodded and left the couple alone again with Kevin, "Would you like to read through this really quick?"

Kevin handed over the paperwork to Embry so he could look through the contract. When he found nothing wrong, he handed it to Brie so she could look it over for herself. When she found no fault with it, she handed it back to Kevin. Kevin signed where he needed to before handing Embry the pen so he could sign where he needed to. Once Brie signed the papers, the divorce was official.

"Alright, you two, you are divorced."

"Thanks, Kevin," Embry said, though it was lacking enthusiasm. As far as he was concerned, there really was nothing to be enthusiastic about. Brie wasn't much happier.

"I appreciate you doing this for free."

"Think nothing of it," Kevin reassured, "anything for family. And really, I wish you both all the best."

Afterwards, Embry and Brie left Kevin's office and Kevin turned his attention to other clients. Most of his cases were divorce cases, but he did manage to nab a business dispute between a shipping company and their client. Out of all his cases, the latter was the only case that would appear in court before a judge. While Kevin was working, Mary came into his office with a small menu in hand. Mary was an average height woman and she never wore skirts. She only wore dress pants and high heeled shoes. She had short brown hair that was similar to Alice's hair.

"I'm ordering some lunch from Jimmy's. What do you want?"

"I'm fine, I brought leftovers from home. Since you're in here, a little birdy tells me you turned 21 yesterday."

Mary smiled, "I did."

"Good for you. Did you do anything fun yesterday to celebrate?"

"Some of my friends took me out bar hoping. I made sure not to drink too much though. I didn't want to come to work hung over."

"A wise decision," Kevin smiled. "How about I get off work early tonight and I treat you to dinner?"

"I think I could get into that. I've always wanted to be wined and dined by a handsome man on my birthday."

Kevin chuckled, "Thanks for saying. Where do you want me to take you?"

"I'm in the mood for Asian food, so how about that sushi restaurant on Third Street?"

"You mean Sushi Para?" Mary nodded, "Sounds good. I've wanting to try that anyway. And you can try Sake in case you haven't already."

"I can't wait. I don't suppose as a birthday wish you could get your sister to join us could you?"

"I'll call her and ask, but I'm not sure she can. She's usually at rehearsal until eight unless it's a dinner night at my parents' house."

"I understand, but I'd like it if you tried. I admit I have a little girl crush on your sister. I saw her for the first time when she did Margareta in _The Scarlett Pimpernel_ a few years ago and I've been a fan ever since. I hear Red Night's doing _Hamlet_ soon and I'm eager to go. I haven't read that play since high school but I've never actually watched it. What role will Natalie be in? She was awesome as Gary Coleman; be sure to tell her I said that."

"Don't worry, I'll tell her. Natalie said she'd be Ophelia this time. Last time they did _Hamlet_, she was Gertrude. Either way, her character dies."

Mary giggled, "Indeed they do."

"I'll give Natalie a call and ask her if she can come. Do you want me to ask for free tickets for you?"

Mary became wide eyed, "Really? You can do that?"

"Of course I can. Natalie's allowed to give out five free tickets before they come out of her pay. Two always go to mom and dad. The other three vary. Sometimes she gives them to me, Kyle and Nathan, other times she'll give one to our cousin Travis. It just depends. If you want, I can get you a ticket even if she doesn't come to sushi."

"Yay!" Mary walked around Kevin's desk and hugged him. "You're the best boss any girl could ask for."

Kevin chuckled and returned Mary's hug, "I know I am, Mary."

"Maybe you should buy him a mug," the two looked right at the door and saw Page, Collier's secretary. Mary stepped away, but kept close to Kevin's desk with her head held down. "Collier wants to talk to you about the Rogers case. You usually handle divorces, so he thinks he'd be more suited to take on a business dispute."

"Well, Page, you tell Collier that the client hired me to represent him and that's what I intend to do. If he takes issue with that, he can take it up with someone who cares. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a lot of work to do."

"So much that you're hugging your receptionist in your office I see. I'll let Collier know what you said." Finally, Page walked away and Mary finally relaxed.

"I really don't like her," Mary admitted. "She's such a know-it-all and I hate that holier-the-thou attitude."

"Yeah, but what can you do? If Collier asks to see me, tell him he can kiss my ass."

"Say it far more cordially, though, right?"

Kevin smiled, "Only if you want." The two laughed before Mary walked out of Kevin's office and went back to her own desk.

Kevin called Natalie as he promised, but as Kevin figured Natalie would be at rehearsal until eight that night. Since it was a Shakespeare script, there was a lot more practice and preparation involved. She did, however, agree to let Mary have a free ticket to _Hamlet_. The two had never officially met, but Natalie was always fond of people that praised her performances. Kevin called it a day at six o'clock and he and Mary left the firm together and walked to Sushi Para. The restaurant was just a few blocks away from their office building anyway. When they were seated, the first thing Kevin ordered was Sake.

"Oh God," Mary said after she took a sip, "I don't want any more of that. That was awful."

Kevin chuckled, "If you don't like that, then you'll hate the other hard liquors. I take it you like your drinks flowery and fruity?"

"I like drinks where I can't taste the alcohol. I don't really like the taste of alcohol to be honest."

"I can understand that. I'm more of a beer guy myself, but I don't mind a shot of whiskey now and then."

"You mean the whiskey you keep in your desk?" Mary teased.

"Now Mary, I only have that in case of emergencies, like when I just finished settling asset divisions between a rich man and his much younger soon to be ex wife that would sooner kill each other than sit down and talk like adults. Sometimes I wish I had your job to be honest. You don't have to deal with the people the way I do. You say hi, look pretty, and tell them to take their issues with me."

Mary giggled, "There are some perks, but it helps that you're my boss. But hey, you do make more than me."

"I guess that's something," Kevin smiled back. "Do you want another drink; something girly perhaps?"

"No more alcohol, I've had my fill. Some hot tea sounds great though."

"Alright," Kevin stopped the waitress and asked her to bring them some green tea. While the waitress was there, the two ordered their sushi and appetizers. "I know you didn't care for the Sake, but let's make a little toast before you give up on it."

"Alright, sir," Mary answered with a smile as she lifted her Sake cup.

"Cheers to you turning twenty one."

"Cheers." They touched glasses and drank. Mary squinted, "Oh God that's bad. That tea can't get here fast enough."

"I won't make you drink it anymore. I'll drink the rest of it for you."

"I appreciate it. I also appreciate you getting me a free ticket to _Hamlet_."

"It's a pleasure. Think of it as a bonus."

Mary smiled, "I think I will, but enough about me turning twenty one. It got boring after I had my first drink in public."

Kevin chuckled, "Yeah that's about right. I remember when I turned twenty one. It was my third year of college and I was close to finishing up school. A bunch of people from my dorm and my classes took me out drinking. Most of my classmates and friends were at least three years older than me. I was one of the few that didn't have a master's degree in something."

"Didn't you go to school with a prince too?"

"I did, but he and I weren't friends. He insulted me, however unintentional that insult was, and we never got off that shaky ground."

"What did he say?"

"Something along the lines of me only getting into Yale because I'm Native American," Kevin sighed. "He claimed that any dumb ass could get into a good school if they prove they're a minority."

"What a dick," Mary smiled. "Let's change the subject. How're things going in your love life?"

Kevin shrugged, "It's a little dead right now. I haven't had a real relationship since high school and I've told you how that ended."

Mary tried to keep smiling especially since Kevin was still forcing it, but she knew she'd hit a tender nerve and she felt bad. "Weren't you seeing someone recently, though?"

"'Seeing someone' is exaggerating it. She was some woman I met at the Red Night bar, we slept together a few times, then she tried making things serious with me and when I told her I wasn't interested in her that way, she called me a bastard and hasn't spoken to me since, definitely no one special."

"I only ask because I care. I'm not trying to pry."

"I know you're not. Don't worry, Mary. I'm not mad at you. How about you? How's your love life been as of late?"

"Boring I'm afraid. I already tried hooking up with you and we both know how well that went."

Kevin chuckled, "Oh come on it wasn't that bad."

"The date was wonderful. You were a perfect gentleman and very entertaining. It was our kiss that was off. You kiss well, but there was nothing there in the ways of spark. You agreed with me as I recall."

"I know, Mary, I know. So does that mean you'll try working your way through the law firm?"

"Of course not, Kevin, that's such a Page thing to do. Of course, if you ever have a wealthy, single client that you think I might like, be sure to throw him my way."

"I'll make a note of it," Kevin answered with a smile.

"Oh! While I'm thinking of it, are you planning to go to the office Christmas party this year?"

"I don't see why I wouldn't. Why? Are you not going?"

Mary pouted, "I can't this year. My parents are insisting I come and visit, so that means I have to go all the way to Spokane for Christmas."

"That's a shame. I'll miss you."

"Oh I know you will. I'm the only one in that office besides you who isn't dry and boring."

"I know. A room full of drunken lawyers; I don't know what I'll do." The two laughed together and began eating their sushi once it arrived, enjoying the rest of the night talking.

With persistent enquiries by Rafael, Nathan and Ada María finally had Ariel baptized in October. They told the priest they'd been out of the country and were only now able to baptize their son. Nathan didn't need to pretend to be Catholic thankfully and seeing as they both wanted Rafael off their backs, they were willing to pay extra for the priest to shut up and do the baptism for them. Ariel was still technically a baby anyway, so it was no big deal. Suerro also made good on his promise to Natalie regarding an apartment complex. It was a little further from the theatre, but the unit was a tasteful size with tasteful style and up to date appliances, plenty of space for a single girl and her boyfriend who comes by occasionally and nothing was breaking or broken. Suerro still smelled cat piss everywhere in the unit, but seeing as he didn't fear the ceiling would fall on Natalie's head, he was willing to overlook it for the time being.

"Where do you want me to put this?" Travis asked Natalie, holding a box labeled as 'scripts'.

"Just put that in the corner for now. I still need to get my bookcase moved in before we can worry about that." Natalie turned her attention to Jacob. "Daddy, did you already finish up the bed frame?"

"Yeah Peanut it's set up. I'll go grab your bookcase." Jacob walked out of the apartment to the truck on the street to get the bookcase. He passed Suerro, who was holding boxes that held clothes, as he walked out but didn't say anything to him. Jacob wasn't warming up to Suerro and it was making Natalie incredibly frustrated.

"How much is left to move up here?" Natalie asked Suerro.

"Romney was carrying the rest of the boxes when I was down there. Once Jacob gets that bookcase, we'll be done with the truck. You just want these in the closet right?"

"Yes," Natalie answered with a wide grin. She followed Suerro to her new bedroom and into the walk-in closet this apartment had. "Thank you, Suerro. This apartment is beautiful."

"I knew you'd like it when I found it. I know it's a little further from Red Night than you would like, but that park your dog walker takes the rats to is much closer to you now."

"They're not rats, Suerro." Suerro turned to where the dogs were being kept in a cage so they weren't in the way.

"You're right. They're too small to be rats. They're more like mice." Suerro chuckled and kissed Natalie's forehead. "I'll unpack and hang your clothes."

"Not until you apologize to Prospero and Caliban."

"Fine," Suerro looked at the cage, "Sorry dogs." Then Suerro unpacked and put away Natalie's clothes before she could complain. He only left alone the box labeled 'delicates'. "I'll let you unpack that yourself." Suerro kissed Natalie's forehead again and walked out of the bedroom to help unpack anything else that was left.

Natalie followed after Suerro into the main room and saw that her family had pretty much helped unpack most of her things. There was still silver wear and plates to put away, but that was something Natalie wanted to toy around with. There was plenty of room in the kitchen for all her things, which was delightful. The last apartment didn't have as much cabinet space in the kitchen. Nessie was already taking dishes out, so Natalie came to the kitchen and explored, trying to determine the best way to store her kitchen wears. Thanks to the help, Natalie's things were unpacked and put away by the end of the afternoon.

"Thanks for helping me move," Natalie said when they all sat down where they could to eat (those that were eating anyway).

"We're happy to help, Peanut," Jacob answered, "And thanks for buying dinner."

Then Natalie addressed Suerro, Romney, her grandparents, aunts, uncles, and mom, "Next time you guys are in Red Night for blood, tell them to put it on my tab okay?"

"I may just do that," Jasper smiled.

"Me too," Romney said. Then he looked at Jasper. "So how've you been Jasper? I haven't seen you in over a hundred years."

"I know. The last time you saw me, I was visiting Boston because Peter and Charlotte wanted to visit Austin and Garret. Speaking of Austin, how's he doing?"

"He's doing the same as always. He sends his sympathies that you've had the pleasure of meeting Suerro." Suerro hissed under his breath and Romney chuckled. "I say that with love Suerro. You've been really good, actually. I think I have a dog treat lying around somewhere." Suerro hissed at Romney again and Jacob nearly choked on his beer from laughing.

"I've said all of five words to Austin in all the years I've known him."

"Indeed, and three of those words were pea-brained Neanderthal as I recall. 'You're a pea-brained Neanderthal' were the five words you've said to him."

"Because that's what he is," Suerro retorted.

"And what makes you say such a thing about Austin?" Jasper asked pointedly.

"The man dressed up like a Native American just to throw tea off a boat. It would've been easier to boycott and that would've gotten the point across fine."

"Boycotting was the first thing that happened but it was more than the damn taxes. It was taxation without representation. It was the British doing what they pleased without allowing us to control our own land."

"You mean the land that you inhabited. The land isn't something to be owned, it's something to utilize and reap rewards from. That was your first problem as settlers: assuming these lands belonged to the likes of you." There was an awkward and painfully uncomfortable silence, especially from Emmett and Jasper.

"Well," Romney started, "So much for you not arguing with anyone."

"I'm only saying the truth," Suerro answered.

"The British came to this country for freedom and that's what we have today as Americans," Emmett spat back. "It's a right that Jasper himself fought for in the Civil war."

"Yes, and if my memory of you serves correct," Suerro said to Jasper, "you fought as a confederate: a man that condoned the enslavement of blacks."

"I fought for the principal of the matter. The North was trying to control what we could and could not do and that's what I took issue with. My family never owned a slave, even if we had neighbors and friends that did. I don't deny that my views were very different in my human life, but they've changed radically over the years from experience and an evolving culture."

"No matter," Suerro shrugged. "I was in Canada most of the time, so the matter of slavery never bothered me. I was more concerned with the rising number of pink children."

"Pink?" Emmett enquired.

"Children that were born from Frenchmen and Cheyenne Indians," Suerro answered. "Well, Cheyenne being one tribe in particular. There were several besides them, but the Cheyenne were a common group I encountered whenever I traveled back to Washington. These men and women always had a distinct look to them, facial hair being one of their odd traits."

"Jacob gets facial hair," Jasper said.

"Not much," Jacob, surprisingly, defended. "I get a little, but its spars and grows really unevenly. Native Americans aren't exactly known for getting facial hair or any hair other than on their head."

"Indeed," Suerro said.

Natalie smiled and held Suerro's hand. "I've never been referred to as 'pink' before."

"It suits you," Suerro said, squeezing Natalie's hand.

"Well," Kevin offered, "all I'll say is it takes a real man to be pink." There was a collection of laughter before Suerro continued.

"I suppose these days it's nothing to take issue of, but it wasn't the best of circumstances years ago. These men and women of such a background weren't accepted anywhere. Among their tribe, they were tolerated, but never truly accepted as a part of the tribe, and in the world of the white man they were shunned even further, more so than a full blooded Native American even. I remember when I came to the East with Juliette. She kept me in hiding for months so she could teach me French before I ever saw anyone besides her. When I could speak like a white man, she started dressing me like one. She cut my hair, made me wear what Canadians wore, and made me speak French. She wanted to try passing me off as exotic, but anyone with half a brain was able to figure out I'm Native American. Granted, I was under different circumstances, but I couldn't go back to my people and I was an outcast in the world that I was forced to embrace. I imagine that's what it was like for the Pink. I was mocked and ridiculed for who I am, even by Juliette, the one that took me in to begin with and, Romney, I'll have you know that's why I hate most of your friends and Juliette's friends. I know it seems like it's because I'm an insensitive close-minded asshole, but it's because of how I was treated."

"It was a different time, Suerro. You know that. There were wars going on with the indigenous people and it had people in a huff. Indians weren't trusted or liked because they were seen as savages by the world. You also have to remember when you were changed, the revolution of America was fast approaching and furies in every respect were fuming. Top that off with the fact that the French had attempted on the British colonies using Indians as their puppets. Colonists had negative views of the Indians and that wasn't likely to change just because some French-Canadian vampire found a Native American and fixed him up."

"Fixed me up?"

Romney waved his hand slightly at Suerro's tone, "Don't get angry at me, you know what I mean. She found you and decided to make you what our society deemed appropriate. And you can't say that was all bad. She taught you how to read and write, you learned French and English, and you learned about people other than your own. That's certainly a good thing."

"Indeed, but I'd be more inclined to appreciate that if your people had done the same."

"Fair point, Suerro, but keep in mind, the mindset at the time was that we had better things to do than to concern ourselves with the culture and way of life of an inferior people. I'm not saying that's good, I'm just saying that's what it was like."

"I hear, Suerro," Jacob started, desperate to change the subject to anything else after a moment of silence, "that thirty years ago when the Volturi accused the Cullens of having an immortal child, you were on the side of the Volturi."

"Daddy," Natalie said sternly.

"I wouldn't say I was on their side," Suerro answered in his defense. "I was told I needed to follow, so I did. I'd never seen an immortal child and I was curious to see what all the fuss was about. Frankly, they dragged me and the other vampires with them all the way here for nothing. I left when I noticed you guys and realized this whole thing was a huge hoax."

"Interesting choice of words," Jacob answered. Nessie slapped Jacob's arm, telling him to be nice.

"Well, ultimately that's what it was. The Volturi were in such a huff over the whole thing and for it to wind up being nothing was insulting to those of us they dragged along for the ride. And I have to say, Nessie, you've grown a lot since then. I remember when you looked like a small girl."

"It seems like so long ago," Nessie smiled. "We've put the whole incident behind us and I think it's for the best."

"I agree," Suerro smiled back. "I commend you for being able to befriend the Volturi guards after everything that's happened."

"They're good people," Natalie began, interrupting. "I only know them as family friends that come to visit over Christmas. When you were with them, did you talk to them?"

"No, I didn't."

"Well, you'll get a chance to talk to them over Christmas. They're coming this year right?" Natalie asked, looking at Edward.

"Last I heard, they're coming," Edward answered. "Demetri and Heidi are definitely coming because Evalina wants to visit Kyle."

"And Felix always comes so he can visit Lia. You remember Demetri and Felix right?" Natalie asked.

"I remember those two being the bulk." Natalie smiled and rested her head on Suerro's shoulder.

"That's a good way to put it," Natalie said with a light giggle. "You'll come for Christmas right?"

"I don't see why I wouldn't. It'll be freezing on either coast anyway."

"So Kevin," Natalie turned the subject, "how did Mary like _Hamlet_?"

"She said that watching you play a crazy person was the highlight of the night." Kevin took a bite of his orange chicken and rice. "She said that she cried a little when you threw yourself off a cliff and killed yourself."

"I'm pleased I had that effect. I can't wait for _The Tempest_. Being Ariel's a lot of fun."

"When does that start?" Suerro asked.

"It'll be another two weeks before the first showing. We've already sold the tickets for the high school showing, so there aren't many seats left for non-student attendees."

"That's good to hear," Travis smiled, "I don't suppose I could get a free ticket could I? I didn't get to see you as Ariel last time."

"Sure, I'll give you one of my freebies. Does Mary want one?" Natalie asked Kevin.

"She said no. Evidently, she's not a huge fan of _The Tempest_, but she did say that if you guys ever do _Othello_ to let her know."

"I'm never Desdemona whenever we do _Othello_, though. It looks strange to have a black guy get into huge trouble for marrying a white senator's Native American daughter." They group laughed. "I have played Emilia though."

"Yeah, I know," Kevin answered. "I warned her of that, but she insisted. She's a big _Othello _fan."

"I prefer _Macbeth_ to be honest," Suerro said.

"Really, Macbeth?" Edward asked, intrigued.

"I don't like it because I feel pity for Lord or Lady Macbeth I just find the play as a whole to be comical. I couldn't take either of them seriously after they got political advice from three creepy broads they found in the woods."

"I'll keep that in mind," Natalie answered with a smile. "I'll try to convince Gretchen to do Macbeth next season. It'll take a lot to convince her, though. She detests _Macbeth_."

"A lot of Shakespeare fans do. He's hard to pity and I can understand that. I don't even pity him, I just find it amusing."

"So you're a sadist?" Jacob said quietly, eating his dinner. Nessie swatted Jacob's knee and looked at him sternly. Natalie just sighed and took one more bite of her fried rice and put it down.

"You aren't going to finish that?" Suerro asked Natalie.

"It's too much rice. I shouldn't have ordered Chinese food. I already had to specifically order that there be no peanuts, but it's so oily."

"You barely touched it, Natalie."

"If I'm hungry later, I'll eat something else. As it is, Gretchen will kill me if she finds out I had greasy Chinese food."

"Why would she be upset with you?"

"That bitch yells at Natalie for eating a fucking Twinkie," Jacob interjected. "I swear, the woman's made her so body conscious, it's a miracle my daughter doesn't have an eating disorder."

"Daddy, stop—" Natalie said, but Suerro interrupted.

"She nags you because she doesn't want you getting fat? I'll be honest here, Natalie, the British aren't exactly an authority on what is deemed attractive so here," Suerro grabbed the to-go container with the plastic fork, "have some more."

"Suerro—"

"Just three more bites and I'll leave you alone."

Finally, Jacob looked at Suerro with an ounce of appreciation, "I've been saying that for years, but no one listens to me." Suerro smiled and patted Natalie's back, who did as Suerro asked and had at least three more bites of her rice.

Suerro stayed with Natalie until she went to bed that night with her dogs at the end snuggled under their own little fuzzy blanket. After that day of moving, Jacob still wasn't fond of Suerro, but he disliked him slightly less and Natalie was pleased with that at least. For the rest of the year, Kevin was working overtime so he would be able to get a few days off for Christmas. Everyone in the office had the day off for Christmas day of course, but there was little room for extra days off. As it was, Kevin was looking at three days off at best. Mary was lucky to get two extra days off so she could visit family in Spokane.

"So when are you leaving?" Kevin asked Mary when she dropped off a file on Kevin's desk.

"I'm leaving right after work. It's a four hour drive and I promised my parents that I'd get there at a reasonable time. But I'll be so late the only place we'll be able to go for dinner is IHOP."

"Is that so bad?"

"Not at all," Mary grinned. "I'd kill for a stack of chocolate chip pancakes."

"That sounds good actually. Stop, you're making me hungry."

"Sorry Kevin," Mary giggled. "It was insensitive of me."

"Indeed it was. You know what, why don't you get going early? You won't get in trouble. I'll vouch for you."

"You don't have to do that," Mary said, very touched.

"No, really, go now and you might be able to have dinner at a reasonable time. Besides, I'll last two hours without you. I'm not sure how, but I will. And the party's tonight, so we're all getting off work early anyway."

Mary ran around and hugged Kevin, "Thanks boss. You're the best."

Mary ran out of Kevin's office and got her things together so she could leave for Spokane and maybe get there by eight. By the time it was the end of the day and people were starting to get ready for the office Christmas party, Kevin was tired. He'd dealt with three couples that day and each seemed to be bitterer than the last. There was still the business dispute case that he was handling, but that wouldn't go to court until the spring. If there was one negative side to law, it was that handling one's business took far longer than it should. Kevin wasn't planning to stay at the Christmas party long. He wanted to get home and do some last minute work before he got a well deserved night's sleep. Kevin left his briefcase in his office and walked to the lobby of the massive office building. The party was always a building wide thing that included the Law Firm, the Accounting Firm, and a private business that was involved in medical supplies and drug distribution.

"Ah, Kevin," Kevin looked in the direction of the voice and saw Robert Lupin, one of the partners, "I was wondering when you would get down here." Robert came closer and grabbed a glass of champagne from the party table on his way over and handed it to Kevin. "How are things coming along with that Rogers case?"

"Smooth sailing sir," Kevin answered, making Robert chuckle.

"Very funny, Kevin," Robert patted Kevin's back. "I heard that Collier's been trying to nab the case from you, but you never wavered. I'm impressed with you, Kevin. And don't you worry about him anymore. I've told him to leave you alone."

"Much appreciated, sir," Kevin answered before throwing back the champagne. There was music playing from a band. It was all Christmas music of course.

"If this case goes well, it'll be a gateway to even better cases. Just remember that. The high end clients are the best ones to work for, my boy."

"I know, sir." As soon as Kevin was able, he wondered away from Robert to find someone else to talk to. Eventually, Kevin managed to find Lamar Jones. Lamar was a new guy in the office like Kevin. Lamar had graduated with honors from Harvard Law School and, like Kevin, he was a minority. Lamar was one of seventeen black students in the whole school, so he'd sort of become Kevin's kindred spirit. "Good, I found you."

"Likewise," Lamar smiled back. "I can't wait for Christmas. I've been working on the Christianson vs. Christianson case for the past two months and I'm looking forward to a little family time."

"That's the domestic abuse case right?"

"Yeah, that's the one. The woman's lawyer is a shark, let me tell you. I never thought a woman could be so abusive to a husband, but holy shit. I don't know how this poor man lasted being married to her."

"Well, speaking of married, how's Stefany doing? Did she have the baby yet?"

"Oh! That's right I haven't shown you the pictures. She had the baby a week and a half ago." Lamar pulled out his wallet and showed Kevin the picture of his new baby boy. "Don't laugh, but his name's Lestat."

"Lestat? Is that from something?"

"Yeah, it's from the Anne Rice novels. My wife's a huge Anne Rice fan and she's read all those vampire books. I like how it sounds, so she managed to sell me on that name."

"I'm not surprised. Stefany could sell scales to a snake."

"You ain't exaggerating either."

"Well, bloodsucker or not, he's adorable." Kevin chuckled at the private joke.

Lamar laughed too, "Yeah, he is cute. He looks like me, so naturally he'll be a strapping young man."

"No doubt," Kevin smirked with amusement. "He'll have to beat the girls away with sticks."

Lamar chuckled, "Just like his old man. So how's the Rogers case going?"

"Swimmingly," Kevin answered.

"Do you always have to use water jokes and shipping puns whenever someone asks you about that case?"

"Only with people that I'm allowed to torment," Kevin answered, and the two laughed and walked to the buffet table and grabbed some food.

"So how're your siblings doing? Sorry to ask, but I just want to be sure, its two brothers and a sister right? I know about the sister because my wife and I saw her in _The Lion King_. Who was she in that?"

"She played Nala."

"No shit? I thought that was a black girl, dude. You can tell her I said that too."

"I'll be sure to. They're all fine, getting back to your question. Kyle's girlfriend is coming over tomorrow from Russia."

"His girlfriend's in Russia? Is it for school or something?"

"No, she lives there. Her grandparents and parents are family friends and she and Kyle met through a Christmas reunion a few years ago. They've been together ever since and she visits whenever she can. My brother Nathan's wife lived in Salvador, Brazil. Her parents are family friends too and they actually got together at the same Christmas party as Kyle and his girlfriend. They have a kid now and everything. His name's Ariel."

"Isn't Ariel a girl's name?"

Kevin chuckled, "To quote my sister-in-law, 'Only if you're American and stupid'."

Lamar laughed, "Well, she sounds just delightful. What about your sister? What was her name again?"

"Natalie and she's doing fine too. Her boyfriend just bought her a new apartment and it's pretty sleek. It's got up to date appliances, great color scheme, a great view; the girl's pretty much set."

"That's an awfully generous boyfriend if he's buying her an apartment. I would think a piece of jewelry would've done just fine."

"Well he's trying to impress my dad. He wants to prove he's good enough for Natalie. Dad doesn't really like him that much."

"Why? Is he shady or something?"

"No, it's not that. Her boyfriend just rubs people the wrong way because he has a habit of speaking before thinking through what he's saying and it offends people. Suerro, that is Natalie's boyfriend, isn't the easiest person to get along with."

"Well, as long as he's good to her and he makes her happy, that's all that's all that matters right?"

"I'd say so." They both walked to the bar and ordered Jack on the rocks before continuing a conversation about family, their work, and anything else that came up.

Because Kevin was enjoying himself with Lamar, he lost all track of time and drank far more than he'd intended. By the time Lamar decided to call it a night and go home, Kevin was sober enough to know that he was too drunk to drive, forgetting momentarily that he walked to work. Kevin encountered Page multiple times during the party, but each time he saw her, he'd managed to avoid her and find someone else to talk to. Most of the lawyers were gone before it turned eleven, but plenty other people that worked in that office building stayed there until the wee hours of the morning. Kevin was among those that remained well into the late hours and by then, Kevin drank far too much. It really had been a hard few months, so when Kevin was able to unwind, he got a little overly excited. Thankfully, Kevin always walked to work from home, he finally remembered, so there was no issue of him being drunk behind the wheel. The rest of the night went by in a fuzzy haze. Kevin remembered getting into a cab, just to be safe, and laughing with someone that was sharing his cab. He remembered unlocking his door, walking to the elevator and going up to his apartment and falling into bed with the laughter continuing from whoever had shared the cab with him.

When Kevin woke up the next morning, his head was pounding so much that even with his eyes closed, the sun was burning and made his head hurt worse. So he turned on his side so he wasn't facing the window in his bedroom. When he turned, though, he got the horrible feeling like he wanted to throw up, but he resisted. Kevin had never had a hangover this bad before, even the night after his 21st birthday. In fact, that was the last time he'd been hung-over at all. His head was in so much pain and his stomach turned, that he only now noticed the foreign smell in his bed that, he realized, smelled extremely familiar. Kevin tried opening his eyes, but his lids were far too heavy and he groaned, rubbing her face. When he groaned, the person the smell was coming from started groaning too. Kevin managed, finally, to open his eyes, but when he did, the pounding in his head got worse and he shot up in a sitting position.

"Page," Kevin yelled, then immediately regretted it. He probably hadn't even yelled that loud, but either way, it made the aching worse.

Page groaned, "Don't yell," she whispered. Then she tried to sit up, but fell over after the first attempt. "I can't even sit up straight."

"Please tell me we didn't," Kevin, in turn, whispered instead of sympathizing with Page.

"We're both naked in your bed the morning after we were falling over drunk. What the hell do you think?" Page whimpered, "God damn it, my head."

"My head isn't any better. If you want to take a shower and eat something, that's fine, but I want you out."

"I've been awake less than a minute and you're already kicking me out?"

"Yes, I'm kicking you out. You know neither of us is in the mood to argue, so just leave so I can sleep this off." Kevin fell back down in bed and groaned again, "So much for me enjoying my first day off work."

"Well, that's your problem," Page hiss whispered back as she put her clothes on and started walking out of Kevin's apartment. She made a big show of raiding his fridge, but the joke was on her. Kevin hadn't gone grocery shopping in weeks, so his fridge was poorly stocked.

When Page finally left, Kevin forced himself out of bed so he could close the blinds to his window and put on some underwear before falling back into bed. However, when he got back in bed, it wrecked of Page and her perfume. With all the strength Kevin could muster past his queasy stomach and pounding head, Kevin pulled the sheets off his bed and threw them all in the washing machine without starting it and pulled out his spare blankets and a spare pillow and plopped in bed, finally managing to go back to sleep. Meanwhile, back at La Push, Nessie and Jacob were entertaining Evalina, whom Demetri and Heidi had just dropped off. They'd stayed for an hour before going back to the Cullen house and let Evalina get situated. She'd been able to arrange staying for Christmas and a few days after and Kyle had winter break from school and all the time in the world to spend with Evalina.

"Where's Kyle?" She'd asked upon arrival.

"Kyle's on his way home. I hate him being so far away but it's for school. It's better than Kevin being all the way in Connecticut for school, but still." A few hours later, Evalina was helping Nessie make lunch, but Nessie was preoccupied. Kevin had promised he'd come home with Jacob from patrol. Kevin never went on patrol and according to Jacob, when they'd called him, Kevin wouldn't answer his phone. When it was eleven fifty, Nessie's anxiety got worse and it got the best of her. "Evalina," Nessie said while Evalina was stirring some salted butter, "I need to call Kevin. Could you watch this while I'm gone?"

"Of course," Evalina answered. Nessie walked to her phone and dialed Kevin's house phone first.

"_I'm sleeping, leave me alone,"_ was Kevin's answer when he finally picked up. It certainly wasn't a greeting Nessie was going to take sitting down.

"Don't speak to me that way, Kevin."

"_Mom!"_ Kevin yelled, then groaned heavily and continued in a whisper, _"Mom, I'm sorry, I didn't look at my caller ID."_

"Are you alright? You sound awful?"

"_I feel awful. I drank too much last night and I'm so hung over that I can barely stand. I managed to change my sheets, but I'm not sure how."_

"Change your sheets, for what?"

"_I don't want to talk about it,"_ Kevin groaned.

"Your father said you were going on patrol last night, so I got worried when I found out you weren't there and no one could get a hold of you."

"_I didn't even notice my phone going off,"_ Kevin coughed before continuing, _"I was drunk long before it was midnight to be honest and it would seem I got worse as the night went on. That's the last time I'm drinking anything at that office Christmas party."_

Nessie noticed, through the haze, that her son's tone was really off. "Kevin, is there something else wrong besides the hangover? You sound upset."

"_It's nothing important. I just want to sleep this headache away and make the world stop spinning."_

"Do you want me to come over and make you something? I swear you're like your father when he was living on his own. He didn't have food in that fridge unless I bought it for him."

"_No, mom, you don't have to…yeah, yeah, I want you to come over,"_ Kevin said, after feeling the pain in his head and changing his mind. _"Just let everyone know I said sorry about last night and that I'll see them tomorrow."_

"Alright, Kevin, I'll do that. I'll be over in an hour tops." They said their goodbyes before Nessie ended the call. Jacob was standing nearby and heard everything.

"A hangover?"

"Yeah, who would've guessed? He didn't even get a hangover after his 21st birthday."

"No, Nessie, he did. He just made me swear not to tell you about it. Besides, it hadn't been that bad. If he's asking you to come and make him something, I'd say he's in bad shape."

Nessie sighed heavily, "No kidding. Well, keep everyone else entertained. I'll go to Kevin's and keep an eye on him. Would you be really mad if I stayed there most of the day? He sounds like he could use some good old fashioned chicken soup."

"I want some of that soup when you get back," Jacob said with a smile and kissed Nessie's head. Nessie kissed Jacob back and went into the kitchen to check on Evalina. "Evalina, I need to go to Kevin's and look after him. Do you mind—" Nessie stopped in her tracks when she saw the small pan that used to have butter.

"I don't know what happened," Evalina said. "I took my eye off it for a second and this happened."

"It evaporated," Nessie answered in awe. That had been a lot of butter and she'd only been gone a few minutes. "How did you do that?"

"I was hoping you knew." Nessie picked up the pan and held it upside down a moment in awe. She'd never seen someone burn butter that fast and she was a little surprised.

"You know what, there's a frozen pizza in the freezer. Just follow the instructions on that and everyone will get some lunch, okay?"

"I'll get right on that," Evalina answered, still extremely embarrassed.

Before leaving, Nessie walked to Jacob, who was in the living room with Nathan, Ada María, Ariel, Natalie and Suerro watching a football game, and gave him a kiss. Suerro and Nathan were arguing over which team they preferred (it was a Washington team against a New York team). Nathan didn't usually argue so heatedly over a game, but it was a way to keep Ariel from asking Suerro questions that oftentimes got rather inappropriate and bordering annoying, like, "Have you ever scalped a guy before?" to which Suerro had replied, "No, but I have scalped a little boy. I caught him trying to steal my weapon. It's funny; he looked a little bit like you." Suerro obviously wasn't used to handling kids, even if they were fast growing. When Nessie had said goodbye to everyone and left, Ariel used that distraction to take a seat next to Suerro and continue questioning him as he'd begun to earlier.

"So is it true the tribe used to keep slaves?"

Suerro breathed deeply, "Yes, Ariel, we did. They were people that ended up on our shores and we decided we'd rather make use of them. We may have been fishermen traditionally kid, but we were still fierce warriors."

"Did you ever personally own one?"

"No," Suerro said, "None of us owned any of them. They were a collective tribe commodity that took care of things the men and women of the tribe didn't want to do. I couldn't tell you where they'd come from to be honest. All we knew was they were strange and we didn't trust them. If I recall correctly, we were having trouble with the Makka at the time. In my youth, our bond with them was faulty at best."

"It's okay now."

"Well, yeah, it's alright now. The Quileutes and the Makka didn't call it a truce until long after I was dead. It was due to a marriage I'm sure. I don't know between whom, but marriage usually was enough to fix something between tribes. I don't know why Europeans couldn't get it right, but we did."

"Did you ever meet any of the founding fathers?"

"No," Suerro actually chuckled a little and patted Ariel's head, "No I never met them. I was in Canada most of the revolution. I did learn most of my English from Benjamin Franklin though. Why do you ask?"

"Because you're old," Ariel answered honestly and Jacob bit his lip, trying not to laugh.

"So is Carlisle. He's older than me."

"Yeah, but he wasn't born in America, you were."

"Maybe, but I was born on the other side of the country before it was 'colonized'. We'd not had troubles with the pale faced settlers we kept hearing about from tribes that fled west. I didn't even learn English until after the revolution. I didn't leave Canada until the early 18th century. I will tell you this, though. If you read anything by Benjamin Franklin, read his paper _Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America_. I admit I almost didn't read it because it regarded us as savages, but the man is amusing and he presents the Native's plight rather eloquently."

"We never read that in school," Natalie said. "We read the streamline stuff and sometimes we read traditional stories, but I only remember doing that in elementary school."

"Is it true," Ariel continued, "that Benjamin Franklin wrote a paper claiming that elderly women make better lovers?"

Suerro laughed, "_8 Reasons to Prefer Old Women_, yes. But you have to remember the man was a humorist. It's another reason I respect the man. In that essay I mentioned about Native Americans, he presented our bias, but it was in his language and in a way that twisted humor into it. In fact, I could recite to you exactly what he wrote. Benjamin, firstly, presented that the government had offered the Iroquois Nations with the opportunity to send a dozen boys from each of their divisions to the colonies where they would be taught in white universities and the reply, that Benjamin reworded of course, still makes me laugh to this day."

"What was the response?" Ariel asked eagerly.

"Well, pay attention and I'll tell you. Ben has a habit of being a dense writer. In response to the offer from Virginia, the Iroquois replied, 'for we know,' says he, 'that you highly esteem the kind of learning taught in those Colleges, and that the maintenance of our young men, while with you, would be very expensive to you. We are convinced, therefore, that you mean to do us good by your proposal; and we thank you heartily.'" Suerro stopped a moment. "So basically, the Iroquois were thanking Virginia for their offer. Are you still with me?"

"I know what Ben means," Ariel answered, "Keep going."

"Alright," Suerro said, "Anyway, 'But you, who are wise, must know that the different nations have different concepts of things; and you will therefore not take amiss, if our ideas of this kind of education happen not to be the same as yours. We have had some experience of it; several of our young people were formerly brought up at the colleges of the northern provinces; they were instructed in all your sciences; but, when they came back to us, they were bad runners,'" Jacob huffed a laugh at that as Suerro continued, "'ignorant of every means of living in the woods, unable to bear either cold or hunger, knew neither how to build a cabin, take a deer, or kill an enemy, spoke our language imperfectly, were therefore neither fit for hunters, warriors, nor counselors; they were totally good for nothing.'"

Jacob laughed, this time, out loud, "Talk about insulting them politely."

"Indeed," Suerro agreed with a grin, "But anyway," Suerro continued, "'We are however not the less obliged by your kind offer, though we decline accepting it; and, to show our grateful sense of it, if the gentlemen of Virginia will send us a dozen of their sons, we will take great care of their education, instruct them in all we know, and make _men_ of them.'" (Franklin)

Jacob laughed again, "Damn it, now I actually want to read this."

"Now you know why I respect the man. He did what he could to remain neutral on controversial matters and portray both sides equally."

"I'm more interested in the old lady essay," Ariel said, earning a mean look from Suerro that only Natalie could tell was purely humorous.

"I suppose you would be," Suerro said. Natalie snickered and squeezed Suerro's arm.

"Be nice," was all Natalie said as she rested her head on Suerro's shoulder.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Evalina pulled out that frozen pizza that Nessie had told her about and followed the directions on the back off the box. She stared at the box that claimed to have the oven on at 375 degrees and typed in the numbers by feel and slid the frozen pizza in immediately after taking it out of its plastic wrap. She came into the living room with everyone else around the time Ariel asked Suerro about the old lady essay. It was about fifteen minutes after Suerro and Ariel stopped talking about Benjamin Franklin and his essays before the front door opened and Kyle let himself into the house carrying one big suitcase. Everyone stood to go and meet him, but Evalina was the first to go to him and hug him tightly.

"God, I missed you," Kyle said, hugging Evalina and spinning her around once.

"I missed you too," Evalina answered. "Did you get my last letter?" The long distance calls had become too expensive, so they'd reverted to sending each other letters frequently.

"Yeah, I did," Kyle answered knowingly and kissed her briefly before looking towards everyone else. He finally saw Suerro and walked over to him and shook his hand. "So you're Suerro. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person."

"It is," Suerro agreed. "I've heard a lot about you from Natalie."

"And I've heard a lot about you. Having said that, I would like to say I firmly believe in the legitimacy of Psychology as a science and will gladly rub my PhD in your face once I obtain it–"

"In another seven years?" Suerro interrupted.

"More like five years, but yes. Then I can introduce you to my patients when I'm a doctor; in science, because I'll be a doctor."

Suerro chuckled, "I respect your choice in profession and your innate ability to tell people they're crazy and charge them for it. I also have faith in your ability to beat a horse that is in fact already dead."

"I'm glad we could agree on that," Kyle said. They laughed a moment, but Suerro stopped smiling suddenly and looked towards the kitchen.

"Something's burning." Evalina went wide eyed and ran to the kitchen. She saw the oven and finally smelled the burning and realized the oven temperature read 575 instead of 375.

"Говно!" _(govno)__ (Shit!)_ Evalina said as she hurriedly grabbed some oven mitts and pull the pizza out of the oven and turn it off. "I typed in 375. How did the temperature get that high?"

Jacob walked over and looked at the oven. Nothing was wrong with it. "It looks like you typed in 575 without realizing it." Jacob opened the oven so it could air out and cool down, then sighed heavily and went to the house phone and dialed a number. "Hi, I'd like to place an order for delivery."

The first place Nessie went after leaving home was the grocery store. She picked up all the things she would need for the chicken soup and for a prairie oyster. She'd looked up on her phone possible hangover remedies and that was the first thing that came up, so she bought a dozen eggs (for the prairie oyster and for the soup), some Worcestershire sauce, some sriracha (it was the hottest hot sauce Nessie knew of), some plain vinegar, and salt and pepper. Nessie wanted to assume Kevin at least had salt and pepper, but he never cooked in his kitchen. Then she grabbed a whole chicken that was already thawed, some celery, some carrots, and other vegetables and herbs that she would put in the soup. Kevin loved sage as well as thyme and rosemary and it would be good for him in his current condition. No matter their ailment, nothing made her boys feel better like a hot bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup. Nessie had a key to Kevin's apartment, so she let herself in and dropped off her ingredients in the kitchen. She didn't call for Kevin, figuring he was either asleep or his head hurt too much. First thing, Nessie made the prairie oyster, cracking the shell of the egg into a glass making sure not to break the yolk, and using a separate glass, she mixed the Worcestershire sauce, sriracha, vinegar, salt and pepper before pouring it into the same glass as the egg yolk. Nessie walked to Kevin's room with the drink and some aspirin and found him in his bed, which was messed up and looking rather hap hazardous. Nessie remembered that Kevin had told her he'd changed his sheets, so she made a not to check the washer.

"Kevin," Nessie whispered to him, gently rubbing his shoulder until he was awake. "Wake up, honey. I've got something for you." Kevin groaned and turned on his back and sat up, rubbing his face. "Here, drink this. Take these too. It'll help." Without a word, Kevin popped the aspirin in his mouth and chugged the prairie oyster in one gulp, causing him to squint.

"Christ, that's awful," Kevin coughed.

"I know, Kevin, but whatever helps. Now sit on the edge of the bed and I'll rub your head." Without a word, Kevin did as Nessie said and sat on the edge of the bed. When Kevin was positioned, Nessie brought her hands to Kevin's temples and rubbed to the right and left of his eyes in circular motions. Nessie kept doing that until Kevin was practically asleep while sitting up. "I'll start some chicken soup. You get some more sleep until then."

Kevin fell back into bed without argument and Nessie checked the washer and started it up before she went back to the kitchen and prepared the vegetables and herbs while some lightly salted water was on the fire. It was a shame that Kevin didn't cook. The kitchen in his apartment was gorgeous. It envied the kitchen Nessie and Jacob had in their house with granite countertops, stainless steel appliances with a gas stove and neutral colors that were pleasant to look at and there was plenty of room to cook in. It really was a waste seeing as Kevin barely stocked his fridge let alone cooked. Nessie dared to hope that one day his imprint would come along and do that; unless, of course, she couldn't cook like Nessie was discovering about Evalina. But then, Evalina never had a need to cook a day in her life. When the chicken was skinned and Nessie made absolutely sure there were no access fat or unwanted feathers on the bird, Nessie waited until the water was boiling before gently dipping the bird into the water as well as the prepped vegetables and tied up herbs, covering it, and reducing the heat to low. With that done, Nessie washed her hands and prepared the dough for the noodles; a simple recipe of one egg, half an eggshell (give or take) worth of water, and a cup of flour. When those were done, Nessie covered each layer of egg pasta sheet with some flour and a paper towel so they could rest for a few hours. She walked out of the kitchen and went to the adjacent living room to watch some TV. She'd be ready to continue once the bird was falling apart.

Nessie watched about two hour's worth of TV before going back to the kitchen and turning off the heat so the chicken could sit another hour without the fire on. At the end of the third hour, Nessie went back to the kitchen and did her best to pull the still hot bird out of the broth and placed it on a platter. She pulled out another bowl so she could have something to put the meat in. She took out all the vegetables and took out the handheld blender (that Kevin never used) and blended the bigger vegetables into a puree. Nessie liked what it did to the color, but it was also a way to trick the kids into eating their vegetables when they were little. While Nessie was pulling apart the chicken, Kevin wondered into the kitchen now wearing sweatpants and a loose shirt.

"You're looking much better."

"I feel much better. My headache's gone and the smell of the soup woke me up."

"Well, it's still got a while to go before it's done. Just make sure you leave enough for your dad. I promised him I would bring a bowl home for him."

"Dad can get soup another day. He wasn't the one that was sick." Kevin's voice faulted enough for Nessie to notice.

"Seriously, Kevin, what else is wrong? You know I don't like it when you keep things from me and I have to find it out from your dad."

Kevin sighed, "I know mom. I'm just a little ashamed of myself and I don't want to talk about it." Nessie kept looking at him while pulling the chicken apart. She handed a piece of pulled chicken to Kevin and he ate it. "I slept with Page."

"Who?"

"Page," Kevin reiterated. "She's a woman that works at the law firm as a legal secretary. She's also a huge egotist that thinks she knows everything. I'll admit the woman's smart, but I'll be damned if I let her say she's smarter than me. I'm the one that graduated top of my class from an Ivy League school, not here."

"So you were that drunk huh?" Nessie sighed, "Oh Kevin, you should know better. Just remember this little experience and make sure you never put yourself in that position again."

"I know, mom, I know. I asked her to leave as soon as she was awake."

"You didn't let her eat or shower?"

"I offered, but I told her I wanted her out as soon as she was done. She ended up making a show of raiding my fridge just to find nothing."

"Kevin, just because you don't like her is no reason to be rude to her."

"Please mom, I just got over my headache. I don't want to be lectured right now. I just want a hot bowl of soup."

"I know, honey," Nessie answered and handed him another piece of chicken that Kevin took.

Back at the house, Kyle was in the room he used to share with his brothers talking to Evalina. It'd been months since the last time they'd been together, but that aside, they had a lot to discuss. In Evalina's last letter, she said that she was planning to pursue American citizenship at the beginning of January and that, once she had her green card, she would be able to get a job in Washington and be with Kyle. As great as that sounded, there were details they needed to discuss before they could make anything official regarding a living situation and whether or not that involved living together.

"I take it you've already looked into the process?"

"Yes I have. It's going to take a while, though. So if you're worried that I'll be moving here by summer, don't be. Becoming a citizen takes years sometimes and getting my green card is another matter entirely. I still have a lot of research to do, but I figure the sooner I apply for citizenship, the better. And I can find a job when I can. I know you're concerned about affording the two of us to live together, but I can take care of myself. You don't need to worry about me. I'll pay my own way and we can move forward when everything's in order." Evalina scooted closer to Kyle and took his hand in hers. "You and I both knew this wouldn't be easy."

"Yeah, I know."

"And if there's any possibility that we can be closer together, then I'll jump on the opportunity. I always miss you when we're apart, but when you told me that Nathan and Ada María had moved in together, gotten married and had a baby, I got jealous."

"Yeah," Kyle admitted, "I did too."

"I'll give you more details when I know exactly what will happen. Just know that it's something I'm working towards."

"I'll trust your judgment."

Evalina smiled, "Good." Then Evalina kissed Kyle on the lips briefly. "Now, help me make up for lost time."

Kyle smiled and held Evalina close as their lips met again. As they kissed, Kyle began to move his hands up her waist from her hips, but he stopped at her midriff. Kyle detested it, but every time he touched her like that, it made him blush and he couldn't get himself to go further. That and he knew there were people downstairs that could hear their every move and the thought of them overhearing turned Kyle beet red. They stayed together in that room catching up on things that were going on and kissing passionately from time to time. By the time Nessie had finished making Kevin some soup, she'd cleaned his sheets and put them back on his bed and folded the ones he'd been using before. Nessie managed to fill a container with some chicken soup to bring home to Jacob and was surprised when she saw the bag of Chinese food on the kitchen counter only to find out about Evalina's mishap with the still (somehow) frozen pizza that Jacob had wrapped up and put back in the freezer. One thing was certain, Evalina may be Kyle's imprint, but if she wanted to keep Kyle happy and make sure Nessie wasn't a frequent visitor, she'd have to learn how to cook. Maybe some women weren't natural born cooks, but if you were going to be married to a Black, damn it you had to learn.

When Christmas came around, the whole family and most of the former Volturi guard were in Washington celebrating with at the Cullen house. Demetri and Heidi, as their gift to Kyle, had surprised him with an extended trip ticket to Moscow for the summer. Evalina hadn't known about it and was just as thrilled with the gift as Kyle. They would have two and a half months to spend together in summer Moscow and they were both giddy with excitement over the thought. The pack, of course, knew about Kevin's little 'indiscretion' with Page as did Nessie, but no one otherwise knew about it. Kevin wanted to keep the whole thing to himself and pretend it never happened. Thankfully, Page seemed to be of the same mind because when he got to the office New Year's Day, everyone in the office seemed completely oblivious and didn't show any sign they thought anything was off. Kevin went straight to his office and just started working. A half hour later, the door to his office opened and Mary came in with a smile and a file.

"Hey, Kevin," Mary chimed, "how was your Christmas?"

"Great," Kevin said, "My mom made chicken soup. I'm serious, that was the highlight of my Christmas," Kevin chuckled.

"Oh, chicken soup. I'm jealous. All I got was turkey."

"Don't be jealous. I was actually sick Christmas Eve."

"Really?" Mary asked, surprised. "You looked fine when I left work."

"I drank too much at the Christmas party, so I had a hangover. That's why I got chicken soup in the first place. I also got a lovely glass of prairie oyster." Mary looked confused. "It's a hangover remedy that tastes like nothing but vinegar."

"Ah. Well did it help?"

"Yeah," Kevin answered.

"Then that's what's important. Here," Mary placed the file on Kevin's desk, "It's a fax from Rogers."

"It's his books right?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Good," Kevin sighed, "I've been hounding him for those for days."

"What do you need his books for?"

"Because, these records will work to his advantage," Kevin answered. "The police records will do him good too, but this is just reinforcement. Is that all for now?"

"Yeah," Mary said, walking out of Kevin's office. "I'll let you know when something else comes up."

Later that afternoon, on top of working out an argument for the Rogers case, Kevin had to meet with a separated couple that couldn't agree over who got what among the assets (house, furniture, etc). The only upside was that they didn't have children together, so the longest part of the divorce process was avoided. By the end of that week, that couple had come in and called him constantly, trying to get what they wanted out of the settlement. Kevin drew up a document that divided their assets fairly and evenly and as far as he was concerned, if they didn't like it, they could take their business elsewhere. It's what he thought; he didn't say that, he just thought it.

Because Kyle was still home from school, Kevin and Natalie went home just about every night for dinner with the family. The former Volturi Guards had all left after New Years, but Evalina was still in Washington for another few weeks and she'd been glued to the hip with Kyle the whole time. Suerro had gone back to the East coast for a time. He promised Natalie that he'd come back in the spring and he'd continue trying to get Jacob to like him from there. Yet, even though Suerro had made a good impression by making Jacob laugh, Jacob still wasn't fond of Suerro. On the bright side, Jacob was coming to dislike Suerro less and less. When February rolled around, Natalie was preparing for her role as Betty Rizzo in _Grease_ and Mary was demanding a ticket to the show.

"Mary," Kevin spoke to Mary through the phone line, "I need you to fax something to Mr. Rogers please." Mary came in to take what Kevin wanted faxed, but she didn't leave immediately. She stood at Kevin's desk, eyes brimming with bright hope and expectation. Kevin noticed she wasn't leaving, sighed, and reached into his desk and pulled out two tickets to Red Night's showing of _Grease_. "I got you a ticket, don't worry."

"I never doubted it," she said with a bright smile as she walked around Kevin's desk and gave him a big, eager hug. "What's the second ticket for?"

"Well, I thought I might ask you to be my Valentine this year, so I got myself a ticket for the fourteenth of this month."

"Aw," Mary giggled as she stood back up, "Will I get chocolates and flowers and everything?"

"If you'd like. I'll get you some peanut butter filled chocolates and yellow roses. How does that sound?"

"It sounds like the power of friendship," Mary teased. "Add a nice dinner to that and you've got yourself a Valentine."

Kevin smiled, "Glad to hear it. Now go on you. Get back to work." The two were interrupted by the sound of someone tapping their nail against the wood of the door. They looked around and saw Page standing in the doorway.

"Sorry to interrupt happy fuck time, but I need to have a word with Kevin…..alone."

"Page, whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of Mary. Just tell me what Collier wants and I'll promptly tell you to let him know to kiss my ass."

"It's about what happened after the Christmas party." Kevin finally looked Page in the eye and it made his skin crawl. She actually looked defeated; a rare sight for a woman as arrogant as herself.

"What happened after the Christmas party?" Mary asked. Kevin shook his head and stood from his chair.

"Mary, give me and Page a moment to talk please. I'll let you know if I need anything." Mary was hesitant to leave. She looked at Kevin, and then looked at Page and the awkward silence was horrible. It clicked what must have happened, but Mary said nothing and left as Kevin asked. She closed the door behind her, leaving Page and Kevin completely alone. "What's the problem?"

"What do you think the problem is?" Page spat back.

"You have an STD and you're warning me? Don't worry, Page, I'll go to the doctor and get checked and everything will be fine. Is that all?"

Page sneered a little, but took a deep breath to calm herself, "And you call me a bitch." She took another deep breath. "I don't have an STD and I sure as hell hope you don't either, otherwise you'll owe me even more money."

Kevin was confused, "Excuse me? Why do I owe you money at all?"

"Alright, I'm just going to come out and say it. You knocked me up and I want you to pay for the abortion."

"Come again?"

"Please don't make me repeat myself; you already heard me. It'll cost about $400 and I do expect you to pay for it seeing as it's your fault."

"Wait, wait, just hold on a minute. How do you know I'm the father? I doubt very seriously that I'm the only man you've been intimate with."

"What are you implying, Mr. Black?" Page hissed back. "I hold myself in very high regard and I would never sleep with a man I was not dating and had been dating for a long period of time. What happened with you was a huge fluke. My point, though, is that it did only happen with _you_. I realize you're not fond of me, but don't you dare call me a slut."

"Okay fine, but don't _you_ dare assume anything of me either." Kevin stopped himself from getting ahead of himself with just what he thought about paying four hundred dollars to abort his child and turned to the more important matter. "I want to be sure. My uncle," Grandpa Carlisle, but she didn't need to know that, "is a doctor and he'll do a paternity test for free. If I am the father, then we'll talk more about this. But if I'm not the father, find out who is and take the matter up with him."

"I don't need a paternity test, Kevin. You're the only possibility."

"Well, I don't know that for sure and I won't do _anything_ unless I'm sure. I'll call my uncle and let him know we're meeting him. We'll know whether or not I'm the father by tonight."

"I'll go to my own doctor over my lunch break and—"

"I said I'll call my uncle and tell him to expect us. He's a good doctor and I'll trust his opinion. After I'm finished with work, I'll pick you up at your place and we'll go to Forks."

"Excuse me? Forks? I'm not going all the way to Forks just to have someone tell me you're the father."

"This isn't up for discussion. You get off work before I do, so go home and have dinner and be ready by eight. I'll wait outside your building for you and I'll honk when I see you."

Page sighed heavily and finally nodded, "Fine, whatever." Page turned and opened the door, storming out without another word. Mary came in when the coast was clear and closed to door behind her.

"You slept with Page?" Mary asked, horrified.

"I was drunk, it was late, and I wasn't aware of my actions."

"Well, what are you going to do if you're the father?"

"I'll cross that bridge if I get there." Kevin groaned and slouched. He took a moment to recover before he stood back up straight. "Don't tell anyone about this okay, Mary."

Mary nodded, "I won't tell a soul."

"Good," Kevin said, walking around his desk and sitting down. "Check to see if Rogers sent anything back."

Awkwardly, Mary nodded her head and walked out of Kevin's office to do what she'd been asked to do. By the end of the day, Kevin had a headache and the walk back to his apartment didn't help. He'd called Carlisle on his way home, told what he needed, and hanged up when he was done telling him everything. When Kevin had the keys to his car, he walked lethargically to the garage of his building and got in his car to drive to Page's building. Mary hand retrieved the address for him earlier and it was an easy enough building to find. When Kevin pulled up and honked, Page came out and got into the passenger's seat of the car. The drive to the Cullen house was dead silent. Neither of them even tried to talk to each other. Kevin watched the road (he was going well above the speed limit and needed to keep an eye out for cops) and Page stared out the window either not noticing or not caring that Kevin was going so fast. Kevin breathed heavily when he saw his dad's old rabbit in the garage. Figures Carlisle would tell them, either him or Grandpa Edward.

"We're doing this at someone's house? Are you kidding me?"

"He has an office here and plenty of medical equipment. The man knows what he's doing."

"What, does he run a clinic from his house or something?"

"For a select few," Kevin fibbed.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Just get out of the car and go inside. They're already expecting us and I want to get this over with." Kevin got out of the car himself then, leaving Page to either follow or stay in the car and vent. She chose to follow after him and they two walked into the house together, though they kept their distance from one another. Carlisle was the first to approach them, going straight to Page.

"Hello, Page. I'm Doctor Carlisle Cullen and I'll be handling the test. Please, come upstairs to my office and we'll get started."

"Don't you need blood from Kevin or something?"

"No need. I already have DNA samples from Kevin. I'm the one the family comes to when they're sick, so I have all the DNA from Kevin I need. Please, follow me." Without answering, Page followed Carlisle upstairs for the test. Meanwhile, Kevin walked to the kitchen where he smelled something cooking. Nessie was there with Bella, Edward, and Jacob. Kevin took a seat next to Edward, putting himself across the table from Jacob.

"Looks like Christmas came back to bite me, huh?" Kevin said awkwardly. No one said anything. Nessie looked at Kevin after she put something in the oven; her face looked solemn. "I realize you two are mad at me."

"Kevin," Edward began, "No one is mad at you. What happened happened. All that can be done is to wait for the results."

"Exactly," Jacob agreed. "Besides, this isn't like high school when you had no chance of supporting a kid. It's not the best thing that could happen, but at least now you can support a child as can Page."

"You know what, dad—"

"Kevin," Edward interrupted, "Don't even think it. If you'd gotten Megan pregnant, you would never have gotten where you are today and you would've come to resent one another. I realize that you loved her, but a baby has a way of bringing out the worst in people. Look at me and your grandmother. We barely fought when it was just the two of us. When Renesmee came along, we used to argue about her more than we argued over anything else. The same goes for your parents. They argued more over the four of you than they did about anything. It's part of having a child. The way Megan really felt about you, the two of you would've hated each other in a year." Kevin was silent.

"I know you hate hearing it, Kevin," Bella said, "but you know it's true."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Kevin said as he stood from the kitchen table and walked to the living room. Emmett, Jasper, Rosalie, Esme, and Alice were in the living room watching a cooking show, but at least they would have the decency to leave him alone. He didn't want to argue about Page and he _certainly_ didn't want to talk about Megan. Page came back downstairs about fifteen minutes later and sat in the kitchen, away from Kevin. Neither really wanted to talk to each other. When Page sat down, Nessie took that opportunity to ask her questions.

"Your name is Page, right?"

"Page Sanders, yes," she answered blandly. "Are you his cousin or something?"

"No, I'm his mother." Page stared at Nessie like she had nine head. "What?"

"You look my age."

"I can assure you," Nessie smiled, "I'm not your age. I'm Nessie. Nessie Black." Nessie gestured towards Jacob. "This is my husband, Kevin's father, Jacob." Page stared at Jacob, then back at Nessie.

"Are you people trying to troll me or something?" Nessie lost her smile and was slightly offended.

"So Page," Edward began so he could change the subject, "You work at the law firm with Kevin right?"

"Yeah, I'm a legal secretary. Kevin hates my boss."

"How long have you worked there?" Bella asked.

"Four years."

"If I may," Nessie chimed in, "how old are you?"

"I'm twenty seven."

"I see," Nessie said. "So…..if this is Kevin's—"

"It is his," Page snapped back. "I'm not one to sleep around and frankly I resent that your son implied that I do. Way to raise your son to respect women." Nessie was about to retort and rather violently, but Bella held Nessie's arm also stopping Jacob from saying anything by giving him a stern look.

"Miss Sanders, please, there's no need for that. Kevin is stressed at the moment, understandably so, as are you. I realize you're upset, but let's not argue with one another. It won't help anything." Bella looked at Nessie and rubbed her back, making Nessie sigh heavily in agitation.

"Alright," Nessie said, trying to smile, "What are the plans for the baby is all I'm asking."

Page huffed, "I don't want it. I just want the paternity test one: because Kevin insisted and two: because I want him to pay for the abortion. It's four hundred dollars that I just can't afford."

"You're getting rid of it?" Nessie became extremely uncomfortable.

"Look, um…Mrs. Black, you're son's a good looking guy and I have no doubt he can make a cute kid. But he can make a cute kid with someone else because I don't want kids. I've never wanted kids and I'm not about to have a kid with a guy I don't even like."

"What if Kevin wants it?" Jacob asked. He knew Kevin would want this baby, no matter how he felt about Page. Kevin might not like Page, but he was a man of principle and if this was how Kevin's bed had been made, than he would lie in it with a big smile on his face. That's just how Kevin is.

"Like I said, if he wants a kid, he can have one with someone else. I just want to get rid of it and think of an excuse to work at a different law firm. I'm thinking of moving back to Oregon to be with family. At least then we'll never have to deal with each other again." Page looked at Bella. "Could I have a glass of water?"

"Yeah," Bella said awkwardly. She grabbed a glass from the cabinet, filled it with ice and some water, and handed it to Page.

"Thank you." Page stayed in the kitchen and Kevin stayed in the living room until Carlisle came downstairs an hour later. Kevin was the first to see Carlisle walking down the stairs and he stood and walked over to him. Carlisle called for Page and the three of them walked into the music room. Everyone could still hear them, but there was still that basic degree of privacy. When Carlisle closed the door, he handed Kevin the sheet of paper with the details of paternity. When Kevin saw it, he closed his eyes and sighed.

"What does it say?" Page asked.

"Kevin's the father," Carlisle answered.

"Ha!" Page yelled, "I told you! I fucking told you!" Page smiled and laughed a little. "There, we got that cleared up. Now just write me a check for $400 and we'll never have to discuss this again."

Kevin didn't answer immediately. First, he opened the doors to the music room, and then he looked at Page, his face deadly serious. "No, Page, now we need to talk."

"What is there to talk about? I told you this is what I planned to do."

"Yes, but I didn't say anything because, again, I wasn't sure. Now I'm sure. That said I have every right to say I don't want you to abort that child. It's the Morgan vs. Jean act that protects the rights of fathers in the United States. Now that I have irrefutable proof that I'm the father and," Kevin pointed towards the open doors and his whole family that were being forced to listen in, "I have ten witnesses that can attest to me saying I don't want you to get rid of this baby, if you go behind my back and have the abortion I can sue you for wrongful death. Do you know what the sentence is for wrongful death? It's up to ten years in prison and a hefty fine. Last I looked it was four hundred thousand dollars."

"You can't be serious. You're threatening me?" Page yelled back.

"You're damn straight I'm threatening you. You can't afford a good lawyer to be blunt. You can't even afford an abortion yourself, and if you get an abortion behind my back, I will bring you up on charges for wrongful death."

"I don't want this baby, Kevin!"

"Fine, don't then. I don't want you around anyway. Just have the baby and I'll take care of the rest."

Page stopped frowning and actually started laughing, "You're planning to raise this baby yourself? Are you out of your mind? You can't even keep your fridge stocked obviously. How do you plan to take care of a child?"

"You let me worry about that. I'll pay for everything, Carlisle can look after the baby through the pregnancy, I'll buy all the baby things, and you won't have to do anything besides have the baby in seven months. Then once you have the baby, you can walk away and never talk to me again. In fact, I would prefer we do that. I overheard you say you were planning to Oregon to be with family. That's a great idea, the further away the better."

"You can't be serious. You're threatening to sue me if I don't have this baby that I don't want?"

"It's my baby too." Kevin held up the sheet of paper. "We've got proof of that right here. And as the father, I have a right to want this kid. We can work out more details over lunch or something if you want, but I'm not budging on this."

"Well, you enjoy that." Page speed walked to the front entrance to grab her coat and purse. "You owe me $400 and a ride back home you bastard!" Page went outside and Kevin followed after until they reached his car.

"Page, I'm not paying for you to have an abortion."

"Fine," she tried opening the car door, but it was locked. "Unlock the door. Let's go."

"We aren't leaving until you agree to have this baby. I'm serious, Page, I'm not going to budge. I said you don't have to be involved and I mean that. All I ask is that you let me be a father to my child."

"Kevin, you're completely disregarding how I feel about this. I don't want a child. And hell, what happens when the whole office finds out you got me pregnant? Are you going to take the criticism from colleagues and listen to them laugh at you behind your back. I sure as hell don't want them doing that to me."

"Look, in that regard, I'm in the same boat as you. I don't care what the office thinks. It doesn't change what happened and what I plan to do about it. Page, I realize we don't exactly get along, but at least let me take care of my business."

"I don't want this baby and I don't want to _have_ this baby. I'm a legal secretary, not a surrogate mother."

"You're not much of a legal secretary either," Kevin said, getting frustrated. At his comment, Page tried slapping him, but she only hurt her own hand.

"God damn it!" She screamed, holding her hand. Kevin took a deep breath and got back to the task at hand.

"Page, let's be adults about this, please?" Kevin waited for Page to calm down and when she was leaning against Kevin's car and no longer in as bad a mood, Kevin continued, "How about this? In addition to paying for medical expenses and baby necessities, I'll compensate you."

Page finally looked up at Kevin, intrigued. "I'm listening."

"I can afford to pay you five thousand dollars. But I'll only pay it at the end of the pregnancy. Once the baby's born, I'll write you a check and let that be the end of that. Can we agree on that?"

"Five thousand dollars for a baby? You're going to have to do better than that Black."

"Look, its five thousand dollars. All things considered, it's a really good deal. I'm already paying for medical expenses, so I'm not in a position where I have a lot of financial wiggle room here." Page sighed heavily and looked away from Kevin. She looked like she was thinking it over. Kevin was right about one thing: five thousand dollars was a nice sum of money and she could put that to good use. Sure, she'd have to be pregnant, but she could wash her hands of the matter immediately after delivering the baby, which Page had every intention of doing if she agreed to this. _IF_ she agreed to this.

"At least give me a night to sleep on it."

"Page—"

"I promise I won't do anything. Tomorrow when we're on our lunch break, we'll talk this over more. You've put me in a precarious situation, Kevin, and I need time to think it over."

"I already told you want I plan to do if you get an abortion."

"Yeah, yeah, you'll sue me for everything I've got. Wrongful death, pain and suffering, I get it. I need to think your offer over and determine whether or not it'll be good for me. I will have this baby for you, but it'll be on my terms and conditions. Give me a night to think about those terms and conditions and I'll get back to you tomorrow. Agreed?" Page held out her hand and Kevin took it and shook her hand.

"Agreed," Kevin answered.

"Good. Now can you please drive me home? We both have work in the morning and we're just wasting time arguing."

Finally, Kevin let Page get into the car and Kevin drove her back to her apartment and returned to his. On his way to his room, Kevin passed his home office. It's technically the guest bedroom, but Kevin needed an office space. More importantly, the baby would need a room of his or her own once he or she was older. Kevin realized he would inevitably have to move. He wouldn't be able to do it right away seeing as Page was clearly eager to receive compensation for having the baby. Though it appeared this child was growing normally, which (considering Page is human and Kevin is mostly human) is to be expected. It meant that Kevin had time and with Carlisle looking after Page's pregnancy, Kevin would have time to save up money too. Kevin went to bed without taking a shower. He was too tired and too many things had happened today. He wanted time to relax before the weight of his soon-to-come paternal responsibilities began to really hang over his head. Though for him, it wasn't necessarily a black cloud. More like a gray cloud that would brighten up with time.

The Next morning, Kevin got to work the same time he always did. Once again, no one in the office looked any the wiser about what was happening. He was willing to let the office know that he was the father to Page's baby, but they still needed to smooth out some wrinkles. When Mary asked about what happened the night before, Kevin told her he'd let her know later and asked her to continue to keep this to herself for the time being. When it was finally lunch time, Kevin asked Mary to make a note for anyone that called while he was out and went to the front entrance of the office building where he and Page had agreed to meet. When she showed up, they walked to a local café near the building, took their seats at a table inside and got down to business.

"So what have you decided?" Kevin asked. Page took a deep breath and rubbed her forehead before she answered.

"Look, I was angry yesterday, so I realize that I may have overreacted and been extremely rude to you and for that, I'm sorry."

"Oh," Kevin said, a little surprised. Then he, in turn, took his own deep breath before he answered, "I'm sorry too. I was harsh on you and I should've never spoken to you that way. I just don't want you to abort the baby. I know you don't want to be a mother, but I want to be a father. At least, I want to do the right thing and be a father to this child. My father was always there for me and his father was always there for him. What kind of man would I be if I just sat back and let you wipe the slate clean for me?"

"I guess I understand." Page finally sat up straight. "I'll have this baby, but I do want you to cover all the expenses that come with the baby. I also want that five thousand dollars you offered the night before."

"Of course," Kevin said.

"I also want this to be thought of as a closed adoption if you will. When this child's born, I want nothing more to do with it. No pictures, no updates, no requests for anything, nothing. You want this baby; you will take care of it yourself."

"Not a problem, Page."

"I also want half the money now."

"Why?" Kevin asked, confused.

"Because I do plan to move back to Oregon. To do that I need a place to go. To get a place to go, I need to buy a place and to buy a place, I need money. Twenty five thousand should be more than enough for me to arrange for a deposit on a nice place near home."

"Alright," Kevin agreed. "I'll write you a check for half the money by the end of your work day. Just come to my office and pick it up. I'll give you the rest when you're recovered. Is that alright?"

"That's great. I'll even buy lunch so you can pay me."

Finally, Kevin smiled a little, "I'd like that." Kevin and Page made sure they were back at the office in about forty minutes and when Kevin got back, Mary walked into his office. "Did anything come up while I was gone?"

"No," Mary answered and then sighed. "So what did you and Page decide?"

"I'll pay for the medical expenses and take care of the baby once it's born. I'll reimburse Page for keeping the baby and she can wash her hands of this after the baby comes along."

Mary looked surprised, "You're raising the baby yourself?" Kevin nodded. "Are you sure you can do that?"

Kevin looked up at Mary, "Why wouldn't I?"

"Well," Mary sighed, "Kevin, let's be honest, you work a lot. I've seen you spend the night here working. How're you going to raise a child by yourself when all you do is work?"

"Don't worry, Mary. I'll figure something out. I've got family that is willing to help. I can hire a nanny. It's not like I'm void of options."

Mary still looked unsettled, "Kevin, you can't just have someone raise the baby for you."

"I'm not suggesting that," Kevin said defensively. The Kevin realized he was getting mad at Mary and she didn't deserve it. "That isn't my intent. I can't just be a stay at home dad."

"Well I know that."

"I'm not even sure I'd be allowed to have paternity leave. There probably isn't such a thing as that. I need someone that can look after the baby when I'm at work and I'll take over when I get home from work. Plenty of mothers do it. Why can't I?"

"You can," Mary sighed. "I guess I misconstrued what you were saying as paying someone to raise the baby for you. Does this mean you'll cut back on your hours?"

"I'll have to. If nothing else, I can continue working from home after leaving the office, but I need to be home at a reasonable time." Kevin sighed and rubbed his face. "I guess I should be talking to the partners about this shouldn't I?"

"They are the ones that would have a say in this," Mary said, finally smiling. "When are you going to tell the partners that you and Page are having a baby?"

"Page and I aren't having a baby. I'm having a baby." Mary smiled more. "I'll tell them later I guess. It's only a matter of time before Page starts showing and the whole office knows about this."

"Do you think this'll effect how the office sees you?"

Kevin shrugged, "Who knows. Some of the partners are old enough that they might still find it commendable that I got a woman pregnant. You know how some older people are about that."

"When are you going to tell the partners?"

"As soon as Page is alright with me telling the partners, then I'll start negotiating with them. The sooner I get them on the same level as me, the better." As promised, when it was the end of Page's work day, she came down to Kevin's office to collect a $2500 check. "Alright, here's half. I'll pay the rest after the baby's born. Before you leave, I think we should talk about….you know. How comfortable are you with the office knowing I'm the father?"

"Tell our superiors I guess, but I'd rather we keep this between you, me, and our bosses. If Mary knows," Kevin nodded and Page continued, "just make sure she doesn't tell anyone."

"Don't worry, she won't."

"Good," Page said. Then she leaned against the edge of Kevin's desk a little awkwardly. "So when's my first doctor's appointment?"

"I'll call Carlisle and ask." Page nodded in acknowledgement and stood back up straight to leave, but Kevin stopped her. "How've you been feeling? I hear the first few weeks are the hardest."

Page shrugged, "I've been sick a few times, but nothing unbearable. I'm more tired these days too."

"Yeah, my mom was the same way." Page gave him a strange look. "Anyway, enjoy the rest of your day. And thanks for this."

"Yeah, sure," Page answered and finally left.

Bibliography (just out of formality, no plagiarism here kids)

Franklin, Benjamin. _Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America_. Print.


	26. Moving On - Part 2

Moving On – Part 2

After work, Kevin called Carlisle to set up Page's first doctor's appointment. Carlisle asked to see her as soon as possible so he could give her some prenatal vitamins and a list of foods to avoid. Despite her heavy reluctance, Page did what Carlisle suggested and made sure to stay healthy during the pregnancy. By the spring, Page was beginning to show and the whole firm knew she was pregnant (obviously) but only the partners knew Kevin was the father and agreed to let him have at least three weeks to be with the baby and set up a babysitting plan. It was the first time the law firm had ever offered a man paternity leave and Kevin was relieved his bosses were willing to work with him on this. Though that might be because Kevin had agreed to work from home for those three weeks.

This was also when the Rogers case went to court and Kevin finally had the opportunity to put his talents for argumentative rhetoric to good use and saved his client from having to pay a hefty fine of $350,000 and five to ten in jail. An achievement that was recognized by his colleagues and by plenty of other potential clients. Within a few weeks of his victory, Kevin got a file asking for his services to defend a man that was in trouble with a business partner that was suing him for two million dollars in losses and Kevin gladly accepted the case. Kevin had his first meeting with that client in May and Page came to his office after his client left seeming pleased with his choice in defense attorney.

"Looks like things are going well for you."

Kevin smiled, "I like to think so. So what brings you here?"

"I'm here on Collier's behalf. He's handing over a divorce case to you."

Kevin sighed heavily, "Really?"

"Trust me, it isn't by choice. This broad's a rich cookie and is paying her lawyer handsomely for the proceedings. She wants a big bulk of the estate her husband owns and it'll take a good lawyer to get her those assets. Collier was more than happy to take this case for the money, but evidently, at the last minute, she asked for you personally. She must've heard about your Rogers victory and been impressed."

"What's her name?"

Page opened the file and checked, "Megan Everhart it says. She's married to the wealthy philanthropist and entrepreneur Howard Everhart who made millions after hitting big in the stock market. Evidently, he has a computer data business that's worth billions and Mrs. Everhart wants adequate alimony and a big settlement upon their divorce as well as thousands in child support per month. This is one expensive broad, let me tell you." Page placed the file on Kevin's desk. "Is it safe to assume you'll take it?"

"I guess if Mrs. Everhart asked for me personally, I'd be a fool to turn it down. Did she tell Collier what she'd pay her lawyer?" Page came closer as if revealing a big secret.

"A million dollars up front. And that's not including the settlement you'd get for taking on the case in the first place. That portion, you're looking at two hundred thousand dollars."

Kevin gawked, "What?"

"You heard me. This bitch will make you a wealthy man, Kevin, so be sure to get her what she wants. You've got a baby on the way after all and that's more than enough money. You can put some of that aside and get a head start on this kid's college fund."

"Yeah," Kevin answered, but he was still shocked. That was an obscene amount of money to pay for a simple divorce. "Tell Collier I said thanks."

Page smiled, "No, no, I shouldn't. He's really mad about losing this case to you. You should see him; the poor man's turning red right now."

Kevin chuckled, "Serves him right for being a pushy old fart." Kevin stopped and looked at the bump Page was starting to have. It wasn't glaring, but it was present. "One more thing before you go."

"What?"

Kevin breathed, "Do you mind if I touch the bump? I feel awkward asking you, but I really want to feel it. I hear you should be able to feel kicking at this stage."

Page rolled her eyes, "Oh God, you have no idea. This kid won't stop moving. It's usually calmer in the afternoon, but this kid keeps me awake at night sometimes."

Kevin chuckled, "Rambunctious isn't it?" Page nodded and walked around Kevin's desk so she was close enough for Kevin to feel the bump. He rested his hand there for a moment before he felt a kick. It felt so bizarre, but it was the coolest thing he'd ever felt. "Wow. That's insane."

"It is at first, but it gets really old. I get the feeling you'll have a squirmer on your hands."

"Sounds like me," Kevin smiled. Page even smiled just a little before stepping back.

"Well, that was weird enough for one day. I'll wait outside for you at eight like always. Also, I plan to tell Carlisle that his prenatal vitamins are making me fat and I hate him for it."

"I'm sure he'll want to know," Kevin said, detecting the hint of humor.

They were far from friends at this point, but Kevin didn't detest her anymore. He started noticing that Page really wasn't all that bad. When she was out of his office, Kevin put the file of the rich woman off to the side. He'd review it before he met with her. He was working on the Smith vs. Hollister case. Considering the amount of money Smith was looking at paying if Kevin didn't win the case, he'd get a nice paycheck if he did win. It wasn't a million dollars, but it was still a nice chunk. Kevin was saving up for a house in the suburbs, so he could use all the money he could get. He wanted the baby to go to a good school and city schools weren't always the quant essential, but Kevin was still researching school districts. Once he found a good collection of schools, then he'd start looking at houses. He wouldn't be within walking distance of work anymore, but that was a small price to pay to make sure his kid got the best education the neighborhood could offer. Before Mary left, Kevin asked her to make a note to call Mrs. Everhart tomorrow and see about setting up an appointment for them to meet so they could proceed.

Kevin picked up Page at her apartment and they drove to the Cullen house so Page could have an ultrasound. Carlisle was waiting when they arrived and led the two of them up to his office and had Page lie on the hospital bed while he set up the ultrasound equipment. Page still thought it was bizarre that this seemingly renaissance man of medicine was able to do all this from his house, but she'd gotten so used to it that she didn't care anymore. Once Carlisle put the blue stuff on her pelvis, he started moving the monitor around. Kevin was sitting next to Carlisle, looking right at the other monitor that had up the baby's image.

"Here're the feet," Carlisle pointed when he found them. He moved the monitor a little, "Now here're the hands." As Carlisle was moving the monitor, the baby moved and Kevin saw the baby move its foot over the screen and it made him laugh and Carlisle laughed too. "Well, this baby's a kicker just like daddy." Kevin just smiled, so Carlisle got back to business and moved the monitor around until he found what he was looking for. "Here's the baby's head."

"Its head's huge," Page said.

"Baby's heads are always proportionally bigger for a time." Carlisle looked back at Kevin. "I can tell you the sex if you want."

"Sounds good."

"You don't want it to be a surprise?" Page asked.

Kevin shook his head, "No, I'd rather know now. Besides, it's not like I won't be surprised now. At least this way, I can be surprised, then prepare accordingly. My aunt needs to know what kind of clothes to buy for her new doll." Carlisle chuckled, but Page seemed to miss the joke and didn't care to ask for details.

Carlisle moved the monitor around until he found the baby's privates. "Congratulations Kevin, it's a girl." Kevin smiled, both from knowing he was having a little girl and also at the image of Alice containing her excitement from downstairs. She hadn't had a little girl to spoil since Natalie was a baby, so she was eager as could be.

"Do you know what you'll name her?" Page asked, but Kevin shrugged.

"I haven't thought about baby names yet. I've been more focused on looking for school districts and trying to figure out what I need to request from baby stores."

"Well, you'll want to get on that. Baby's have a way of sneaking up on you," Page said. With the ultrasound done, Carlisle made sure to take a picture of the baby for Kevin to take home. Kevin told his family in front of Page that it was a girl and they all pretended to be surprised. Alice did a little happy dance that she'd been holding in and immediately started arranging for her, Rosalie, Nessie, and Bella (whether she liked shopping or not) to go look for baby girl items that Kevin had registered for and other things he was unaware he needed.

The next day, Kevin came to work with the baby picture still in his briefcase. He'd intended to put it on the fridge at home, but then decided he'd do something else with it. Maybe he'd give it to Alice so she could put it in a scrapbook for him. Lord knew Alice would be going crazy with the picture taking in the coming months after the baby was born. About an hour later, Mary came into the office and did as Kevin had asked and called Mrs. Everhart to set up an appointment for her to come and meet with him. He started out with the Smith case and was putting together an argument and making a note to call Smith and ask him some further questions when Mary came in with a slightly apologetic look.

"What's wrong, Mary?"

"I called Mrs. Everhart like you asked and she insisted on seeing you today."

"Today? Why so suddenly?"

"She's been working with Mr. Collier a while and she's assuming you have all his notes and can just pick up from there."

"What time am I meeting her?"

The look on Mary's face became guiltier, "In half an hour." Kevin looked surprised. "I'm really sorry, but she insisted and you had an opening, so I let her take it."

Kevin groaned, "Damn it. I was hoping for more time to look all this over before I actually met with her." Kevin put aside the Smith vs. Hollister case and pulled out the Everhart case. "I guess I'll get on that right now."

"Good call," Mary said before walking out and letting Kevin get to work.

When Kevin opened the file, the first profile shown was Howard's. As Page had said, Howard was a very wealthy man that had made his money in the stock market and was, by occupation, a computer data processor that turned it into a lucrative business. His assets were listed with his profile and his wife would have a lot to gain from the divorce. She'd be guaranteed fifty thousand dollars for every year they were married according to their prenuptial agreement as well as another fifty thousand for every son she had. They'd been married five years and had one boy, so that meant she'd get $300,000 guaranteed. Other assets she was aiming for included a summer home in the Hamptons which was valued at three quarter of a million dollars, an old corvette that was worth about thirty thousand, and certain items of furniture that were kept in their main house in Napa. Evidently, Mr. Everhart was currently dabbling in the wine business too.

It was several pages before Kevin finally got to Mrs. Everhart's profile and when he looked at the name, he froze. Maiden name: Kovac, staring him in the face in big bold letters. It never even dawned on him that this might be the same Megan, but it was. He hadn't seen Megan since he graduated from high school roughly seven years ago. Kevin did what he could to push the anxiety aside and look through her profile. The son with Howard, a boy named David, was also five years old interestingly. Megan had a statement in the profile that demanded Howard pay ten thousand dollars a month in child support seeing as she still wanted to send David to private school and she also wanted Howard to pay for her to move back to Washington. This case was worth a lot of money, but Kevin found himself feeling really uncomfortable with the idea of accepting her money.

"_Kevin?"_ Mary said over the phone, taking Kevin out of his deep thoughts. _"Your ten o'clock is here."_

Kevin cleared his throat, "Thanks, Mary. Send her in." A few moments later, Megan stepped into Kevin's office. She looked the way Kevin remembered: black eyes, black hair, tan skin, and long legs. She'd filled out a little since he'd last seen her. Her hips were wider and her chest fuller. No doubt from having the baby. But then, she'd lived in California and was married to a wealthy man. Kevin feared the breasts she had now were fake and no longer the ones he remembered. Kevin pushed those thoughts from his head and smiled professionally at Megan when she walked in. "Mrs. Everhart, please have a seat and we'll get started."

She looked sad suddenly. "Kevin, it's me. Megan. Don't you remember me?"

"Of course I remember you." Kevin said heavily, left it at that, and turned to the list in the file that pointed out exactly what Megan wanted out of the divorce. "Please, have a seat and we'll get started." Finally, Megan complied and took a seat in the chair across from Kevin.

"I couldn't believe my luck when I found out you worked at this law firm. I knew that if I had you as my lawyer, that I would be in good hands."

"Well, I will do the best I can to keep you in good hands. Now, about the house in the Hamptons and the corvette. According to your husband's lawyer, that home and car are in his name and he isn't willing to give them up to you. May I ask why you feel you're entitled to that house and car?"

Megan was silent a moment. "Well," she finally began, "the house has sentimental value to me. It's where Howard and I got married and it's where our son David was born. I want to be able to keep it. I did a home birthing in that house. The corvette I just really like."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Everhart, but sentimental value doesn't necessarily mean you're entitled to an asset, especially when that asset is a," Kevin double checked, "three quarter of a million dollar beach house and there is certainly no legal ground to get a car because you like it. I have to say, though, I'm surprised the house isn't worth more."

"Please," she interrupted, "we're not strangers. Call me Megan."

Kevin breathed awkwardly and nodded, "Alright Megan. You know what, let's start at the beginning. How did you and Howard meet in the first place?"

"Well," Megan began, "I'd just gotten my BA from UCLA and I'd decided to stop school there and started working at Howard's computer company. We met through the interview and we hit it off from there. He started sending me carnations every day until I went on a date with him and I got pregnant three months later. We got married a few weeks before David was born."

"You hate carnations," Kevin pointed out without thinking. Megan smiled, flattered that Kevin remembered something like that.

"I know, but it was the thought that counted. He did buy me orchids for my wedding bouquet though. And they were purple too."

"So, you two get married, you have a son together, what led to the two of you wanting to get a divorce after five years of marriage?"

Megan sighed, "He's having an affair with his receptionist and one of his employees told me about it."

"Ah," Kevin said, avoiding the irony of the matter, "So this isn't a matter of irreconcilable differences, there's an actual fault in the divorce. Okay, that'll give you a little more leeway in the way of getting you those assets you want. I can't make any promises about the corvette, but I'll see about that house in the Hamptons."

Megan smiled, "I'm happy to hear it."

"You do realize though that his lawyer's going to argue that because you're trying for the house in the Hamptons that your husband doesn't need to buy you a place here in Washington?"

"Well, I don't want David to grow up in New York. It's nice for a vacation here and there, but I don't want to raise David there. I want my son near his grandparents."

"So you want your husband to buy a house on the reservation?" Kevin said, skeptical and a little nervous about that idea.

"No, no, I want a place that's close to a good private school. That's the only reason David didn't come with me to Washington when I left. I couldn't pull him out of school in the middle of a semester."

"Alright, fair enough. Have you started looking at schools and houses? He might be more agreeable if you already had a house in mind."

"I'm debating between two homes, yes."

"I don't suppose you have any paperwork regarding those two homes do you?" 

Megan shook her head, "I wasn't aware that I needed that."

"It's alright," Kevin reassured, "Just remember to bring it next time we talk to your husband and his lawyer. I'll call," Kevin checked the name of Howard's lawyer, "Rupert and try to arrange a date when we can all sit down and work things out. Until then, we need to put our argument together. Now, as far as the house, we'll need to milk the cheating issue for all it's worth so we can make it look like he owes you for the inconvenience."

"He's probably going to put the blame on me."

"Well, that's what happens in divorces. People blame their spouse so they can get what they can out of the divorce."

"It's so cruel," Megan said, smiling awkwardly.

"Well, when you're in the world of law, you have to be a little morally ambiguous. Lawyers get people out of trouble all the time whether they're guilty or not."

"Sounds miserable."

"It has its moments, but I like what I do." Realizing they were getting off topic, Kevin decided to bring up the child support she was expecting. "Let's get to the child support you're looking for. We'll get to the alimony payments in a minute. You're asking for ten thousand dollars a month. May I ask why you're asking for that much? That's ten times more than what is typical."

"I know, but I have more expenses to cover. I want to keep sending David to private schools and he's involved in a lot of extra-curricular activities like lacrosse, music lessons, I make sure to tutor him in Quileute, and that was expensive getting the school to let me take some up to date materials and my old material, I'm trying to keep David well rounded and that costs a lot of money."

"Maybe, but according to your husband's statements regarding the sports and music classes he said, 'I wanted David in football, but Megan insisted on lacrosse and I swear the woman signed him up for the clarinet because she knows I hate it.' He might argue that he won't pay for these things anymore and since these aren't necessities, he might be able to get his way, especially if this goes before a judge."

"Well, David enjoys doing these things and if he wants his son to be happy, then he will continue to pay for those activities."

"Megan, that's not really an effective argument. You're going to need to come up with a better reason for your husband to continue paying for these activities that he seems to dislike so much. Maybe if the two of you compromised and David started playing football and got into a different instrument, he might be more willing."

"I happen to like the clarinet," Megan said defensively, "And Lacrosse is an ancient game."

"Is it?"

"Sure it is. It's a Native American sport that's meant to honor the dead."

"Well, yeah, but it's hardly a Quileute sport, so I'm not sure what the big deal is."

"That's not the point."

Kevin sighed, "Look, Megan, I'm sorry but you're going to have to compromise. The sooner you and your husband realize this, the smoother this will be. Now let's get to the alimony payments you're expecting. It says here that you've been a stay at home mom since David was born, so you are entitled to some spousal support, but that's a temporary thing. You are aware of that right?"

"How temporary are we talking?"

"Usually about six months. It depends on how long it takes you to find your own source of income. Your husband isn't going to continue to pay alimony when you find a job. And he certainly wouldn't continue if you got remarried."

"Well, I can understand that, but I'll be making a huge shift and I'll need Howard's help."

"I realize that Megan and that's what I'm trying to get for you. But you have to remember that you won't get everything that you want. No one ever does in a divorce settlement."

"Well, I'll give up the corvette, but I still want that Hampton house."

"I know, Megan. I know. I'll do what I can do to get it for you. You should also keep in mind, though, that if you two can't agree over this out of court, it'll have to be presented to a judge. If that happens, I won't have as much control. It'll become up to the judge and that can go either way. That'll also mean that this'll have to be taken to California. So if we can settle this out of court, it would be for the best."

Megan nodded, though she was a little anxious, "You're right. We'll at least get a chance to talk about this before we're officially divorced right?"

"Of course. I promise there will never be a time when you won't know what's going on."

Megan smiled, "I know that. That's why I wanted you to represent me."

"That's my job," Kevin said. He closed the file and straightened the papers on the table before putting it to the side. "I'll contact Rupert and we'll negotiate a time for you and your husband to talk. It'll probably take a few meetings for things to be finalized, but I'll try to keep this quick. Collier did most of the work for me already, so this won't take long I suspect."

"Well that's a good thing I guess." Megan didn't get out of her seat to leave though. She stayed where she was and it caught Kevin's attention.

"Was there anything else you wanted to discuss before you left?"

Megan looked a little sad, "You're being so cold."

"Am I? I'm sorry I never intended to be offensive to you. I thought I was being professional."

"That's just it. You haven't asked anything about how I'm doing and you didn't give me the opportunity to do the same. How've you been? It's been so long."

"Yeah," Kevin answered uncomfortably. "It has been I guess."

"How long have you been working here? Not long I imagine. How long were you in school?"

"Just over four years. I kept my mind on my studies and graduated early. I was one of maybe six students in Yale's history that got to be a first year intern over a second year intern. There've been times when there've been second years and first years, but that's depending on the case. I was chosen over a second year intern because of my grades. I was hired right out of college and I graduated at the top of my class."

"That's great!" Megan said. "You certainly did better in college than I did. I got sick of all the classes and the homework and all, so I just stopped after my BA and got a job." Megan laughed awkwardly. "I guess some good came out of this considering I have David and a nice settlement coming my way. So what about you? How've you been?"

"Fine I suppose. I've got a baby on the way."

"You do? I didn't realize you were married. I didn't see you wearing a ring."

Kevin shook his head and made all his fingers visible. "No, I'm not married. I had a one night stand with a woman when we were drunk and I got her pregnant."

"Oh," Megan said. "I guess that makes me feel slightly better. When is the baby expected?"

"About September. I just found out yesterday that it's a girl."

"That's wonderful," Megan smiled. "I've always wanted a little girl. It'd be nice to give David a little sister."

"There's always the opportunity you'll find a boyfriend or new husband soon."

Megan lost her smile a little. "I feel like you're being hostile with me."

"I don't mean to be," Kevin said. "You can't pretend this isn't a little awkward. I'm surprised you wanted me to be your lawyer when the last time we spoke was over text and you were angry at me."

"It's been seven years. It was horrible at first, but we've moved on and grown."

"I suppose," Kevin answered. "It feels like you're watering down what really happened."

"Of course not," Megan said. "It's just it has been seven years. Honestly, I figured you were well over me by now."

"Okay, that's overstepping it, Megan. Just because this whole situation is awkward doesn't mean I never got over you or something. It's awkward because we haven't spoken after ending our relationship in a rather volatile manner."

"Our breakup wasn't volatile. It was uncomfortable, but it never got violent."

Kevin sighed, "Maybe." Kevin straightened rather rigidly. "Look, Megan, I'm happy to represent you and help you out, especially considering you're paying so generously. With a baby on the way, I need all the money I can get. What happened between us was bad, but—"

"Bad?" Megan asked. "Sure the breakup was bad, but we had good times together."

"Yes," Kevin answered, his voice becoming slightly contemptuous. "We had a lot of good times together." Kevin stood from his desk and walked around with the intent of saying goodbye. "I will give Rupert a call first thing after you leave and we'll work out some details. I might be able to get an idea of what your husband is planning and we can work around that. I'll have Mary give you a call when I've done that and I'll fill you in. Talk to Mary when you leave and she'll set you up with another appointment to see me later."

Megan continued sitting in her chair. "Why are you pushing me out?"

"Because I do have other clients that I need to see and I can't use my office time as social time."

"Alright," Megan said, finally standing. "I understand. Maybe we should have dinner together some time and catch up. I'm free tonight if you are."

"I don't know about that," Kevin said, for obvious reasons.

"Please, Kevin, just one dinner. We could clear the waters with each other and make working together easier. I don't want you being mad at me."

"I never said I was mad at you," though that wasn't necessarily true. Sure it had been seven years, but that wound was still there and seeing Megan again was like opening it again. The fact that she was asking him to be her divorce attorney was like rubbing in salt. As much as he wished he didn't care, he did.

"Then let's have dinner tonight. I'll even treat you. I've been gone so long and it'd be nice to have dinner with a friendly face besides my parents. All I ever see are my parents since I got back."

"Really, Megan, I'm not sure that would be a good idea. Besides," Kevin racked his brain for the only excuse he could, "I need to help dad out with something at the house." A.K.A he was going on patrol even though it wasn't his night.

"Oh," Megan looked disappointed. "Well, we can always have dinner another night." Kevin was about to say something, but Megan walked out of the office and smiled. "I'll get out of your hair then. I'll see you again soon, Kevin." Before he knew it, she'd stepped out of his office and Kevin was alone. He went back to his desk and stared at the folder that held Megan's file. It was like it was mocking him. A few minutes later, Mary came in with a post-it note.

"Mrs. Everhart is scheduled to see you again Monday at six." Kevin just nodded. "Is everything okay?"

Kevin sighed heavily, "That was Megan."

Mary was confused a moment, then it clicked and she stared wide eyed, "_The_ Megan? The one from high school?"

Kevin nodded, "Yeah that was her. She tried getting me to go to dinner tonight."

"What did you say?"

"I said I was busy."

Mary nodded her head approvingly, "Good. You did the right thing. You know what they say: fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

"I think it's the other way around," Kevin said. "But then that's probably a more accurate statement in this case."

"You aren't planning to—"

"No," Kevin said, "absolutely not." Kevin rubbed his face. "If she didn't want to be 'stuck with me' in high school, she wouldn't want to be now."

"She doesn't deserve you, Kevin. A blind man could see that." Kevin didn't answer and it made Mary sad. She didn't like seeing Kevin this way over a woman like that. They stayed quiet for a while until Kevin looked back at her.

"Let's get back to work. Let me know if you need me for anything. Also, when you order lunch, just order me a sandwich or something. I don't really care."

Mary stayed only long enough for Kevin to tell her to go along and leave him alone. Kevin made sure to keep his head in work, not looking at Megan's file. He'd look through that once he'd properly collected his thoughts. Mary didn't come to him with anything for the rest of the morning and she didn't come into his office anytime during lunch either. In all honesty, he wasn't even really aware of the time. It wasn't until about one thirty when Mary walked into his office again with a small smile that he realized it was so late.

"I brought you lunch." Mary walked over, a Marshall's bag around her arm, and placed a small Panera Bread bag on his desk. "It's that mozzarella and beef sandwich you like and a cup of cheesy broccoli soup."

"What about the Marshal's bag? Don't tell me you went shopping while getting lunch."

Mary smiled more, "I think the occasion calls for it." Mary reached into the Marshall's bag and pulled out a Baby's R Us bag and handed it to Kevin. "I heard from Page it's a girl, so I got this for you." Kevin took the bag Mary offered and gave her a weird appreciative look before opening the bag and pulling out a little pink and purple onesie that said 'Daddy's Little Girl'.

"That's adorable. You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to. I knew you needed a pick me up and when I saw that, I knew it was perfect. I went into Baby's R Us and looked at your registry, but it looked like everything was already bought."

Kevin chuckled, "That's probably my Aunt Alice's doing. She get's extra excited when a little girl comes into the family."

Mary smiled, "At least your daughter won't want for anything. Do you know what you'll name her?"

"Not yet. I'm still focusing more on schools. I'm looking at Green Lakes mostly. If I get a house in Green Lakes, then I can send my child to Roosevelt High School. Natalie speaks so highly of the school and I know they have a great English program."

"What's your budget for a house? You'll need a master bed and bath of course and a bed and bath for your daughter. I assume you'll want a third room for your office space right? An up to date kitchen and a backyard would be awesome too I think."

"Well, seeing as Mrs. Everhart," Kevin stopped a moment. "I feel weird accepting a million dollars from her."

"It's what she's willing to pay. She's already paid you. She gave me her information and you'll get that money along with your usual paycheck at the end of the month. You know Green Lake's expensive right? Houses range between $400,000 to a million for some of those lake side houses."

"I don't want to exceed $700,000."

"Alright." Mary took a post-it from Kevin's desk and wrote down all the things they'd listed. "I'll look for houses that are for sale and get back to you."

"Mary—"

"Come on, Kevin. I'm your secretary, I'm happy to do this for you. You start thinking about baby girl names. I'll put together a list of houses for sale that fit your expectations and are within your budget and give them to you by the end of the week. I'll even see about getting you a lake side house for a reasonable price."

"Thanks Mary," Kevin finally smiled. "I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you."

"I don't know either Kevin."

Mary walked out and didn't come back until she brought him a memo from the partners regarding a meeting that would be had some time later. Kevin left work late that day and went straight home after picking up some cheap Chinese food to take with him. When he got home, he took a shower before eating his dinner and, when he got out of the shower, Kevin took his briefcase to his office and opened it. The baby picture was still there, so Kevin took it out and put in on the table next to his computer. He'd find a frame as soon as he could so he could keep it on his desk. After finishing dinner, Kevin left and ran to the wooded area near the city and fazed. He certainly wasn't the first wolf to get on patrol. None of his siblings or his dad was on patrol that night and Kevin asked everyone to just not bring Megan up. He didn't want to talk about her.

That Saturday, Kevin went to his parents' house for dinner together. Suerro was visiting again and, as it turns out, Natalie had suggested that Suerro work for the tribal school as a language teacher. Suerro had turned down the idea initially, but then he wasn't really fit for anything else, so it seemed like a good idea. Jacob agreed (very reluctantly) to put in a good word for him and the school, upon learning just how fluent Suerro really was in Quileute, agreed to hire him as a language teacher for all aged students (Kindergarten in the morning, junior high and up in the afternoon as was the norm). He would start upon the next school year.

"It's good to hear that you'll be able to be more than a money hoarder," Kevin said, smiling. "You can even get us up to date with our traditional stories."

"That's the plan." After their talk, Kyle walked into the house, visiting for a weekend from school, but he looked strange when he did.

"Hey Kyle," Kevin said, realizing Kyle had read his mind. "How's school going for you?"

"Fine," Kyle smiled. He'd bring this up when he and Kevin could be alone and when Natalie wasn't in the room. Natalie didn't think about Megan or anything, but she also still hated her more than anything for what happened. If she knew Megan had hired Kevin to be her divorce lawyer and was trying to get him to dinner with her, she'd flip out and it would turn ugly. "I'm a little more concerned about getting my finals over with so I can go to Russia."

Kevin smiled, "Oh yeah, that's coming up isn't it? How long will you be there again?"

"Just over two months. It'll be the longest stretch of time that Eva and I will have spent together since dating."

"I can't believe it's been so long," Nathan said.

When dinner rolled around, Ariel made sure to sit next to Suerro. Suerro allowed it, having gotten used to Ariel's fascination with his past. He was actually starting to think of it as flattering that this kid wanted to know so much about him. It was also a way, Suerro noticed, to get Jacob to like him. He made Jacob laugh most whenever he was talking to Ariel.

"So have you ever met General Custer?"

Suerro gave Ariel a weird look. "What brought that up?"

"I was watching a Plinkett review on the fourth Indiana Jones movie and he made fun of the lack of direct violence in the movie. He said that the lack of blood was disgraceful to the Indiana Jones trilogy and the Natives had been killed off camera and it was lacking in blood and he said, 'you shame the memory of General Custer'. Did you ever know General Custer?"

"No," Suerro chuckled, "I never met Custer, because if I had, he would've never made it to his last stand." Suerro patted Ariel's head. "It's more than likely that I've never met most historic figures that you could mention."

"What about actors?"

Suerro rolled his eyes and decided to go ahead and think it over, "Actually, I have met one."

"Who?"

"Promise not to laugh?"

"Why would I laugh if it were a real celebrity?"

"Well he's a real celebrity, but he's famous for being on Romance covers from the eighties. He was in New York one year in the nineties and I saw him on the streets leaving a nightclub. Romney made me take a picture of him getting dipped with this guy." Ariel didn't know what Suerro was talking about, but Jacob did.

"You mean Fabio don't you?" Jacob said, clearly humored.

"Yes sir, Fabio."

"Who the hell is Fabio?" Ariel asked. Suerro looked at Ariel a moment and shook his head.

"Damn kids and your music." This made Jacob laugh really hard. So hard, in fact, that for a while he couldn't breathe. Natalie and Suerro both had a small moment of victory.

"Seriously, who's Fabio?" Suerro sighed and pulled out his phone and looked on the internet for a good picture of Fabio. That search didn't take long and he clicked on a picture of a romance cover with the title _Pirate_ across the top and it was written by none other than Fabio, who was also on the cover.

"That's Fabio. Is Fabio dead?"

Jacob shrugged, "I don't know. Look it up." Ariel began looking it up, but Suerro took his phone and put it away.

"Did he have a last name or is his name just Fabio?"

"To us," Suerro answered, "He's known only as Fabio."

After dinner, everyone sat around and talked about what was going on. Kevin didn't add much to this conversation and Kyle kept looking at Kevin, concerned. When it was getting late, Kevin got ready to leave and Kyle followed after, making the ploy that they should go out drinking together. It was something they'd never done, Kyle explained, and they should try it. Unaware of what Kyle was trying to do Nathan said he wanted to go with them. Natalie was too tired and insisted she'd rather go home. Kyle didn't argue the point. Nathan took a ride with Kyle so Ada María could have the car and drive herself and Ariel home and they went to a bar in Forks. All three got out of their cars and started walking to the bar, but Kyle stopped the two.

"Listen, Kevin, you know that I know." Kevin looked at Kyle knowingly, but Nathan was in the dark.

"What's going on?" Nathan asked.

Kyle didn't answer Nathan. "Do you want to talk about it?" He, instead, asked Kevin. Kevin shrugged.

"What good would that do?"

"You're bothered by it and we could help."

"What's the problem?" Nathan asked. "What am I missing?" Kyle didn't speak, giving Kevin the opportunity to tell Nathan if he wanted.

Kevin sighed, "Megan's a client of mine."

"Megan? Megan who?"

"Ex-girlfriend Megan."

Nathan was shocked, "Megan Kovac? Are you serious?"

"Megan Everhart now. And yes, she's a client of mine. She's getting divorced from her husband Howard Everhart and she's paying me handsomely for the divorce."

"Did something happen?" Nathan asked.

"She came in, we talked about the divorce proceedings and asset division, and then she tried playing catch up and tried inviting me to dinner. Look, can we go inside? I want a beer." Kevin turned around and proceeded to the bar, Kyle and Nathan following after. When they got in, they took a booth and got promptly carded by the waitress before she asked what they wanted. They each ordered a beer and some nacho fries to share and continued the conversation after the waitress left.

"You didn't actually go out to dinner with her did you?" Nathan asked.

"No, I refused. I told her I needed to help dad with something and she left saying we could go to dinner another time."

"Why is she so damned determined to go to dinner with you?" Nathan asked.

"I think I know why," Kyle said meekly. He looked at Kevin and waited for him to request his opinion.

"It's what I'm thinking isn't it?" Kevin asked gravely.

"I don't know. I haven't read her mind, only yours. But I wouldn't doubt it for a second."

"Doubt what?" Nathan asked.

"I wouldn't doubt that she's trying to butter Kevin up and get back together with him seeing as husband number one is about to become ex-husband."

Kevin sighed and rested his head on the table over his arms. "I hate that she's affecting me."

"Well, don't let her," Nathan said frankly. "Focus on better things. I heard about the baby being a girl." Nathan smiled and nudged Kevin until he was sitting up straight again. "I also hear she's a kicker like you were. She'll fit into the family just fine, that little girl. What are you going to name her?"

Kevin shrugged, "All I've decided is that her middle name will be Renesmee."

"Well," Kyle grinned, "that'll please mom immensely."

"I know. I'm just debating first names still."

"Well you can't have Angelica. Ada and I might have a girl some day and we've called dibs on that name."

Kevin chuckled, "I won't name her Angelica, don't worry. I was actually thinking Helen."

The two shook their heads, "No," Kyle said, "Not Helen. It's been really popular the past few years. Too many women are named Helen."

Kevin sighed, "Well, there goes my first attempt."

"And Lauren and Jenna were already taken," Nathan continued. "Have you considered really eccentric names?"

Kevin looked at Nathan oddly, "What do you mean?"

"You know. Unusual names: Lyric, Harmony, Melody, Felicity, Moon. I remember Heidi saying she knew a woman named Foe before. Granted that was in Latin and they didn't know what Foe would mean in modern days but Foe's an interesting name."

"Some of those names are a little too interesting. Like Bristol. A name like that is way too interesting."

"You mean because it's like the bristles on a brush?"

"That's what it makes me think of."

"It makes me think of bigotry." The three laughed at Kyle's comment and it was then that their beers and nacho fries got there. Kyle picked one up, "You know, in theory, these things sound disgusting, but they taste really good."

"It's like White Castle," Kevin said. He'd been addicted to White Castle in college because one, it was cheap and he could afford it, and two, he could afford a lot of it and keep friends fed during study sessions. "It smells like dirty diapers, but it inexplicably tastes good."

Kyle scrunched his nose. "I can't believe you even tried White Castle when it smells that way."

"I blame Heath for introducing me to that crap in the first place."

"Indeed," Kyle agreed. "So I also heard you thinking of buying a house in Green Lakes."

"Yup," Kevin answered, "I need a place with room for me, a kid, and my office. Mary took over looking for houses for me. She said I need to focus on baby names. I've only got until September to come up with a name."

Nathan chuckled, "Ah, another September baby in the family. First Grandma Renee, then Grandma Bella, then mom, and now this little girl. Tradition lives on."

"Either way, I need to think of a name. How about Rachael?"

Nathan shrugged, but Kyle shook his head, "Too many rs."

Kevin groaned, "Okay. No to either of our aunt's names I guess."

"I don't mind Rachael," Nathan said and took a sip of his beer.

Kyle had intended to try and help Kevin come to terms with having to be around Megan again, but there were so many other things that they had preferred to talk about, that the topic never resurfaced. They were more interesting in trying to help Kevin name is baby, but Kevin was still on the fence. He liked Britney and Melanie, but he wasn't completely sold on either name. By the time it was Monday Kevin had managed to get a better grip on things and was better prepared to face Megan with more poise and authority instead of rushing through everything trying to get her out of his office as soon as possible. Maybe he'd actually get some things done. At six on the dot, Mary told Kevin through the phone that Megan was here and Kevin told Mary to send her in. This time when Megan came into his office, he noticed she was wearing a suit. It was white and a skirt that went just above her knee and a modest cardigan that looked to be cashmere. She hanged her fur coat on the hanger and took her seat across from Kevin at his desk.

"Well," Kevin began, "I called Rupert and he says that your husband has no intention of giving you the corvette or the house in the Hamptons. He is, however, willing to give you're a percentage of the settlement he'll get from selling that house."

Megan looked less than pleased with that, "Oh I don't think so."

"That's what I told him. So that's something we'll have to put on our list of assets that will be argued over. I have to say, your husband's lawyer is ruthless."

"Well, it's a good thing mine is meaner," Megan answered, suddenly cocky. "Did he say anything about the supports and a place here?"

"Actually, yes he did. He refused to buy you a place, but he did say he'd agree to the alimony and the child support." Once again, Megan looked displeased.

"Oh no, no, no, this is Howard's fault. If he's going to ruin our marriage the way he did, then he can certainly pay for the inconvenience."

"Alright," Kevin said, circling items on the list. "Another thing to argue about."

"So when will we sit down and talk?"

"Rupert said he'd get back to me. That was Thursday, so I'll call him again later and see if he knows yet. Did you bring the information on the two houses you had your eyes on?"

Megan nodded and handed two sheets of paper to him, "Here they are." Kevin looked at them and noticed these were in Green Lake. Kevin made a note to avoid these two houses, which sucked because one was a three bedroom house that was just over five hundred thousand and it was next to the water. It was closer to a Catholic school, though, as opposed to Roosevelt, so Kevin wouldn't have been able to consider it anyway.

"Alright, I'll keep a note of these. Which one were you leaning towards?" Megan pointed at the one that was next to the water. "Of course," Kevin said.

"Do you live near there?"

"No," Kevin ended it there and put the two pieces of paper to the side. "I'll have Mary fax these to Rupert and let him know these are what you're interested in and Howard can have his time to complain about it until we all meet. Remember, this will be over the phone. That's alright with you?"

"Of course. As long as we can win."

"Oh don't worry, we'll win," Kevin said smugly. "I'd say we're good for today. When you leave, make sure to ask Mary to set up another appointment."

"I will," Megan sighed. "That didn't take long at all."

"No, not at all. It's my job to make this as easy on you as possible."

"Indeed. So are you helping your father out any time this week?" Kevin went stiff, realizing she was going to persist. "How about that dinner?"

"Megan, I'm really not comfortable going out to dinner with you," Kevin said bluntly.

Megan looked sad, "Why? I thought we were past what happened."

"Not passed it enough that I'm willing to be caught up in this crap again." Kevin was harsher than he'd intended, but it needed to be said. "You hurt me, Megan. You don't seem to understand that."

"I do," she said. "That's why I want to make things right. I didn't break up with you because I didn't love you anymore. I've always loved you and I never stopped."

"Megan, stop."

"No, I won't. I broke up with you because I didn't think we could make it work the way things were. I thought I'd never see you again after high school."

"Well maybe if you'd had a little faith in me, you would have!" Kevin yelled and it made Megan jump. Kevin had yelled far too loudly and he leaned back in his chair, embarrassed that Mary had certainly heard him yell. "I was willing to make things work, Megan. I wanted to more than anything because I loved you. You're the one that broke my heart. You're the one that lied to me and cheated on me and expected me to be alright with it."

"I never expected you to be alright with it, I wanted you to forgive me."

"I did and look where that got me? My girlfriend dumping me at my graduation party when I should've been proud of myself, but all I felt like was a sack of shit. As your attorney, I will make sure you win your case, but don't you dare try to string me along again."

"String you along?" Now Megan was getting defensive. "I was never stringing you along. I love you and I mean that. I've always meant it."

"You're only doing this because you're getting divorced and you want another person to cling to. I might've been stupid enough to fall for it at eighteen, but I sure as hell am not at twenty five."

"That's not true at all. I've always wished we could've been together. I just assumed you'd moved on and didn't want me anymore." Kevin didn't answer this time, fearing he might tell her how he actually felt. "Kevin, I'm moving back here. We're both further in our lives. There's nothing that can force us apart now."

"Just stop," Kevin insisted. "Please just stop." Kevin took a few deep breaths before he continued. "Set up an appointment at Mary's desk and I'll see you then." Megan stood from her chair, but she didn't walk out of the office. Instead, she walked around Kevin's desk and went straight to him. She didn't try to embrace him or anything. She just stood there and Kevin stood from his chair, taking a few steps back.

"Think of it as a business dinner," Megan offered. "Call Rupert and you can tell me his and Howard's answer tonight and we can work out a few more details. We can get ahead of the game in a manner."

"We could easily do that now. I call Rupert, you listen in, and we can discuss your case further."

"No," Megan insisted. "I've always wanted to try this Spanish restaurant that's on third avenue: La Catalina. I'll be there at eight o'clock."

"Megan, I'm not going."

"Fine, but I'll be there." Megan finally grabbed her coat and left then.

When Megan left, Kevin had no intention of meeting Megan at the restaurant. Instead, he sat back at his desk and called Rupert and went over things. When they finished talking, Kevin hung up and turned his attention to the Smith case. Smith was in pretty hot water, so Kevin needed to focus and get the man off. But as Kevin was working and putting together his argument, he kept thinking about Megan and he felt her gradually chipping away at his resolve. He pushed her from his mind and was vague when Mary asked what had happened. When he left work, Kevin walked home and went straight to his shower. He thought about anything other than Megan, but when he got out of the shower and looked at the clock that showed eight, he took a deep breath. He went to his closet to grab a t-shirt and fresh boxers, but he ended up grabbing jeans and one of his black long sleeved shirts. This was purely business Kevin told himself. He'd tell her what Rupert said over drinks and then he'd leave. No dinner, just drinks. He walked over to the restaurant and made it by eight thirty. When he got there, he asked the hostess for a Megan Everhart and she led Kevin to her. She was sitting at the bar drinking a Shirley Temple. When she saw him, she smiled sweetly and it was like a punch to Kevin's gut.

"You came," she said. "Let's grab a seat."

"No, that won't be necessary. We won't be here long enough for that."

"Oh, don't be silly. I'm starving and I'm willing to bet you are too. Don't think I forgot how you eat." Megan went to the hostess and asked her to seat them, so the hostess led them to a small table in the corner of the restaurant. "So what did Rupert say?"

"Same thing he said last time. Howard doesn't want to give you the car or the house and he isn't buying you a house. It's starting to look like we'll have to settle this before a judge, so when we have that phone call with your husband and his lawyer, let's make it count okay?"

"Will do. I won't let Howard cheat me, that's for sure. So is that all?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I guess I'll leave you to dinner then." Kevin stood, but Megan grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"Don't leave. I don't want to eat alone. Please at least stay for dinner. I promise I'll pay."

"Megan, seriously—"

"Please," Megan asked pleadingly, her eyes begging. He almost said no. Almost. He should've, but he couldn't.

"Fine. Only dinner, though. No cheesecake and coffee, you hear?"

Megan nodded eagerly, "Of course, just dinner." Kevin sat back down and Megan smiled at him. Kevin knew that smile too well. It was the smile she gave him if he'd made her laugh or made her happy or made her…Kevin dropped that from his mind. "So how's the baby coming along?"

"Fine," Kevin answered.

"You said it was a girl right?" Megan reached down into her purse and pulled out a little box. "I got this for the baby. Something every little girl needs."

"What is it?" Kevin asked nervously.

"Well, open it and see." Kevin looked at her a moment before she encouraged him and he finally opened the box. He pulled out a little rattle. It was circular and with an image of the moon's face on it with a diamond for the moon's eyes. Kevin was stunned and looked at Megan as such. "Like I said, it's what every girl needs. A diamond ring." Kevin put it back in the box and tried handing it back.

"Really, Megan, that's sweet, but I can't accept this. It's too much."

"Not at all," Megan said and handed it back. "Every baby needs a rattle and this is a good rattle for a little girl. And when she outgrows it, she can always keep it for her child when she has one. It'll last through the ages."

"Megan—"

"Please, Kevin, I insist." Finally, Kevin relented and placed the box to the side of him, indicating he was accepting it. "So are you still thinking of baby names?"

"Still," Kevin confirmed.

"I've always liked the name Bianca. I think it's beautiful."

"It's alright," Kevin answered.

"Or maybe Melisa. That's a pretty name too."

"That's nice."

Megan sighed this time, "I've done most of the talking since you got here. Please, tell me what you've been up to. You said you're having a baby. Are you going to buy a house? Are you moving to the suburbs? What's it like being a lawyer?"

"Um," Kevin started, "I like what I do. I've worked so hard for it I'd better love what I do. Kyle got his BS in science and now he's working on his Bachelor's in Psychology. He's already taken the test for his master's program seeing as he'll start that in another year and from there, he'll get his master's in Psychology and go on to his PhD program. He's already thinking about what he'll right his Doctorate's Thesis on. He wants to focus on child psychology and he's considering writing a paper on Autism in children. That's years away, but he's saying you can never start researching too soon."

"What about Nathan? How's he doing?"

"He's a cop now. And he's married with a kid."

"Really?" Megan asked, surprised. Then she giggled, "Figures the youngest was the first to settle down. What's his wife and kid's name?"

"His wife's name is Ada María. I'm pretty sure you've met her before," though Kevin refrained from mentioning where she'd remember her from, "and their son is Ariel. And don't ask if that's a girl's name. I'm sick of getting asked that question."

"I take it that's the Ada María that was related to family friends from Brazil right?" Kevin nodded. "How does your family know so many people all over the world? I've always wanted to ask."

"Mostly because of my uncle Carlisle. He's a really cultured guy and he's been all over the place in his life. So he's made friends all over the place."

"Wow," Megan said.

"Yeah. And Kyle's going to Russia over the summer to visit Evalina."

"Who's Evalina?" clearly not remembering the woman that had slapped her.

"She's Kyle's girlfriend. She lives in Russia, but she's been working on getting American citizenship and her green card. Natalie's doing great too." Megan just smiled, but didn't answer. "She's seeing someone now. He's a little older than her," far more than 'a little' but whatever, "but that's alright. His name's Suerro Roux."

"Suerro? I take it he's foreign?"

"Actually, he's Quileute."

Megan looked surprised, "That's a strange name for someone Quileute."

"I know, but it's a more traditional name? He'll actually be working at the Tribal School as a language teacher next year. You should hear him. He's pretty fluent." Of course he would be; it's his first language.

"How's the acting going?" Megan finally asked.

"Great," Kevin said. "She's currently finishing up her last week with the production of _Cats_. Gretchen says they're doing _Hair_ next. She's been in a nostalgic mood lately it seems."

"Sounds like fun." Megan finished off her Shirley temple. The waitress came and took their orders for food and drinks and Megan changed the subject when it was just the two of them again. "So out of curiosity, what's your relationship with the woman you got pregnant? You said it was the result of a one night stand, but did you know her well already?"

"Kind of. She works at the office as a legal secretary for the guy who'd originally taken your case." Megan didn't seem to know who he was referring to, so maybe Megan never went to see Collier in person and hence wouldn't have met Page.

"I'm glad I went with you. I know you'll be able to get me a good deal in this divorce."

"I'll do the best I can. But I have to ask, why are you paying so much for my services?"

"Because it's a way I'm using to get back at Howard. I took that much out to pay for a lawyer and I knew it would upset him. I know I'm overpaying, but it's satisfying."

"Ah," Kevin said, gulping his whiskey when the waitress put it down.

"Um….would you like more?" the waitress asked. Kevin shook his head and just asked for a beer.

"Does he know?"

"Of course he knows. That's probably why he's being so grumpy and immovable about what I'm asking for."

Kevin sighed heavily, "I could've used that information."

"Sorry. I didn't realize that would be important."

"Every detail you can give me is important. You don't want to lose in the divorce because you didn't do your homework. Murderers have gotten off the hook because prosecutors didn't do their homework."

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind." Megan moved a little closer to Kevin and smiled sweetly. "You still didn't say much about the woman who's having your child. You're not in a relationship with her are you?"

"Hardly," Kevin bit back. He didn't hate Page like he had, but he'd still sooner shoot his own big toe before he actually dated her.

"I'm happy to hear it. I'm glad she's keeping the baby at least. Are you two still working out custody and all?"

"No, we're decided. I'm taking on full responsibility and she's walking away. I don't want her involved and she doesn't want to be involved, so I'm taking over."

"A single dad?" Megan asked quizzically. "I have to say, I admire that. Not many men would do that."

"I guess not. I'm more concerned about what I'm going to do and I've managed to do what I can so far. I just hope I'll be a good father."

"I know you'll be a good father, Kevin," Megan said, moving closer. "You've always been a man with strong morals and high integrity. I always respected you for that. You really are a man to rival most out there."

"I do what I can," Kevin answered, trying to ignore that Megan had gotten closer to him.

"You always do much more than what you can. You go above and beyond. Any little girl would be lucky to have you as a father. And you make sure she knows that every day."

"I'll get on that."

"Are you getting uncomfortable?" Megan asked suddenly. Kevin looked at her and stayed firm.

"What makes you say that?"

"Your posture and your contriteness. You're not usually so brief when you're comfortable. Does it bother you that I'm moving closer to you?" The waitress came to the table with their orders and, to avoid Megan's question, he dug into his food.

"I'm glad I agreed to try this place. These pork tamales are amazing." Realizing Kevin was being avoidant again, Megan turned her attention to her shrimp tacos.

"These shrimp tacos are great too," she said, pulling off a portion for Kevin and putting in on his plate, then, in turn, taking a piece of his tamale. Yet another thing they used to do. Share their food. Megan took a bite of the tamale and smiled. "You're right, this is great. Go ahead, try the taco. You love shrimp." Without saying anything, Kevin ate the piece of shrimp taco Megan gave him and he nodded. "It's good isn't it? I know you said no dessert, but they have churros and I'm willing to bet they're delicious too."

"Really, Megan, I should call it quits after this. I need to get back home and do some work."

"Let's at least get some to go. My hotel has amazing coffee, so we can have dessert there."

"Megan, I'm going home after this and that's final," Kevin finally said sternly. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been void of a backbone (in fact, he'd never been void of a backbone; that was more a Kyle thing) and he didn't like the feeling in the slightest.

"Alright, if you insist." Megan took another bite of her taco. "I have to say, though, I'm glad I decided to stay at the Four Seasons. They're a nice hotel." 

"Yeah, they are."

"I hear tomorrow's going to be another rainy day. I admit I never missed all this rain when I was in California. It's always sunny in Los Angeles."

"Weren't you living in Napa most recently?"

"Yes. Howard decided to get a holding on a vineyard. I don't know what possessed him to do such a thing. The man knows nothing of wine except drinking it."

"Well, when all you are is a share holder, knowledge of the process isn't really required."

"I suppose that's true. But honestly, it would serve Howard right to invest in things that he knows. Have you ever taken shares or anything?"

Kevin shrugged, "My aunt Alice is the one that's always been the stock market manager of the family. She's good about guessing which stocks are good, which are bad, and when they change. I'll invest when she gives a good word in, but I'm not one to invest on my own. I'm too paranoid."

"Ah yes, Alice," Megan smiled. "I remember her. She was such a nice woman, but she freaked me out sometimes. I remember when I'd looked up the weather and it'd said it wouldn't rain and Alice said it would. Alice ended up being right. I don't know how your aunt does it."

"I don't either," Kevin lied. Kevin finished his dinner long before Megan did. "Don't worry about paying for me. I appreciate the offer though." Kevin put a twenty on the table and was about to leave when Megan grabbed his arm again.

"I don't suppose you could walk me back to my hotel at least? It's getting late and I don't want to be on the streets alone." She used those pleading eyes of hers. When they'd been together, those eyes used to be able to get him to do anything. They hadn't lost their affect either. Kevin sat back down and let Megan finish her dinner and ask the waitress for some churros to go. Megan paid her half and the two walked out together and made their way to the hotel Megan was staying at. They talked more on the way there and they stopped in front of the hotel a moment. Kevin was waiting for Megan to go inside, but she didn't immediately. "I had a nice time tonight. Thank you for coming out to see me and get me up to date. I know my husband's lawyer is being a shark, but you'll get him. I know you will."

"Yeah," Kevin said. "Well, I recall Mary telling me I'd see you Friday, so I'll see you then. I'll keep hounding Rupert until they relent."

"I know. And thank you." Then Megan took Kevin off guard and kissed him on the lips. After that, Kevin just stood there saying nothing. Megan just smiled and began to walk into the hotel, but she stopped on her way to the revolving doors. So instead of going inside, she ran back to Kevin and grabbed his hand and pulled him with her into the hotel.

Kevin could've easily resisted. He had the strength, physically, to hold his ground and not allow her to drag him with her, but emotionally…emotionally he was weak. The fact was that he'd loved this girl. He always had and never stopped, even after all that happened. He'd spent so long pushing his feelings and the hurt he felt between his toes and ignoring it, but here she was, the source of his pain, offering to make it all better and he couldn't resist. Kevin followed after Megan and the two stopped at an elevator, waiting for it to open so she could get them to her floor. When it dinged open, people walked past them getting out as they walked in. When the doors closed, they stayed still seeing as there was a business man in the elevator with them. When the elevator opened on her floor, Megan led Kevin with her to her room and fiddled with the lock until it opened and she let the two of them in. When they were in, Megan tossed her purse and bag of food off to the side, turned around, and wrapped her arms around Kevin's neck and kissed him.

Initially, Kevin still didn't have the will to resist. Kissing her brought back memories: good memories. Memories like when they'd first met in the principal's office as teenagers and her puppy panties. Memories of their first date at that burger diner in Forks on Valentine's Day. Their first kiss came to his mind. The first time they'd touched each other intimately. Then finally, he remembered the first time they'd ever slept together. He remembered that day all too well. It was burned in his brain. They'd been at her house and her parents weren't home. They'd been watching the _Blair Witch Project_ on some channel that edited most of the movie to nothing. It had been fall, so it was getting cold outside and the two of them had been enveloped in a blanket together where Megan had moved into his lap for warmth. Kevin had allowed his hands to wonder and noticed Megan wasn't wearing a bra. He'd mentioned it and Megan simply said she knew and then she'd kissed him. They'd made out on that couch until Kevin lifted her in his arms and carried her to her room. She hadn't been wearing a bra, but she was wearing those puppy panties she'd worn when they first met. That had become their inside joke between them and Megan's way of inviting Kevin to her. They'd both been virgins then and their touching had been tentative at first. They'd kissed and tasted and embraced until they'd gotten one another to their oblivion and Kevin remembered the two of them falling asleep in each other's arms, taking a nap together until later in the afternoon. Kevin must've been pushing the thoughts into her head without thinking, because Megan became more ravenous and Kevin complied.

He turned her around so she was against the door and kept kissing her, but something made him want to stop. Kevin ignored his brain, though, and kept going. He'd missed her and he couldn't pretend he hadn't. Kevin parted from her lips to kiss her jaw and neck. He remembered where Megan was most sensitive; the spots that made her shiver. Then, she broke the spell in the most unexpected way.

"I love you, Kevin," she said, and when she said that, it brought Kevin back to reality and he began to pull away. Megan didn't let him and brought her lips to his again.

"Megan," Kevin started as she tried copying what he'd done. He said her name a few times before his temper got the best of him and he pinned her against the door and yelled, "No!"

Megan looked at him dumbfounded, "Kevin, what's wrong? What did I do?"

"No, you won't do this to me again! I forgave you once and you stomped on me like I was an ant! I won't let you do that to me again," Kevin's voice began to weaken, as was his grip on her wrists, "I can't take it again." Kevin let go of Megan's wrists and began to step away, not allowing himself to show weakness in tears.

"Kevin," Megan said weakly as she walked closer to Kevin and took him back in her arms. "I'm sorry, I really am. You've always been the man I love and I it kills me that I've hurt you so badly."

"Stop it, Megan," Kevin pushed himself out of her arms, but he wasn't out long before Megan wrapped her arms around his neck and held him close.

"No, I won't stop. If I stop, than I really will lose you forever." Megan was the one who began crying. "I know I've made a lot of mistakes and I've paid for them dearly over the years. Mostly, I've been punished through losing you." Megan kissed Kevin's neck and tightened her hug when Kevin tried to push her away. "I always wished we could go back and fix things. I wanted so badly to put it in the past and for you to love me again."

"I never stopped loving you, Megan," Kevin admitted.

"I've never stopped loving you either, Kevin." Megan took her face from Kevin's neck and looked into his green eyes. "I have a lot to repent for and I know that. I've hurt you beyond measure and I deserve for you to hate me."

"I could never hate you," Kevin admitted.

"Nor I you." Megan kissed Kevin again. "I want to make things better. I want to prove that things have changed. I want to be with you like we should've been from the beginning and win back your trust. I swear I'll never hurt you ever again."

"Megan," Kevin said weakly. Every part of him wanted desperately to say yes; to take her in his arms, kiss her, and tell her that he forgave her and would always love her and that they could put the past behind them and move on. But there was a rational side that wouldn't allow it.

"Kevin," Megan whimpered and she looked up into his eyes again. It was those eyes that finally made him crumble. He couldn't argue with her anymore and he had no intention to. Kevin brought her closer, clinging to her and kissing her. "I'm sorry Kevin. I really am. All I want is for you to forgive me."

"I forgive you Megan." Kevin kissed her once more before looking into her eyes again. "Promise me, Megan. Promise you won't leave me again."

"I swear I won't," Megan pledged with tears in her eyes and Kevin finally let himself go completely and kissed her passionately. All the years separating them melted away in that moment and the two let themselves go in each other's arms. He remembered everything about her. He remembered what she liked, what pace made her cringe, and what words made her long for him more. Her figure was fuller than it had been and Kevin was pleased to find her breasts felt just as he remembered. They were soft and there were no incision scars around that area. She was every bit of herself that she had been when they were younger. When it was all over, the two laid in bed staring at the ceiling together. Megan sighed and snuggled into Kevin's chest. "I've missed you so much."

"I missed you too," Kevin kissed Megan's forehead. "You never showed me a picture of your son."

"That's true," Megan got out of bed and grabbed her purse and walked back and pulled out a photo from her wallet. She handed it to Kevin before climbing back into bed with him and snuggling up to him. The boy had black hair, black eyes, paler skin, and had dimples. It was a school photo and he was in a little blue uniform. Kevin could see Megan's features in the boy, but there were traits that were clearly his father's.

"He's a cute kid," Kevin handed it back and Megan placed it on the nightstand.

"He is. He's a wonderful young man too. He's so smart and independent. He reminds of you sometimes actually. If I didn't know better I'd say you were his father." Kevin didn't respond. Instead, he played with Megan's hair. "One of the first things I'll do when David's finally with me: I'll buy him a puppy. He's always wanted a puppy and I have too."

"Does his dad not like dogs?"

"He's scared of dogs. He was bitten once as a child and he never really got over it, so he doesn't let David have pets. Not even a hamster. I think pets are good for kids, but Howard never saw it that way."

"Mom never let us have pets because she didn't like the smell."

Megan giggled, "Oh yeah. I remember one time I put on some of that spray stuff that's supposed to be really subtle and your mom smelled it from the kitchen and your dad could smell it from the garage. You always had their supper smell too."

"It's a family thing." Kevin held Megan tighter. "Why are you staying in a hotel when you could be staying with your parents for free?"

"Because I'd rather be closer to the city. My lawyer's here," Megan smiled and kissed Kevin's chest, "and it would be a pain to drive two hours here every time I had a meeting with you. It's easier to stay in the city. My mom was surprised to find out you're my lawyer."

"What did she say?"

"Nothing really, just that she was surprised. She says she hasn't seen you since you graduated and she asked how you were doing. I told her you're a very successful lawyer and she said to tell you, 'good for you'."

Kevin chuckled, "She's still the principal right?"

"Hmhm," Megan answered. "Daddy's retired though."

"How lucky for him," Kevin said. "I've only been a lawyer for three years and I'm already eager for retirement."

"I thought you liked being a lawyer."

"I do, but it's just demanding. There's a reason that politicians tend to be assholes. They used to be lawyers and they had to learn to be morally ambiguous and selfish."

"Are you planning to go into politics one day? You certainly have the charm and charisma for it."

Kevin smiled, "I'd be the next John Kennedy if I did to be honest. But no, I'm not going into politics. I don't want to be a part of that bullshit. The bullshit that comes with being a lawyer is bullshit enough. I'm a democrat and will most likely vote for a democrat during elections unless that democrat pisses me off. That's enough."

Megan giggled, "I suppose that's true. But if it's any consultation," Megan kissed Kevin's neck, "I would've gladly been your Jackie Kennedy." They laughed together and kissed. Kevin rubbed Megan's back, smiling at her.

"I should probably leave. I need to get into the office early and I can't go to work dressed in jeans and a black shirt."

"They wouldn't fear you any less," Megan said, kissing him, "but if you need to leave, I'll let you get going. I don't suppose I can see you again sooner than Friday could I?"

"I'll need to go to my parents' house sometime this week, so how about we meet tomorrow? This time I'll treat you to dinner."

Megan shook her head, "I've got a better idea. I'll make you dinner. I've actually gotten good at cooking if you can believe it."

"I think I'll have to see it." They laughed again and kissed. "I'll be home by eight, so come after that. I warn you, though; I have nothing in my kitchen. I have salt and pepper, vinegar, some brown steak stuff, and that's about it."

Megan giggled, "I figured. My God you're hopeless sometimes." Megan kissed Kevin's cheek before he stood from the bed and started getting dressed. "How about I make you mac-n-cheese? I've gotten really good at that."

"I can't wait." When Kevin was dressed, he walked over to Megan and gave her one last kiss. "I love you, Megan. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I love you too, Kevin." Kevin and Megan smiled at each other as he walked out and when the door was closed, Kevin walked through the halls with a spring in his step that he'd not had for a long time. He felt genuinely happy and like he was on cloud nine. Nothing could possibly ruin his night now. As Kevin stepped out of the hotel, Kevin almost bumped into Suerro, who was, surprisingly, without Natalie.

"Suerro?"

"Oh, Kevin, what are you doing here?"

"I was just having drinks with a client," Kevin lied. "What about you? Where's Natalie?"

"She's asleep. It's almost one in the morning, Kevin. What on earth were you doing drinking with a client for so long?"

"It's a complicated financial case and we had a lot to cover," Kevin lied again. Suerro looked at Kevin strangely.

"Why are you being so defensive?"

"I'm not being defensive, Suerro. I'm just tired and have alcohol in my system, so I'm a little jumpy. I'll see you later. Tell Natalie I said hi." Kevin walked away from Suerro, who watched after him a moment, perplexed. Sure, there was some small amount of alcohol on his breath, but it smelled like it had distilled hours ago. Suerro finally shrugged the matter off and continued walking the streets.

The next morning, Natalie woke up, eager for a whole day with it being just her and Suerro. It wasn't often that she got the whole day off and she was excited. When Suerro arrived at Natalie's apartment, he made sure not to indicate anything about Kevin. He didn't know the whole story and it was probably nothing and he didn't want to worry Natalie over nothing. Instead, the two kept focused on other things. It was a heavy overcast day, so Suerro was able to walk with Natalie on the streets to a Starbucks for some coffee. She ordered her coffee and was talking on about _Hair_ and the costumes they were planning to have and so on and so forth. While Natalie was talking and waiting for her coffee, a smell entered the store that Suerro found oddly familiar. It was a smell he'd remembered being on Kevin, so Suerro turned and saw a woman he'd never seen. He saw no reason to say anything and put his hand on Natalie's back, ignoring the woman that had just entered. Things seemed to be fine until Natalie stopped talking abruptly.

"What's the matter?" Suerro asked. He saw that Natalie was looking towards the counter at the woman that had just entered. "Do you know her?"

"Unfortunately," Natalie said bitterly. "Let's get out of here."

"Why? Who is that?"

"No one worth mentioning." Natalie grabbed Suerro's hand, ready to leave, but Megan glanced their way and she smiled at Natalie.

"Natalie? Is that you?"

Natalie stopped and forced herself to smile politely, "Yeah, it's me. It's been a long time, Megan. How've you been?"

"Getting divorced I'm afraid."

"You don't say," Natalie made sure not to laugh at her.

"Indeed, but I have every faith Kevin will get me a good deal on the divorce." Natalie shot her a wide eyed look. "When I found out he worked at that law firm, I knew I had to hire him. If anyone would get me the best deal, it would be him."

Natalie forced a smile and pretended not to care, "Kevin's one of the best. He graduated top of his class. From Yale," Natalie bragged on Kevin's behalf.

"Oh I know," Megan said appreciatively. "He always was very dedicated. I swear, if I were half as smart as Kevin, who knows where I'd be now."

"Maybe you'd have half a brain," Natalie mumbled so only Suerro could hear her.

"I'm sorry?" Megan asked, not hearing her.

"Nothing," Natalie lied. "So are you staying in Washington for good?" _Oh God, please say no_, Natalie thought.

"Yeah, I'm here for good. Once things settle down with Howard, I'll move David, that's my son, here with me. He's such a smart boy, the best son any woman can ask for."

"Yeah, that's great," Natalie rushed, "Well, if you'll excuse me, Suerro and I—"

"Oh, you're Suerro?" Megan asked, looking at him. Suerro nodded, "Wow, you're a lot more handsome than I pictured." Suerro felt Natalie's grip tighten to a point that would break a human's hand. The vendor called out Megan's order and she smiled and Natalie. "I should get going. I'm going to my parents for lunch today. It was a pleasure to see you again, Natalie."

"Yeah," Natalie said as Megan walked passed her. Natalie pulled Suerro out of the Starbucks with such force, he wondered if she'd turned into her vampiric form for a moment. When they were down the block, Suerro finally stopped her.

"Natalie, calm down. What's the matter? Did you know that woman from school or something?"

"She was my brother's ex-girlfriend. She cheated on him, lied about it, and dumped him like a bad habit at the end of high school. She's a bitch and I hope she rots in hell." Natalie took a few deep breaths. "I can't believe she had the audacity to ask Kevin to be her lawyer."

"Hmm," Suerro answered, thinking about the night before. Kevin had been really jumpy, he smelled of the woman [Megan] and had been leaving the hotel at an obscene hour. When Suerro put two and two together, he made sure to stay quiet, but it didn't work.

"What's wrong?" Natalie asked.

"It's nothing important."

"No, what is it? You look troubled. I didn't do anything did I?"

"No," Suerro quickly said, "You didn't do anything." Suerro breathed heavily, "Alright, listen," before continuing, Suerro took Natalie's coffee from her and placed it on a café table. "After you went to bed and I left last night, I went walking around and at one in the morning, I bumped into Kevin while he was walking out of the Four Seasons hotel. He said he'd been there having drinks and discussing a case with a client, but the smell of alcohol that was on him was muddled and he smelled like that woman that we just talked to at the coffee shop." Natalie went rigid. Catatonic more appropriately. "Natalie, what's wrong?"

"They slept together?"

"It would seem so. He certainly smelled like they had." Natalie seemed to start shaking suddenly, violently. Suerro needed to calm her down, so he grabbed a hold of her and tried soothing her. He said, "I love you," in Quileute over and over again until she stopped shaking. Even when she wasn't shaking, though, Suerro grabbed Natalie's coffee and walked her back to the apartment. When they were inside, Suerro put Natalie's coffee on the table and kept her in his arms. "It's alright, Natalie."

"No it's not!" Natalie snapped, but tightened the hold she had on Suerro. "If he's sleeping with her, it means he's taken her back." Natalie was beginning to tear up, "Why would he do that after everything she's done to him?"

"Natalie, calm down. Start from the beginning for me. What happened?"

Natalie took a deep breath and sniffled, "Megan was Kevin's girlfriend is high school and she was fine until senior year. She went on a college visit and lied to Kevin about it. She told him that she was visiting family, but really, she was going to UCLA for a college visit."

"Why would she lie about something like that?" Suerro asked, confused.

"Because she didn't want Kevin to know she was planning to leave him all along. She cheated on him during her college visit too. Two guys that were drunk and she was drunk, but she betrayed my brother."

Suerro patted Natalie's head. "And this hurts you this way?"

"I hate her. Kevin loved her with all his heart and she hurt him. I know what I did was wrong, but I worked hard."

"Worked hard? What are you talking about?"

"I wanted Kevin to see her for who she was. Nathan, Kyle and I didn't want to be the ones to tell Kevin what Megan had done, so I tried exposing her in a different way. He ended up being hurt more, but I wanted him to see her for what she is. I got her friend Kathy to tell Kevin what Megan had done and he'd forgiven her anyway. Then she broke up with him at his graduation party and kept lying. She claimed she'd never intended for that, but she did. I worked hard to make Kevin see she was horrible and now it's all for nothing." Natalie was finally crying. Suerro kept Natalie cuddled to his chest and rested his chin on her head to comfort her.

"Natalie, I'm going to tell you something and you're not going to like me for it. But it needs to be said." Suerro made Natalie look at him, tears staining her face. "You're brother is a grown man. He makes his own decisions, which means he makes his own mistakes."

"But—" Suerro silenced Natalie with a tender kiss and didn't stop until she was no longer mumbling.

"No, Natalie. No buts. You're a good woman Natalie and you love your brothers. It's understandable that you would want to help them at times like these. But Kevin's a grown man and he needs to handle his own problems." Suerro took her face in both his hands and rested his forehead to hers. "Do you want to know what I think?" Natalie nodded. "I think that because you and your brothers took it upon yourself to help Kevin, he didn't learn his lesson like he would've otherwise. I know that this upsets you, but you need to let him do as he wishes. If he wants to be with Megan, let him be with Megan."

"But she's bad for him."

"Alright, let him figure that out on his own."

Natalie groaned and looked away from Suerro, "Like you're one to talk," She mumbled.

"Yes, Natalie," Suerro made her look him in the eye again, "I am one to talk because I know what happens when a sibling pushes for two people not to be together."

"Megan and Kevin aren't like your sister and Taha Aki. They loved each other, imprints. Megan is a girl Kevin dated in high school that took advantage of his love for her. She doesn't deserve him."

"Wasn't the same said of me?"

"It's still different. You've hurt me before, yes. But you looked into my eyes when you could've hurt me the most and you knew you couldn't do it and it was because you love me. That's not what happens when Megan looks into Kevin's eyes. She doesn't see a man that loves her. She sees a man that's foolish enough to fall into her trapping thighs."

Suerro smiled a little, "Fall into her trapping thighs? That's one way to call her a whore I guess." He kissed Natalie's forehead, "I think all the Shakespearian scripts are starting to get to your head."

"Stop teasing me, Suerro. This is serious."

"I know, Natalie, but try not to let this bother you. This is your brother's problem, so he needs to handle it. Please, Natalie, I know you're upset, but I don't want you to let this ruin your whole day." Suerro gave Natalie a kiss on the lips. "Let's take Caliban and Prospero for a walk in the park. It'll make you feel better."

Natalie still wasn't happy, but she did feel better. She and Suerro got the two dogs hooked to their leashes and walked out together to go to the park. That night, shortly after Kevin got home, Megan got to his apartment with all the ingredients she would need to make mac-n-cheese. She made no mention of Natalie and focused on her and Kevin catching up on their lives since high school. Kevin told Megan all about the people he'd seen during school (a prince, sons and daughters of diplomats, holders of master's degrees, descendants of presidents, etc). In turn, Megan told Kevin of all the things she saw while she was in California. She'd been to Hollywood once and met two celebrities (though those meetings were overly brief) and by the time the mac-n-cheese was done, they'd gone through seven years of positive reminiscing and when Kevin brought up his daughter to come, he brought the photo from the ultrasound to the kitchen and showed it to Megan. It was his first picture of his daughter with more to come. When Megan saw the baby's face, she pointed and told Kevin she had his nose and after saying that, she turned to Kevin with a smile and said, "I hope she has your eyes too." They made love after that and Megan stayed the night at his apartment. He was supposed to go out on patrol that night, but Kevin knew the situation was delicate and he'd need to reintroduce Megan gently. He did go to his parents' house for dinner the day after his date with Megan at his apartment and Natalie looked at Kevin like she was trying to hide something.

"What's the matter, Natalie?"

"Nothing," She said, first glancing at Suerro who gave her a gentle warning with his eyes.

"No, not nothing. Why do you look so mad at me?" Natalie shrugged and went to Ariel so she could avoid Kevin. Kevin looked right at Suerro. "What the hell's wrong with her?"

"She knows about Megan," Kyle finally answered. "She bumped into her at a coffee shop yesterday and Suerro linked her smell with the smell you had on you when you left the four seasons the other night, Suerro told Natalie about it, and now she's angry with you and frankly," Kyle finally looked right at Kevin, "We're all angry with you."

"Kyle," Nessie said in a warning before looking at Kevin, "Honey, we're not mad at you. We're just confused as to why you would start anything with Megan again."

"Mom, what happened between us happened years ago. We've both grown and moved passed it and we still love each other. Once the divorce is finalized—"

"You know what Suerro," Natalie interrupted and came back into the same room, "I'm not holding my tongue. Kevin, she isn't worth all this. She's hurt you twice before and she'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"Natalie, you're not being fair," Kevin said. "We both made mistakes and—"

"No! Don't you dare try to make this equal!" Natalie started yelling. "She lied to you! She cheated on you! You did nothing to deserve any of it!"

"Yeah, and I did nothing to deserve the three of you going behind my back and trying to fix it!" Kevin yelled. "Did you ever think of that?"

"Kevin," Suerro came forward, "She's upset because she cares about you."

"Stay out of this, Suerro. You don't know what the hell even happened."

"I know what your sister told me, Kevin. And I know that when she went behind your back, she did it because she wanted you to see Megan for what she is."

"Oh yeah?" Kevin challenged, "And what is that?" Natalie was about to speak, but this time, Suerro rested his hand on her shoulder telling her not to answer.

"Kevin," Suerro said, "Don't coerce her."

"And don't you speak for my sister or try to play mediator. If Natalie has something to say to me about Megan, she can say it without you sugar coating it for her."

"Fine," Natalie said pointedly. "Fine, I'll be blunt with you. I think she's manipulative and is only trying to get back with you because her last meal-ticket is kicking her to the curb."

"Megan chose to get the divorce, Natalie. She caught her husband cheating on her."

"Yeah, she told me, Kevin," Natalie spat back, "And it serves her right."

"Natalie, stop, no one deserves that kind of thing."

"Exactly!" Natalie screamed back. "You especially didn't deserve it, but she did it anyway! You found it in your heart to forgive her for cheating on you, and what does she do? She crushed you like a bug under her heel! Why would you still love a woman that did that to you?"

"Why would you love a man that nearly raped you?" Kevin yelled back.

"That's enough, all of you shut up!" Jacob yelled, stopping them all from arguing, but Suerro stepped forward, his red eyes burning.

"I won't deny that I've hurt your sister, but I've done what I can to repent for what I've done. I love her enough to swallow my pride and admit I was wrong on more than one occasion."

"I said shut up," Jacob said again. Suerro stepped back towards Natalie and Jacob looked at Kevin. "Your mother and I don't ask you guys here so you can argue. We ask you guys here so we can all be together. Now I don't want any more arguing over this and that's final. Am I perfectly clear?" Jacob looked around, his eyes stern and his voice in that powerful, alpha tone. They all nodded their heads. "Good," Jacob looked at Nessie, "did you want to say anything?"

"Kevin, I want to talk to you in the garage." Nessie walked to the garage and Kevin followed after, leaving everyone else in the entrance. When the two were alone, Nessie took a deep breath. "Honey, no one is mad at you."

"Mom, just say it. You think I'm being foolish."

"Okay, fine, I think you're being foolish." Nessie sighed heavily. "Kevin, I remember how you were after that. You buried yourself in your studies because it was easier to study than to face your problem. You were depressed and it was a long time before you were really yourself again. I don't want you to go through that again, Kevin. You're older now and—"

"Yes, mom, I'm older now." Kevin sighed, "Mom," he said gently, "I never stopped loving her. Grandpa Charlie didn't want grandma with grandpa after he left, but she took him back."

"Kevin, my father left because he was concerned for my mother's safety. It might not be logical, but his intentions were noble. Megan ended it because she didn't want a long distance relationship. Your brothers have both made it work, and Kyle's still going through that after seven and a half years. If the two of them could do it, then you and Megan could have too, seeing as you loved her so much. And as I recall, you were more than willing to. Megan was the one who wasn't."

"Mom, that was in the past. We want to move on. And we talked about it and we decided that once the divorce is final, she'll come live with me."

"Honey," Nessie started, but then she sighed and stopped. "If that's what you want." Nessie walked back into the house without another word and the night from there became extremely awkward. Kevin left right after dinner. No one was really in a talkative mood and Kevin knew none of them were happy with him. He'd anticipated it, but he knew they'd accept Megan again eventually. If they could accept Suerro (Jacob still didn't like him, but he'd accepted him kind of) then they'd be able to accept Megan.

That's what Kevin had thought at least. Over the time since the confrontation, Kevin had suggested bringing Megan over for dinner several times, but Nessie always made a point that she didn't want her there. One time, right after Kyle had boarded the plane and gone to Russia, Kevin decided to bring Megan by surprise. The moment Natalie saw Megan she left in a huff and without a word. Suerro stayed, only because he knew, whether she would ever admit it or not, that she'd want to know what happened. Everyone else stayed cordial but Ada María, Suerro, and Ariel were the only ones to really talk to Megan besides Kevin. They were the only ones that weren't horribly uncomfortable with her being there.

Kyle, to his relief, was far removed when Kevin brought Megan over. By the time she'd been brought to his parents' house uninvited, Kyle was stopped in England and waiting for his third and final flight to Moscow. Kyle was giddy with excitement. He'd been anticipating this trip since Christmas and he'd been packed for it since January. He'd crossed over at least four time zones and when he arrived in Moscow, he was sleepwalking. Even after sleeping through each flight, he was exhausted. He perked up, though, when he saw Evalina at the bottom of the stairs with taxis behind her holding a sign that said, "Kyle". Kyle went to Evalina and dropped his bags and hugged her. Evalina tossed the sign to the side and hugged him back, giving him kisses all over his face.

"You wouldn't believe how happy I am to be here," Kyle whispered in Evalina's ear. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too." Evalina gave Kyle a tender kiss on the lips and hugged him tight. "Come on. Let's get you to my place. You look like you're in desperate need of time-zone readjusting." Kyle agreed and the two hailed a cab that took them to Evalina's apartment complex. It looked just like the pictures. It didn't have balconies, but it had plenty of windows and it was a cream color on the outside. When they walked in, the halls were quiet. It was three in the morning, so all Evalina's tenants were asleep.

When they walked in, Kevin looked around. He'd always wanted to meet Nikko, but he'd died not too long ago. He'd lived a good long life, so it wasn't too hard to let him go for Evalina. Eighteen years was old for a cat, so all things considered, he died a happy cat. Evalina had mentioned that her apartment was the only one in the building that wasn't completely neutral. She had two-toned brown walls throughout the entrance and her kitchen was orange and open. When Kyle looked into the bedroom, her room was bright green. Honestly, if Kyle hadn't known this was Evalina's place and someone had just shown him pictures of this apartment, the carpet floors would be the only indicator he would have that this apartment wasn't a Southern Mexican or South American apartment. He remembered the eccentric color scheme that was popular in Brazil and the pictures he'd seen of Ada María's place when she'd still had it.

"So," Kyle looked around a little more, "Where should I sleep? I don't suppose you have an air mattress do you?" Evalina looked at Kyle strangely and smiled. She took Kyle's things from him and walked to her bedroom in the back. Kyle followed tentatively behind her and watched as she rested his suitcases on a couch she had in the room.

"Why would you need an air mattress," Evalina asked after she put Kyle's bags down. "This is a queen bed. There's more than enough room."

Kyle blushed, "Yeah, I guess there is. Sorry, I didn't want to assume—"

"Kyle," Evalina pressed her fingers to Kyle's lips and kissed him tenderly after he stopped talking. "How many years have we been together?"

"Seven and a half."

"Indeed." Evalina wrapped her arms around Kyle's neck. "You don't need to be bashful about us sharing a bed." She kissed Kyle sweetly. "I realize you're tired and I'm tired too, so I'll let you get some sleep. We'll have a little talk when we wake up." Evalina kissed Kyle again before releasing him and going to her closet and changing….right in front of him. Kyle had never even touched Evalina's bear skin, let alone seen her in just her panties before she threw on a tiny, raggedy Mickey Mouse top. His face turned beet red.

He tried not to think about it and instead got out of his clothes until he was in just his boxers, tossed his clothes on his suitcase, and got into bed with Evalina without either of them saying anything. Evalina scooted through the bed until she was on Kyle's chest and stayed there. Kyle held her in return and took deep breaths until he finally induced himself into falling asleep. The next morning, Evalina wasn't in bed with him. He opened his eyes with half his face on his pillow and being on his stomach. When Kyle opened his eyes and noticed Evalina wasn't there, he got on his back and sat up. He didn't hear her in the apartment, so Kyle looked at the clock and saw it was one in the afternoon. Kyle didn't really know how Evalina's job worked, but he figured she might have an office lower in the building like Natalie's old landlord had. Kyle got out of bed and walked around to the bathroom so he could shower. He hadn't had a bath in about two days, so he was feeling dirty. After he'd stepped into the shower with water coming down, he heard a knock at the door and Evalina's voice after she opened the door slightly.

"I brought you some food," she said.

"Oh, so that's where you were. Thanks. What did you get?"

"Just McDonalds. It's better here and I didn't want to do anything weird on your first day here. It's in the kitchen for you when you're ready."

"Thanks," he called before Evalina closed the bathroom door. When Kyle came out of the shower, he grabbed the one towel in the bathroom and wrapped it around himself, grabbed his discarded boxers, and walked back to Evalina's room so he could get a fresh pair of clothes. When Kyle got to the kitchen, Evalina was sitting at the kitchen table watching some weird show with women screaming at each other. "What are you watching?"

"It's the Russian version of _Bridezillas_," Evalina smiled at Kyle, who just chuckled awkwardly.

"Sounds fun." As he walked to the table, the Russian women were still yelling at each other and seeing as he still was really faulty with his Russian, he wasn't sure what the argument was about. He heard something about shoes, but that was all he got. "So what do you do when you're working?"

"I make sure everything in the building is working properly, I balance bills and collect rent, and I keep the tenants from having arguments."

"Do they argue so much?"

"Not at all. I've had one incident in all the years I've owned this place where two people have gotten into an argument with each other and it was handled accordingly thanks to me and my no nonsense, 'keep the peace or get out of my building' attitude."

"What about that former KGB guy?"

Evalina sighed a little, "He passed away last year. He died a wrinkly old man and happy as a clam. He may have been senile, but he was a nice guy and he was happy. I knew he was dead when I passed his unit one morning and smelled decay, so he ended up only being dead in that apartment for two hours."

"What about his Jack Russell? That's what he had right?"

"Yeah, that was it. His son and wife took the dog."

"Did you go to the funeral?"

"Out of respect, yes. He was a nice man and his son did a really nice job with the ceremony. The Red Choir was playing in the background just like he would've wanted." Evalina giggled, "That man was as Nationalistic as they come."

"How old was he when he died?"

"I'm actually not positive. I think he was pushing ninety, but I'm not sure. A new couple moved into that unit. I kept out the part about someone dying in there, but so far, no ghouls have haunted them, so I think they're fine." Kyle started looking around for something, so Evalina walked to her kitchen and grabbed the salt she never used and placed it on the table with a smile. "Is that what you were looking for?"

"Yeah," Kyle answered, smiling back. After Kyle had salted his fries, Evalina brought her hand to his forearm and massaged it gently. This got Kyle's attention and he looked at her. "You alright?" he asked before taking a bite of his cheeseburger, then saying, "Wow, these really are better. Hurray for foreign American food."

Evalina giggled, "Indeed. I'm alright. I just wanted to bring up what we were talking about earlier." Kyle gave her his full attention, but she sensed he was getting nervous again. "Why do I still make you nervous, Kyle?"

"You don't make me nervous," he answered honestly. He took a hold of Evalina and brought her to his lap to emphasis his point. Evalina brought her right arm around his neck and kept eye contact.

"Then why did you seem so reluctant to just share a bed?"

"I wasn't reluctant." Kyle fiddled with the ends of Evalina's hair. "You know me. You know it's not because I don't want to."

Evalina smiled and rubbed her nose against Kyle's. "One of these days, I'll see to you not being so bashful." She gave him a kiss and stayed in his lap while he finished eating. "I want you to be able to really unwind with me."

"I know," Kyle answered, "and if anyone can make me do that, it's you." They smiled at each other and Evalina rested her head on Kyle's shoulder. "So what will we do once you and I see all the sites that Moscow has to offer?"

"We'll just have to wait and see."

After Kyle finished eating, Evalina convinced him to go site seeing. They'd probably be finished site-seeing within a week, but why come to a foreign city if you weren't going to look at it? The first place Evalina decided to take Kyle was Victory Park. Evalina liked going there from time to time whenever a WWII program came on. Aside from Sparrow Hills in Moscow's park, it was one of Demetri and Heidi's favorite spots. They walked through the park together looking at the statues and monuments dedicated to soldiers that had died in WWII.

"We have something like this in Washington D.C. It's a smaller part of a larger collection of memorials and commemorative monuments, but it's a site to see. Kevin got to see it when he was going to school. He was only a few hours from D.C."

Evalina noticed Kyle lose his smile a little at the mention of Kevin. "Kyle?" Evalina asked for his attention and he looked at her, "Is there something bothering you?"

"Not bothering me, more bothering everyone. You remember Megan right?"

"You mean the girl I slapped at your brother's graduation party? Yeah, I remember her. What about her?"

Kyle took a deep breath. "She hired Kevin to be her defense attorney and now she's suckered him into dating her again. He's talking about how when the divorce is final, they'll be together and everything will be as it should have been."

"I see," Evalina answered, keeping an even tone. "Do you think she's changed since high school?"

"I can't be sure. I haven't read her mind. Mom refuses to allow her at the house. But on my way here, I got a text from Natalie in all caps saying that Megan had the 'audacity', as Natalie put it, to invite herself to dinner with the family. So I missed my chance to determine for myself if she's trustworthy or not."

"That's a shame. I felt so bad for Kevin after what happened. It angered me how cold Megan seemed to be about the whole thing. She acted as if nothing was wrong during the party, but she does that at the end of the night." Evalina sighed, "I think she should've at least waited until the next day. She ruined Kevin's day when she did that."

"She ruined the second half of Kevin's senior year. He wasn't the same for that semester. He was angry and Nathan, Natalie and I so he wouldn't speak to us. He would purposely work late or spend the day at Megan's house so he wouldn't have to be around us, but when we could see him at school, he was so depressed. No matter how angry he was at me, he knew I would never lie to him. He knew Megan was planning to break things off after graduation, but he kept living on that hope that maybe she'd changed her mind and she did love him as much as he loved her. After the break up, he was even more depressed. There's a reason he finished school in four years at the top of his class. He kept his nose in his books and did nothing but work. It was easier than confronting his pain. Now all he's doing is inviting her to wound him again."

"I know," Evalina answered, entwining her fingers with Kyle's.

"I don't know if he'll be able to handle it if she breaks his heart again."

"He has to," Evalina said frankly, "he has a little girl coming. He has to think of her."

"Yeah," Kyle answered. Evalina stopped Kyle before a large, military tank and when he was looking at her, she brought her left hand to Kyle's face and rubbed his cheek with her thumb.

"It'll all turn out alright in the end. I know it will." She kissed Kyle and brought both her arms around his neck. "I love you, Kyle," she finally said, the depth of her words showing in her deep brown eyes.

"I love you too Eva." They stood together before the tank in each other's arms kissing. Normally, Kyle wasn't a huge fan of public displays of affection. He considered them inappropriate in a public place and inconsiderate of the surrounding people that are forced to be audience to a couple's making out. But Kyle needed the affection and anyone who saw could look away if they took offense for all he cared.

They eventually parted from one another and walked through the rest of the park taking in the sites. Kyle took pictures along the way with a digital camera Alice made him take with. Alice and Jasper had gone to many places, but they'd never gone to Russia, so Alice wanted plenty of pictures. The Denalis had said over the phone that they wanted pictures too so they could see them over Christmas when they visited. The last time the Denali sisters had been in Russia, it was b.c period and there was literally nothing there but patches of villages all over the place, so they were curious about what their homeland looked like now. Kyle asked why they'd never bought tickets and gone back to Russia themselves for a visit, and they always said, "If we really wanted to go back to Russia, we could ice skate there. It would be faster and cheaper than a plan too."

After half a day of wondering around the Victory Park, Evalina took Kyle a restaurant that advertised traditional Russian food. Kyle was curious and the closest to traditional Eastern European food he'd come were frozen perogies. Grandpa Edward had made the kids perogies once, trying to imitate what his mother used to make him. He didn't remember much of his childhood, but he remembered perogies and, for some reason, Irish and German kids trying to take them from him when he was at the school house. "Of all the things I remember," Edward had said, "I remember that." They'd all really liked their grandpa's perogies, but Kyle kept his mind open for Edward, who'd groaned and said, "They're not like mama's." Kyle settled for a crawfish blintz and sour cabbage and the waiter, learning Kyle was an American, suggested he complete his experience with a few shots of vodka. When they got back to the apartment, Kyle plopped himself on Evalina's bed and sighed.

"Site-seeing is tiring."

Evalina giggled and took a spot on her bed next to Kyle. "Did you have fun?"

"I did."

"I'm glad to hear it." With a smile, Evalina kissed Kyle tenderly and tried pulling him on top of her. They scooted further on the bed and Kyle was snuggled close before they parted their lips. "Tomorrow, I'll take you to the Red Square. That's a popular tourist attraction and you can get plenty of souvenirs if you want. We'll save the mall for another day, though. That place is a huge attraction and I want to do some shopping there since we're going."

"Alright," Kyle said. "Thanks for being my free tour guide and translator."

"You'll figure out Russian by the time you leave. I can't promise you'll be a good reader, but I'll make a speaker of you yet." Instead of saying anything, Kyle kissed Evalina. It was the first time he'd ever really had her to himself and he decided, nervous or not, he'd take advantage of it. He wasn't sure how to start, so he just kissed her and hoped she would start things off. She didn't, so Kyle worked up the courage to trail his hand under her shirt go to the clasps of her bra. But when he encountered them, Evalina pulled away and looked at him.

"Can I?" was all Kyle asked. Evalina was a little surprised that Kyle was taking initiative, but it also pleased her immensely. Evalina sat up first and pulled her shirt of her head.

"This should help."

Kyle laughed shyly, "I guess it would." Kyle sat up with Evalina and brought his hand around to the clasp and tried undoing it. The first two clasps came free with ease, but the last one stuck. "This last one isn't opening."

Evalina giggled, "Sorry. It's always the last one that resists." She reached behind her and undid the last clasp for Kyle and pulled her bra off and tossed it in the same direction as her shirt. Evalina's brown hair cascaded down, almost covering her nipples. So she tossed her hair behind her back, revealing herself. Kyle didn't want to blush, but he did. All he could do was stare at Evalina's chest and marvel at her. They were so full and when Kyle finally brought his hand up to touch them, they were so soft, with the exception of Evalina's hardening nipples. With a gentle push from Evalina, Kyle went on his back and she climbed on top of him. Kyle did his best to keep his hands on Evalina's breasts.

"They're so heavy," he voiced absently.

"Why thank you," she answered. Kyle noticed her accent was starting to get really prominent. "I've been looking forward to this."

"Really?"

"_Дa,__" (da)(yes)_, she answered. Kyle smiled, knowing what da meant at least. She kept looking at him lovingly and saying, this time in English, "I always knew you loved me, but sometimes I wondered why you didn't want me."

"I've always wanted you, Eva," Kyle reassured, then he took a deep breath. "I've never been good at initiating anything in the way of socializing. Trying to initialize anything sexual seemed like another hurtle for me. To this day, I envy that Kevin, Natalie, and Nathan are so much better at befriending people and doing new things. When I imprinted on you, I wished more than ever that I could be more brazen and social and charming."

Evalina smiled, "I love you just the way you are, Kyle." Evalina started pulling Kyle's shirt up as best she could while he was lying on it. "I don't need you to be brazen or charismatic. I just want you to love me back."

"You know I do."

"Well then," she finally managed to pull Kyle's shirt off with some assistance from him, "that solves that." They shared a light laugh before they kissed again.

"Hold on, I have a condom in my suitcase," or a whole box that Kevin had sneaked into his suitcase before Kyle left for his trip.

"I'm on birth control. Don't worry, we'll be alright."

"Are you sure?"

Evalina nodded, "I'm sure. Don't worry Kyle. You're not getting me pregnant until you make a wife of me." Kyle chuckled and let Evalina kiss him again, continuing their union.

Kyle found himself relaxing with greater ease than he'd anticipated. He'd promised himself he wouldn't cheat, but after they kissed for so long, he wanted to know exactly what Evalina wanted. When Kyle opened his mind and read Evalina's thoughts, he copied the images that came to her mind as something she might like and started with her neck and ear. He'd planned to suck on her earlobe, but he was impeded by a small diamond stud earring, so he just kissed her there and kissed right behind her ear. Kyle sat up once he got to her neck so he could make it easier to attend to and Evalina rested her hands on Kyle's chest as he started kissing her neck tenderly. Every bit of her was so soft and it invited him to touch as much as he could. When Kyle moved on to her collarbone, then to her breasts, he pushed one hand into her jeans as best he could and touched her butt. With his free hand, Kyle lightly gripped the breast he wasn't kissing. He heard Evalina's mind scream for him to take her nipple in his mouth, so that's just what he did and it earned him a sigh of contentment and a breathy moan.

After that, Evalina pulled herself away suddenly. Kyle watched her as she unbuttoned her pants and discarded them along with her panties and socks. Taking the hint and, of course, hearing Evalina mentally order him to, he did the same thing she did and removed his remaining articles of clothing. Evalina only came back when Kyle was bare as her and when she sat on his lap like she'd been before, the heat was enough to force Kyle to fall back and moan. Evalina giggled triumphantly and started teasing Kyle cruelly by rubbing against his erection with her heat, but never taking him in. Kyle brought his hands to Evalina's hips and thighs, taking in their softness as well.

Evalina continued to tease Kyle as she came down and began kissing him again. Still reading her thoughts, that were beginning to get hazy, Kyle saw and idea she had, so he reached his right hand down between them and began to touch her intimately at her center. Evalina sighed at the contact and took her lips away so she could kiss his neck. While she did that, Kyle shoved one finger inside her, then followed with a second when she whimpered and her thoughts became a little more blurry. It was very hot and wet inside and Kyle felt his erection jerk with excitement. He made sure to think of nothing but Evalina and how everything felt. That was all that was important at the moment. He wasn't hurting her, and he knew why. She'd had a handful of lovers at best before she'd ever gotten together with Kyle, but the few that had come along weren't much to her in the way of memorability. He already knew about it, but he didn't care about it now. What he did care about was Evalina.

Kyle maneuvered his fingers in every way he could think of, trying to make it more pleasurable. Before long, Evalina get eager and decided she was done with teasing and fondling. So she pulled away from Kyle's hand and took a hold of Kyle's erection, guiding him inside her at last and making them both groan. She felt so hot around Kyle that it took him a minute to recover. It took Evalina time to recover too, and Kyle found himself helpless to the boost of pride it caused him. Evalina did eventually begin to move her hips in a set pattern that offered them both a nice sensation. The two were relatively silent in their enjoyment, but Evalina would sigh and moan from time to time if either of them made a slightly different movement. Kyle kept a tight hold of Evalina as he turned over and rested her on her back and took over. He moved her around until she whimpered and he heard her thinking she really liked it. He stopped in an awkward position, so they didn't stay that way long and Kyle let her rest fully on the bed with him on top of her. Kyle followed Evalina's thoughts the whole time he was on top of her. When she wanted him to go faster or slower or harder or anything else, he did just that and tried to be creative with it too. For the most part, though, their union remained tender and gentle. Evalina never seemed to disapprove and Kyle enjoyed the close union.

Eventually, Kyle's arms started shaking from holding himself up, so he pulled Evalina with him when he sat up, resting his weight on his feet and knees. Evalina followed and clung to Kyle as he tried moving, though he didn't get much range on his own, so Evalina took over most of the movement. Even in this position, Kyle towered over Evalina, so he couldn't rest his face in her chest like he wanted to. So instead he brought his face to her ear and kissed her there and whispered in her ear how she was making him feel. "You're so warm," he would say to her as he tightened his hands over her thighs and butt. He shuddered when Evalina brought her lips to his ear and licked gingerly. He fell back and ended up accidently falling off the bed, but he held Evalina tightly enough that she was only upside down with her hands on the ground on either side of Kyle's head holding herself up while Kyle's head was on the floor and his feet on the bed.

"That was totally on purpose," Kyle lied. Her mind was laughing before her, but he wasn't surprised by the laughter that began to ensue. He was relieved that she was thinking this was cute.

"I love you," she said through her giggling and she allowed her hands to come out from under her and let Kyle hold all her weight as she wrapped her arms back around Kyle's neck and rested her head on his shoulder, despite the fact that her weight was causing her to hang in a manner.

"Do you want to be upright?"

"That would be nice," Evalina answered, still giggling to herself. With that, Kyle used his foot and placed it on the edge of the bed so he could push his body fully onto the floor until they were both completely horizontal. Evalina sat up straight on Kyle and looked down at him, the humor still on her face. "Are you alright with still being on the floor?"

"I have no problem with it."

"Just making sure." Then Evalina proceeded to move her hips, picking up right where they'd left off before Kyle had fallen off the bed. The humor gradually receded from her face, being replaced with looks of pleasure and soft moans.

Kyle grabbed Evalina's breasts, giving her more support as she moved on top of him. Her hands remained on his chest and with Kyle's hand on her breasts, she was able to move her hips more effectively. After a few minutes, Kyle decided to be bold and moved one of his hands between her legs and rubbed around until he found that spot that made her mind fuzzy and react. He kept his thumb over that spot, moving and maneuvering until she was barely moving her hips and Kyle took over for the most part. Evalina was content to let Kyle take over and he continued to move and rub his thumb over the tender spot until she went completely still and he felt Evalina clench around him. Kyle made sure not to stop when he felt that so that he could make it better. From what he heard of her thoughts, it was making it better. When the clenching stopped, Kyle pulled Evalina down so he could hug her and he held onto her until he climaxed himself. When they'd finished, they stayed where they were and mumbled I love you to one another.

"Let's get back in bed," Evalina suggested. Kyle nodded and stood from the floor, keeping Evalina in his arms, and walked the two of them back into bed. When they were in bed, they continued to cuddle. "So how did your finals go?" she asked unexpectedly.

"What brought that up?"

"Nothing really," she said. "I'm just not tired yet and I want to talk until I am. So how'd your finals go?"

"They went fine. I took a British Lit class this semester and I wrote a seven page paper on _Beowulf_."

"I've never read Beowulf. I saw the movie, though."

"The movie's a farcical representation of a great epic."

"The CGI didn't help."

"No, not at all. And they changed the story."

"Did they?"

"Yeah, they did." Kyle pulled Evalina on top of him and had her look at him. "First of all, Hrothgar never slept with Grendel's mother to become king. Hrothgar was already the king of Heorot. Grendel started attacking Heorot because he just wanted to."

"So….he's attacking Heorot for shits and giggles."

"Exactly, because killing people is fun," Kyle said sarcastically. "So anyway, in the movie, Beowulf comes along and promises to kill Grendel. That did happen in the poem, but it was kind of funnier in the poem. In the poem, Heorot has been terrorized for twelve years and Beowulf comes along decked out in his armor and arrives in his fancy boat. He tells the look out, 'I hear you guys have a problem with something called Grendel.' The lookout answers, 'Yeah. Who the hell are you?' Beowulf tells him, 'I'm son of Ecgtheow and hero of the Geats. Hrothgar will know me.' So the lookout says, 'Cool, I'll tell him you're here.' So the lookout goes to Hrothgar and tells him, 'There's some dude named Beowulf at our doorstep. He says you'd know him.' And Hrothgar says, 'Oh yeah, Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow. He killed a lochness monster once. Let him in.'" Evalina giggled as Kyle told the story. "Anyway, after they all meet, there's a big party and everyone's excited that Beowulf's there. When it came to the fight with Grendel, the movie and poem are completely different. In the movie, it became so farcical that I laughed when Grendel got his arm taken off. I never thought I'd be laughing at that scene; laughing so hard I couldn't breathe. In the movie, all you see are his CGI butt cheeks while he's jumping around the dining hall. He gets a chain wrapped around Grendel's arm as he tries to run away and holds him there with a door and goes into this stupid speech about who he is then cut Grendel's arm off with the door. Now, in the poem, it was substantially more awesome. They were all asleep when Grendel attacked and they got into a fight with Grendel. Beowulf realized his sword wasn't working, so he took the rational next step and took Grendel's arm off with his bare hands. Cooler than using a door if you ask me."

"I'd agree with that."

"So anyway, Grendel just got his arm torn off and he's limping away and losing a lot of blood while Beowulf and the people of Heorot celebrated over Grendel's arm. When Grendel got back to the cave, he died from the blood loss. Now here's another point where the book and movie are completely different. Mommy Grendel—"

Evalina laughed, "Mommy Grendel?"

"Grendel's mother was never named, so for the sake of argument, I call her Mommy Grendel. Anyway, Mommy Grendel attacks Heorot and takes back Grendel's arm. Hrothgar and his people ask Beowulf to take care of her and he agrees. In the movie, Mommy Grendel seduces Beowulf into sleeping with her, because that's the reasonable thing to do with the man that killed your son. In the poem, they get into an epic fight and he kills Mommy Grendel with a sword he got while he was there. When Mommy Grendel is dead, Hrothgar and the people of Heorot celebrate Beowulf's victory before seeing him off. Hrothgar warns Beowulf against cockiness and tells him to remember his limits. Beowulf says, 'Bitch, please,' and leaves for the Geats. Now, in the movie, if I remember correctly, Beowulf becomes king of Heorot because he'd slept with Mommy Grendel. He married Hrothgar's wife and they had a daughter together. That's the complete opposite of what happened in the poem. What really happened is Beowulf went home and became king of the Geats. He never married, never produced an heir, and for fifty years, his life was uneventful. Now in the movie, because Beowulf slept with Grendel, he got her pregnant with a Dragon that attacked Heorot years later. He fights the dragon alone, cuts off his own arm so he can reach the heart, and pull the heart out of its chest. That whole thing killed Beowulf and they burned his body in a boat sent out to sea. After Beowulf was burned, Angelina Jolie came out of the water and tried seducing Beowulf's Thaine and the process started over again."

"I remember that."

"Now, in the poem, after the fifty years of uneventful-ness, some little servant boy or slave boy, I'm not sure what, wondered to a cave and saw a golden chalice in it. He saw that chalice and thought, 'Oh, shiny,' and took it. Now, there's a dragon in that cave that's guarding his treasure and when the little boy took the chalice that pissed the dragon off hard." Evalina giggled again. "So the dragon took his revenge to the extreme and start burning down the Geat's village. When Beowulf found out this was the little boy's fault, they dragged the kid by his ear to the cave to see. Beowulf had about….I want to say it was a total of twelve thaines but when Beowulf attacked the dragon, they all ran away except Wiglaf. The dragon poisons Beowulf before him and Wiglaf kill and now that Beowulf's dead, they have no one to take over and the dragon's treasure can't put used because it's essentially cursed. So the ending of the poem is the Geats basically being screwed. The poem's much better."

"Interesting," Evalina said. Kyle smiled at her and chuckled.

"Thanks for pretending your interested."

Evalina giggled, "It's not that. It's just, you're barely out of me and you're talking about _Beowulf_."

"You asked how my finals went and I told you."

Evalina smiled, "Yeah, I know." She kissed his chest tenderly and pulled the covers up really quickly. "I'm tired now."

"I bored you that much did I?"

"No," Evalina shook her head, "you told me a good bedtime story."

Kyle smiled and pulled the blankets up the rest of the way and turned off the bedside lamp so they could go to sleep in each other's arms. Those two months were some of the best two months of Kyle's life. He saw all the sites that Moscow had to offer and Evalina saved Sparrow Point in the park for his last day of site seeing so he could see all of Moscow in a single view. They got a couple to take a picture of the two of them with their backs to the city and when they got back to Evalina's apartment, they downloaded all their pictures on her computer and saved them. Any pictures they'd taken of them kissing, clothed or naked, were kept in a separate file that only the two of them would have. The pictures of the sites all went into a file that he and Evalina would keep and that the family would get, and the picture with the two of them against the backdrop of the city was printed out and put on Evalina's fridge. The day Kyle had to leave, it was the twenty second of august and a week before Kyle started school again, so he had to leave. But he was almost late for his flight because he didn't want to leave Evalina and not see her until December. When Kyle got back and had the opportunity to sleep off his jetlag for a day and a half, he woke up feeling refreshed. He missed Evalina already, but he was happy to have had a whole summer with it being just the two of them. It was a great summer, however brief it had felt.

While Kyle had been gone, Kevin and Megan continued to see each other while working on her divorce. It was beginning to look like the divorce would be presented before a judge. They'd sat down with her husband and his lawyer four times and each time, it came to Megan and Howard arguing over who deserved what. Howard accused Megan of leaving their son, Megan accused Howard of being a bad father and a bad husband, and on and on until the two couldn't argue anymore. Regardless of how heated her arguments got with Howard, everything seemed fine between her and Kevin. They saw each other just about every other night and of course whenever she met him in his office for divorce proceedings. Megan hadn't gone back to his parents' house for dinner again since the last time. She'd known she wasn't wanted there and Kevin knew he'd need to butter them up before ever attempting something like that again. He did bring Megan with when Page had a doctor's appointment so he could try and get his mother's side of the family to like her and convince his parents that Megan had changed. Carlisle, of course, stayed cordial and polite, but turned his attention to Page's check up and kept it there. Upon arriving, the whole family immediately made the excuse that they wanted to go, 'out to dinner' and left.

"Do you think they'll ever like me again?" Megan asked when she and Kevin were in bed together that night.

"Just give them time." Kevin kissed the top of Megan's head. "They'll come around eventually. Are you sure you don't want to spend the night?"

"No, I'm sure. I need to start packing my things back up." Megan smiled at Kevin, "Tell your secretary that I commend her taste in homes. The place she found you is gorgeous." Kevin smiled back. He'd settled on a house last month. A four bedroom house that was right on the water that had come up for sale. The previous family was moving back to Chicago for a job offer, so Kevin managed to get a good deal on it and it was close to all the schools he'd been looking at.

"I like it. Aunt Alice and Esme insist it needs work, so they'll be working on it for a bit. They said they're going to keep Kelly's room a surprise." Since they'd been together, Megan had convinced Kevin on the name Kelly. He thought it was cute and Megan had wanted to name her daughter Kelly when she had one. This seemed like the perfect time.

"They aren't telling you anything?"

"No, they're not. On the bright side, Kelly will have one hell of a nice room."

"She's due any day now isn't she?"

Kevin chuckled, "Poor Page. The woman looks ready to pop any moment. She'll be glad when it's over. She's made that much clear to me."

Megan giggled, "I remember when I was pregnant with David. It was miserable, but it was all worth it once they put him in my arms. He was such a beautiful baby. I'll be sure to show you his baby pictures once they get here."

"I can't wait." They kissed once more before Megan got out of bed, got dressed, and left to go back to her hotel. They had an appointment to meet in two days. After Page was done with work the next day, she waddled to Kevin's office and let herself in.

"This baby better get here soon. I can't walk straight anymore."

"Yeah, I know. The baby's due around September 20th, so you've got another fifteen days to go."

"It could be an eternity." Page leaned against Kevin's desk. "So I hear you're going to move in with soon-to-be-ex Mrs. Rich Woman."

"Is it going around the office or did you figure it out yourself?"

"I figured it out myself. And even if it were going around the office, no one would care. Women marry their divorce attorney's all the time. It was all the rage in the early two thousands I hear."

"Marriage will wait a while. I still need to get my family to like her."

"She's earning millions in this divorce and paid you as much for it. What's there not to love already?"

"She and I dated years ago and my family doesn't like how it ended. Let's just leave it at that."

Page shrugged, "If you say so." Page began to waddle away, "I'll call you the minute something happens."

"And you'll wait for me to get you so we can go to Carlisle. You'll be in the same amount of pain regardless, so I'd rather you be in pain for free."

Page laughed humorlessly and walked out of Kevin's office. After work, Kevin drove himself to his new house in Green Lakes to look at what the Cullens had done so far. The kitchen had been fine, but Esme insisted it simply had to have real tile floors that met with the entrance and matched the current mahogany color scheme of the kitchen. She also insisted that all the rugs needed to be replaced with a nicer beige rug so it would go well with any color. Emmett and Jasper were still there and they made a point to keep him away from Kelly's future room and instead showed him where his office would be, where the master would be, and the spare bedroom. He asked Jasper and Emmett to make sure the color scheme in the guest bedroom fit a boy's taste seeing as David would be living with him and Megan. Neither Jasper nor Emmett said anything. They just went to Kelly's room and closed the door behind them so they could work.

Despite the cold shoulder he got from Emmett and Jasper the day before, Kevin was in a good mood that day when he got to his office. This would be the last day that he, Megan, her soon-to-be ex-husband Howard and his lawyer would sit and talk over the phone. Kevin was determined to make this the last day Megan and Howard argued so they could have Megan sign the divorce papers and have them sent to Howard to sign. The appointment to meet was scheduled for one, so Kevin asked Mary to order him some soup for lunch while she went and got hers. When one rolled around, Mary brought Kevin his lunch, but Megan wasn't there. It didn't bother Kevin until it turned to one thirty. He was about to pick up the phone and call her when Mary came on the intercom.

"_Kevin, Mrs. Everhart is here." After today_, Kevin thought, _she wouldn't be Mrs. Everhart anymore._ No longer upset with her, Kevin told Mary to send Megan in. When she got in, she sat down and Kevin picked up the phone, prepared to dial the number for Howard's lawyer.

"Alright, Megan, today's the day. Are you excited?" It was then that Kevin finally looked Megan right in the face. She looked upset. "Megan what's wrong? I know the last few times, we haven't been able to budge Howard, but we'll get him this time. If it has to go to court, so be it."

Megan shook her head, "It's not that." She took a deep breath and looked at her hands.

"What's wrong then?" Kevin asked her, concerned.

Megan didn't answer him initially. She made sure she wasn't looking him it the face when she finally did. "Howard called me yesterday."

"What about?"

"Howard," Megan stopped a moment, still refusing to look Kevin in the eye. "Howard and I talked for a while yesterday, and he knew that a divorce was too expensive. He apologized for the affair and asked me to come back."

Kevin's face turned to a hard line. "What did you tell him?"

Megan took a deep breath. "We decided to give it another shot. Howard and I aren't getting divorced." Kevin heard her voice crack, but it was too little too late and after too much had happened. Now it was Kevin that couldn't look at Megan. "I really am sorry."

"Shit happens," was all Kevin said. He cleared the phone history so he was no longer calling Rupert.

"Kevin, I swear, I never intended for this to happen."

"If you say so," he answered, his voice hollow.

"Kevin—"

"I want you to leave." Kevin said it so coldly and he still wouldn't look at Megan. Three months together, of her promising they'd be together after the divorce, and this was all Kevin had to show for it. Megan stood from her seat and began to walk out, but just as she got back to the door, she turned to look at him.

"I love you."

"I said I want you to leave." This time, the rage in his voice was apparent and it made Megan rush out of Kevin's office. He was shaking, what could only be described as rage coursing though his veins. Rage that this had happened again, rage that his family had been right, rage that she'd hurt him again, just pure and bitter rage. Kevin stood from his chair intending to walk to his window, but instead, he grabbed Megan's divorce file and threw it so hard that the room rained documents and papers. That was what Mary walked into. The anger and pain on Kevin's face as evident as red against green. Mary made sure to close the door before she went to Kevin as he sat back down.

"Kevin," she started, but she was stopped when she saw Kevin look up at her.

"I can't believe she did this to me again." Kevin refused to cry, but refusing to didn't necessarily mean he wouldn't. Mary took a hold of Kevin and tried to comfort him. It was then that Kevin finally allowed himself to start crying. "I loved her, Mary. Why doesn't she love me back?"

Mary began to gently hush him, "Just let it out Kevin. It's just you and me, so you cry all you need." Kevin did just that. He made sure he was quiet at least, but he cried and he cried hard and long. Mary stayed with him the whole time he cried, never saying a word. Kevin didn't need words, he needed comfort and that's exactly what she gave him. He cried for twenty minutes before he was finally able to stop.

Kevin went home early that day. Much earlier than he normally would. He'd been getting several case loads since he won his Smith vs. Hollister case back in the beginning of July, so normally he was packed with work that he always took home with him. But today, he needed to go home and shower. He wanted to get rid of his shame somehow. He was technically supposed to go on patrol that night, but he couldn't. Not after what had happened today. He felt himself crumbling when he got into that shower. He thought he'd gotten it out earlier, but he unleashed a torrent of tears once again. He cried over how foolish he'd been and how much it all hurt. He'd said to her that her tricks wouldn't work at twenty five. Well they had, and now they cut him ten times deeper because they'd been talking about a life together, kids together, bringing their families together like they'd always said they would before. It would be so much easier if he could only hate her. If only he could just hate her. If only. When he got out of the shower, he went to his little home office and grabbed the rattle she'd given him. Looking at the little moon with the diamond eyes, it was like a mocking trickster figure, teasing him and chastising him for his foolishness. Without a second thought, Kevin shifted into his vampiric form and used a quarter of his might to crush the offending toy into dust. He shifted back when he heard his cellphone ring. He walked to it slowly and answered solemnly.

"Hello?"

"_Kevin, I'm in labor!"_ The sound of Page's voice as it announced she was in labor made Kevin come back to reality.

"Hold on, I'll come get you in a minute."

"_I don't have a minute Kevin. My contractions are right on top of each other. The doctor says I've been in labor all day, but my water didn't break until an hour ago. I'm at Northwest Hospital and if you want to be here when your kid is born, you better get your ass here now!"_ Page hung up on Kevin and Kevin went right to his closet, got dressed, and ran to the garage and drove to the hospital. When he got there, he went right to the front desk.

"Hey, I'm Kevin Black, I'm here to see Page Sanders. She's having my baby." The nurse looked up the name and pointed him in the direction of the maternity ward and told him Page's room number. Kevin sent a simple text to everyone in a mass text: _Page in Labor. Northwest Hospital_. When Kevin got to the room, a nurse came out and told him Page wanted to be left alone since she would have to start pushing soon, so Kevin took a seat on a bench in a small waiting room near the ward. Kevin waited another hour before another nurse came out with some documents.

"Alright," the nurse said, "first of all, I'll need you to fill out these insurance documents." Kevin took them and began, but was stopped momentarily. "And," Kevin looked up at the nurse, who now looked excited. "It's a girl. Ms. Sanders just signed her name on the birth certificate, so all you need to do is sign and name the baby." The nurse handed Kevin the birth certificate and wrote his name next to father. He brought the pen to the larger line, but he stopped momentarily. Kelly was a name that Megan had picked, so Kevin chose a different name. A name he'd suggested, but Megan had adamantly rejected. On the larger line, Kevin wrote: _Heather Renesmee Black_. The nurse took the certificate and smiled. "That's a beautiful name."

"I thought so," he answered as he filled out the forms. When they were filled out, he handed them back to the nurse. "When can I see her? My daughter I mean."

"Well, they'll need to clean her up and take a print of her foot. Once all that's done, then you can see her. I'll come get you the moment she's in the Baby room, okay?" Kevin smiled and waited another ten minutes before the nurse came back and led Kevin to a room that was a few halls away from the maternity ward. The nurse led him in and brought him to the crib labeled Heather Renesmee Black. With a kind smile, she picked Heather up and handed her to Kevin.

She was so beautiful. She had cute chubby cheeks, all ten fingers and all ten toes. When she opened her eyes, they were green, just like his. He feared they'd end up blue like Page's eyes, but they were green as leaves. She had Page's nose, but that was for the best. Kevin didn't exactly have a feminine nose. She had cute little lips and her skin was so soft when Kevin ran his finger over her cheek. It was then that Kevin realized he was trembling. He also noticed a presence that wasn't there before. Kevin looked towards the entrance and saw Kyle, smiling at him.

"How do I look?" Kevin asked awkwardly.

"Scared shitless," Kyle answered frankly. Kevin smiled and looked back at Heather. He noticed she had brown hair with hints of red. Just like him. She already had nails (sort of) and she was light as a feather. The nurse said she weighed eight pounds, twelve ounces, but she felt lighter to Kevin. As Kevin looked at Heather and she looked at him and actually smiled at him, Kevin forgot all about any pain he'd felt. Today would not be the day Megan broke his heart again. Today would be the day he welcomed Heather into the world and she made everything okay.


	27. All in the Family

**All in the Family**

After Kevin had sent the text telling everyone that Page was in labor, the whole family showed up at the hospital to welcome the new baby. Kevin was the only one allowed to see Heather initially, but he made sure to take a picture of her before the nurses had to kick him out of the nursery. Page recovered after a couple of hours, so Kevin wrote her a check for the rest of her compensation and wished her luck with her move back to Oregon. Heather had to stay at the hospital for two days so they could check her blood, give her a shot or two, and make sure she was completely healthy. In those two days, Jasper, Emmett, Edward, and Esme worked around the clock to get the house perfect and get Kevin's things moved in while he was at work. Kevin let his landlord know that he would be leaving as soon as the baby was born, so the two worked out what they needed to, Kevin paid the rent for September and October and Kevin was officially moved by the time he could take Heather home. As the office promised, Kevin was allowed three weeks with his baby and any work Kevin needed to do was done from home.

The whole family was there to welcome Heather home. Alice arranged a family get together at Kevin's new house (which would also act as his housewarming party) and had a little banner and balloons set up that said, 'It's a girl!' Even the Denalis came to see the new addition to the colorful family. They brought toys and plenty of winter clothes for Heather seeing as it would be winter soon anyway. But she came home in the little onesie Mary had given him. Heather slept through the whole party, but everyone got a chance to hold her and coo her and say how cute she was and take pictures of her with each individual family member as well as in groups. Rosalie was smitten with little Heather and insisted on taking care of her whenever Kevin was at work. It was a free nanny, so Kevin wholeheartedly agreed to the arrangement.

Kevin barely touched any work during his leave. Heather was fun, even when he was only watching her. When she slept, she would kick and move constantly and make cute little noises. When she was awake, she giggled at the slightest thing. She laughed for minutes when Kevin sneezed one time. The littlest thing fascinated her. One minute, she'd be looking at Kevin while he was playing with her feet, then she'd start looking at her feet as if they were the most interesting thing ever. Or she would look at Kevin's hands, fascinated with how much bigger they were than hers. Her eyes stayed green and her hair started resembling Renesmee's, especially since it was already starting to grow and curl.

The two spent a lot of time at the Cullen house following Kevin's leave. Poor Heather couldn't get a moment alone with Alice around. She was constantly being put in different outfits with different toys in her hand and in different spots so Alice could take pictures. Heather was wearing a dark purple velvet dress that had a little black cat embroidered on the shoulder and she had a little pumpkin scrunchie wrapped around her head and over her curly hair. Heather was in a little chair for support that was distinctly Halloween themed with pumpkins and witches and cats with a purple backdrop.

"Alice, I think forty eight pictures are enough for one day," Kevin said, seeing Heather start to get fussy.

"You'll thank me one day for taking this many pictures. When she isn't a baby anymore, you'll have plenty of pictures to hold the memory. Besides, you'll need a number of pictures to show to people. Why keep this cute little thing to yourself?"

"The people at work don't need to see a million pictures of my new born baby either."

"They will, Kevin, and they will like it." Alice took the picture of Heather and she made a weird squinting face that made Kevin start laughing.

"You should take a picture of that face," Kevin said. "That's cute and funny."

"I already did, but you keep that picture to yourself and family young man. A lady never takes a bad picture after all."

Kevin laughed and looked back at Heather, who was sound asleep now. Alice agreed to leave her alone and let her take a nap. She could always take more pictures later. When Kevin did have to go back to work, Rosalie came over with Alice, Bella, and Esme to look after Heather. Now that Kevin was in Green Lakes, he needed to wake up at six so he could be at work by seven thirty at latest if there were cops on the road. When he got to the office, it was before most of the secretaries, so the halls weren't quite packed yet. The first thing Kevin did was take out three pictures (including the funny one) of Heather and placed them on his desk. As he was setting up, he heard a knock on the door and looked up to see Lamar.

"There you are. I was beginning to think you fell off the face of the earth or something." Lamar walked over, "Now where're the baby pictures?" With a smile, Kevin handed him a picture of Heather in a little pink dress with a fake fur coat with the hood pulled over her head, her reddish brown curls peaking out.

"My aunt went hog wild taking pictures of Heather. I narrowed it down to my three favorites, but the rest are being put in a photo album."

Lamar chuckled, "She looks just like you. Sorry I couldn't go to the welcoming party."

"It's alright. You had to work."

"I do still want to see the place, though. And Lestat could use a playmate. He's still got a while before he starts pre-school and Stefani says the sooner Lestat starts socializing, the better."

"I don't know how much fun he'll have with Heather, I admit. She's usually asleep and I hear one year olds need more amusement then that. Lestat is a year now right?"

"Fourteen months to be exact. It might be good for him to have playmates other than his cousins."

"We'll try Sunday if that's alright with you."

"Sounds good. You don't mind if I bring Stefani right?"

"Of course I don't mind." Lamar handed back the picture to Kevin, who put it back where he'd placed it before.

"I'm sure you don't want to talk about this, but I heard from Mary about Mrs. Everhart." Kevin breathed heavily a moment. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I don't want to think about her. I'd rather focus on Heather. She's what's important."

"Damn straight, man," Lamar said and came closer to Kevin and patted his back. "That's a beautiful little girl you got there. Focus on her. You know, the strangest thing happened. I went to get you a gift from Baby's R Us after you registered and the cashier said someone bought everything already."

Kevin chuckled, "That would be my Aunt Alice. I've got to say, it's a good thing my mom's side of the family comes from a lot of money. I don't know what Alice would do if she couldn't go shopping."

Lamar laughed too, "Rich women. Well, I'll leave you to get to work." Lamar went back to his office and Mary came in an hour or so later with a big smile.

"I demand pictures," she said as she walked over to Kevin's desk. Kevin smiled and handed her one that was in his wallet. It was the picture of when she was first brought home and she was wearing the onesie Mary had given him. "Oh, Kevin, she's beautiful! She looks so much like you."

"Yeah, she does. I know you can't see it in this picture, but she has my eyes too."

"Really?" Mary said, looking right into his eyes a moment. "That's certainly a bonus. I like your eyes. I wish I could have green eyes like you."

"I think brown eyes suit you, actually."

Mary giggled, "Flattery will get you everywhere." Mary gave Kevin back the picture. "I've always meant to ask. How do you have green eyes if you're half Native American? Native Americans usually have brown or black eyes don't they?"

"We've actually never been sure. I look mostly like my mom and I get my eyes from her. I'm the only one with green eyes. All my siblings have brown eyes. Then again, I'm also the only one that doesn't have black hair. Well, no, Kyle has dark brown hair more appropriately, but I still look the most like mom. The only traits I have of my dad are my build, my height, and my incapability to grow proper facial hair." Kevin chuckled, as did Mary.

"You've got to love genetics." Mary handed back the photo. "And I'm very flattered you brought her home in that little onesie I got you."

"I'd planned on it honestly. It seemed appropriate." Mary smiled back, flattered.

"So," Mary said, losing a little enthusiasm, about to ask something she knew Kevin wouldn't want to talk about, "how're you feeling? You know, about what happened with Mrs. Everhart?"

Kevin sighed, "I'm fine. I don't want to talk about it, alright?"

"Okay, but you shouldn't ignore it either. I promise you, talking about it is a lot better than pushing it between your toes."

"I've done all the talking I could possibly stand on the matter with relatives. I'm just relieved they had the decency not to say, 'I told you so.'"

"Well of course they didn't. That's not what you need to hear." Kevin smiled a little at Mary's comment. "Just remember I'm available to talk if you want, especially if it means free sushi."

Kevin chuckled, "Figures there's a catch to your support."

Mary giggled, "I'm not free, Kevin. But kidding aside, are you sure you're alright?"

"Really, I'm fine. Thanks for thinking of me, though."

"It's my pleasure. I hope that having a baby means you shop for groceries now."

Kevin chuckled. "If I forget, my Aunt Rosalie will do it for me. She's taken on looking after Heather while I'm at work, so if there's a lack of food in the fridge, she'll handle it. She yells at me for it when I get back, but either way, my fridge gets filled."

Mary smiled and gently shook her head, "It's a miracle you can take care of yourself sometimes. You know that?"

"I'm aware," Kevin smiled back.

Before Heather came around, Kevin would work until eight at night. Now, he made sure to be home by six at least. Kevin woke up early and fed Heather, and when he got home, he fed her dinner. Heather grew at a normal pace, much like Kevin and his siblings had. But even then, she was growing like a weed. Before Kevin knew it, Heather was able to hold up her head and sit up all on her own. From time to time when they were all free, Lamar and Stefani would come over with Lestat for a play date. Heather learned a lot from Lestat, among those things: how to crawl, then how to unlock the playpen. Heather saw Lestat do that once, and from then on, no one could keep her in a playpen.

"Your son turned my daughter into an escape artist, Lamar," Kevin jabbed one day when they were sitting in the conference room.

"Just be glad she hasn't figured out how to climb out of her crib yet. Lestat does that all the time and it drives his nanny insane. The poor thing thought Lestat was lost and called the police and everything thinking he might've gotten out of the house. Guess where the police found him, the tub in the guest bathroom."

Kevin chuckled, "How'd he even get in there? That tub isn't an easy thing for a baby to get into."

"Hell if I know. I don't know where he gets it from. It must be Stefani because I wasn't that smart until high school." The two laughed and discussed Lestat, prodigy to Houdini, until the partners entered the office and they discussed customers and what have you.

This was also the year that Suerro had started at the Tribal School as a language teacher. He'd figured out the written language quickly enough and changed around the books so that when the older kids started reading the traditional stories, they were reading them in their native tongue. It was weird for Suerro for a time because when he was human, these old tales of Q'waeti the Transformer and the Trickster tales of the Bayak (raven) were told only by a medicine man and performed by other tribal elders. The little kids were really beginning to like him, though, because he tried making the story telling as authentic as he could. With the little kids, Suerro spent a few months getting the basics of the language handled. They were still really little, so he spoke Quileute most of the time with them hoping that the old fashioned way of talking to a little kid and having them figure out the language themselves would work. Once they got a good grasp of the language, Suerro began telling them the old stories in Quileute, translating when they needed. He also made a raven headdress that he'd wear whenever he was talking about Bayak and his many misadventures as a trickster and a wolf headdress for when he tells the Quileute creation story. He'd found a wolf that had recently deceased (killing a wolf was against tribal law of course) and made it into a headdress. The little kids loved that.

"I hear the kids at the Tribal School really like Suerro," Billy said to Jacob. The two were fishing together; something they hadn't done in a long time.

"I'm glad to hear it," Jacob responded rather blandly.

"I admit I had my doubts of the man myself, but he seems to be coming through. He's been bending over backwards trying to impress you. I'm impressed with his blind determination."

"Sure, sure," Jacob answered. They stayed quiet for a while longer. Jacob caught a small fish and put it in the cooler with the others. Billy caught himself a fish shortly thereafter; a rather exciting twenty minutes since the fish seemed to be biting. When Billy released another bit of bait into the water, he spoke again.

"You have every reason not to trust the man. Believe me, I didn't trust him either. But then, we didn't trust the Cullens before. Now they're our greatest allies and it happened through the age old method of marriage."

"Nessie and her family are different. Nessie never forced herself upon me."

Billy chuckled, "Yeah she did. You two weren't intimate until you were married, but it wasn't for lack of Nessie trying."

"She was never violent about it."

"Are we talking about the same Renesmee?"

"Nessie was in a position where I didn't take offense to it. Suerro didn't have that luxury and even if he did, he still was planning to rape her. There's no gentle or loving way to do that."

Billy sighed, "Yes, Jacob, I know. But Suerro admits that he's done wrong and has done what he can to correct it. Two years ago, I would've never thought for a moment that I would trust that man. But he's been so good to Natalie and he's changed for her. What more does the man need to do before you'll trust him?"

"I don't distrust him, dad. I just don't like him."

"I don't like Paul either, but I know he loves my daughter and I tolerate him. At least Suerro is taking the traditional step of asking your permission to marry Natalie. Paul gave Rachael a ring in a flower and before I know it, I come home from Charlie's house to Rachael telling me, 'Daddy, I'm getting married.'"

"Dad, if Paul had been stupid enough to try and win your approval, they'd have never gotten married. It's not my fault Suerro thinks I'll be jumping for joy because he's waiting for my approval to marry Natalie."

"You don't need to be jumping for joy, Jacob. All it takes is acknowledging that he loves her and that he'll be good to her. At least Suerro doesn't come to your house and eat your food like Paul used to do. Hell, he still does that whenever we watch football at my house. I've told him to bring his own damn food, but he never does. I tell him to bring his own booze for a reason." Billy cleared his throat. "But I'm drifting. Suerro already asked you if he could marry Natalie once and you said no to him. Honestly, I think at this point you're just not being fair." Suerro had asked to marry Natalie a few days before Jacob's fishing trip with Billy. It'd been in private, in the garage, he told Jacob how much he loved Natalie and that he'd make her happy and blah, blah, blah. Jacob told him no.

"He wants my approval; that's his choice. After how he treated her, it'll be a while before I let him marry my daughter."

Billy sighed, "He really is trying, Jacob. He asked me the other day what he could do that might impress you. I didn't know what to tell him. He's bought her a nice apartment, he hasn't laid a hand on her, and he never stays at her house when she sleeps. Edward used to do that with Bella and I always found that creepy to be frank. Suerro doesn't do that. Suerro doesn't have to do things so traditionally, but he does because he's trying to make an impression on you." Jacob didn't say anything when Billy stopped, waiting for an answer. "All I'm saying, Jacob, is that you shouldn't be so hard on him. All you're doing is making yourself look like an ogre."

"Sure, sure," Jacob answered.

After their fishing trip, Jacob and Billy went back to the house and spent the afternoon cleaning the fish so they could have it for dinner that night. Everyone was coming over, so there was plenty of fish that would go around. Kyle came home from school for the weekend so he could spend a little more time with his new niece. He didn't get to play with her as much as everyone else had. When everyone was at the house, Nessie asked Ada María and Natalie to help her with preparing dinner.

"Mom," Natalie said as they started portioning all the fish, "did Suerro asked daddy for permission to marry me the other day?"

"Yes," Nessie answered.

"Is it true he said no?"

Nessie sighed a little, "Yes, honey, he said no. I assume you're asking me because you want me to talk to him?"

"I would appreciate that mom. Suerro's doing his best to get daddy to like him. Daddy's really hurting his feelings by being so stubborn."

"You do realize they can hear us from the kitchen right?" Ada María asked. The two looked at her without a word, "Seriously, Natalie. Your dad and Suerro can hear you from here. Just go in there and make daddy give you what you want."

"Why do you enjoy making fun of me, Ada?"

"Because, Natalie, you're an obnoxious little daddy's girl and I frankly find that to be an undesirably trait in a woman your age."

"My God, Ada, what did you have in your coffee this morning, instant bitch?"

"Shut up, I'm moody and pregnant." Natalie and Nessie stopped what they were doing and looked at Ada María. They heard Jacob ask Nathan if he knew and he said it was news to him. Ariel walked into the kitchen and stood next to Ada María. He was three now and getting really tall. Nathan and Ada María had him getting ready to go for school the next school year.

"Mãe," Ariel said.

"Por que você parece tão triste?" _(Why do you sound so upset?)_

"When did you find out?" Nathan asked who was now in the room standing behind her.

"I found out a few hours ago. You're not upset are you?"

"Of course not. I'm just a little surprised. I didn't know you were thinking of having more just yet."

"Why have any more kids at all? You've got me." Nathan and Ada María looked at Ariel strangely and Kevin laughed from the living room.

"I said the same thing when your grandma got pregnant with Kyle," Kevin said. "It didn't do me much good." Kyle laughed a little too. Nathan smiled and rubbed Ariel's head.

"Don't be such a sour puss. It won't be so bad having a little brother or sister."

"But I don't want a little brother or sister. I like being an only child."

Natalie giggled, "My god, you sound more like a daddy's girl than I do." Suerro started laughing from the other room and Ariel stuck his tongue out at Natalie.

"Are you honestly saying you wouldn't be bothered if Grandma and Grandpa had another baby?" Ariel asked Natalie.

"Only if it were another little girl," Natalie answered honestly. "I don't want to share my daddy with another little girl. Just because I'm out of the house and have a boyfriend doesn't mean I don't still need him all to myself."

"Aren't I a little old to be referred to as your boyfriend?" Suerro asked from the living room.

"You're too old to be anything," Travis teased.

"Ha ha ha, very funny," Suerro answered.

"That gets me back to what I was originally talking about." Natalie walked out of the kitchen to the living room and sat on the arm of the couch next to Jacob. "Daddy, why did you tell Suerro he can't marry me?"

"I didn't say he couldn't, Natalie. I said I still don't approve of him."

"So you told him no?" Natalie asked. Jacob sighed heavily and took a sip of his beer. Natalie gave Jacob a moment to respond, but he didn't, "Daddy?"

"Natalie?" Suerro said, getting Natalie's attention. "I'll talk to him about it later. Try not to worry about it and let me take care of this alright?"

"Fine, but daddy," Natalie turned her attention to Jacob and hugged him around his neck while still sitting on the arm of the couch, "it would make me very happy if you said yes." Then Natalie kissed Jacob's temple and walked back to the kitchen.

"I don't suppose that changed your mind did it?" Suerro asked when Natalie was out of the room.

"Natalie's good, Suerro, but she's not that good." Suerro kept a composed face while Billy looked at Jacob saying nothing, but not hiding his irritation either. Unfortunately, Jacob inherited the Black Bullheadedness. Or maybe it was the Uley side? It was more likely the Uley side seeing as Ann Uley Black was the definition of bullheaded. Either way, Jacob was being too stubborn.

When dinner was ready, they all sat down together and talked a little more about the news that Ada María was pregnant and discussed names for the baby. Kevin had Heather in a highchair next to him and was trying to get her to eat a little of the mashed potatoes that Nessie had made with dinner. Heather was only about five months old now, but Kevin wanted to start introducing solid food. He only gave her a little, though, and made sure that Heather always had her bottle of formula. She would drop it sometimes, but Kevin or Travis, who was sitting on the other side of Heather, would pick it up for her. After dinner, Suerro made another effort to talk to Jacob and try to get him to change his mind, but all Jacob said was, "If you're honestly relying on me to give my approval, then you'll be waiting for a while."

Billy was still a little annoyed with Jacob, but he couldn't pretend that he didn't understand his son's point of view on the matter, considering what Suerro had done in the past to Natalie, however much he'd apologized for it. He was getting frustrated, but Suerro knew that Jacob had his reasons for disliking him. That wouldn't stop him from trying to get Jacob to like him, though. In the following weeks, Suerro tried something new with his older students. He decided it would be fun to take them back to their roots and teach them how to fish the old fashioned way with nets and spears. After catching loads of fish with his students, he allowed them to take home what they wanted and he took the rest and gave that net filled with fish to Jacob and Renesmee. After presenting all that fish to them, he deboned every fish, scaled them, and portioned each one individually and wrapped each one in individual serving bags he'd brought with him. All Nessie would have to do is actually cook the fish, unless Nessie wanted him to do that.

"Thanks for all the fish, Suerro," Nessie said as she was putting the fish in the freezer. "I don't even think I've ever deboned fish this well."

"I'd better be good at it," Suerro smiled, "My father taught me everything I know. I caught and deboned my first fish when I was barely able to walk. At least, that's what my mother and father would brag."

"I'm surprised you remember so much about your human life. Not many vampires ever do."

"Vampires are more apt to remember their human life if there's a trauma associated with it. Rosalie remembers everything, does she not?"

"That's true. But my mother remembers a lot and she didn't go through trauma. At least, not to the effect of what you and Rosalie went through."

"True, but she has a busload of people that are more than happy to remind her of her human life."

Nessie shrugged, "That's true too. I'm just surprised you remember things like family. Even Rosalie forgot most of her childhood."

"Truth be told, I remember a lot of my childhood because Taha Aki was a prominent part of my childhood. I was so angry at him that I remembered every part of my life he'd ever been involved in. Consequently, that was a lot."

"Do you still hate him?" Nessie asked, putting away the last of the fish.

"Yes, I do," Suerro answered honestly. "But as I told Natalie, the Black lineage came from Zurra. I understand what they had now, and I understand why Taha Aki did all that he did in order to be with my little sister. What I don't understand or respect about the matter is why he felt he had the right to sleep with her when they weren't married and discredit my authority by claiming that because I wasn't her father, I had no right to say who she could and could not marry."

"I appreciate your point of view," Nessie said.

"I know Jacob says that if I proposed to Natalie, he wouldn't stop me, but he doesn't approve of me."

"I'm sorry to say, but you're right about that. He's still angry at you. I can't pretend that doesn't bother me immensely too."

"I know," Suerro said. "I have no excuse and I won't make one."

"I appreciate that," Nessie went across the kitchen and took ten dollars out of her purse. "Here's ten dollars for some blood at Red Night. Think of it as a thank you for bringing us all this fish."

"Thank you." Suerro took the ten dollars and waited for Nessie to look away before he put the ten back neatly in her wallet without a word. "I know Jacob's still not fond of me, but that doesn't mean I can't do things for you around the house. Edward told me that when Jacob was trying to impress him, he did yard work."

Nessie smiled, "Yeah. Jacob did most of that while I was at college. I think I could find things for you to do around the house. I don't have anything in the way of a garden, but I can ask Jacob to let you help the next time he's making repairs on either of the cars or bike."

"I could do that. Would you like me to make dinner for the two of you tonight?"

"That won't be necessary, but thank you for offering. You already caught dinner. You don't need to make it too." Before Suerro could offer again, the phone to the house rang. Nessie picked it up and heard Nathan on the other end.

"_Mom, Ada just went into labor and we're on our way to Grandpa Carlisle's house."_

"Do you want me and Jacob over there?"

"_Not now. We'll give you a call when the baby's born. I think Ada will be in more of a visiting mood by then." _ When Nathan finished talking, Nessie heard Ada María yell at Nathan to, 'Hang up the God damn phone a drive!' Then she heard Ariel mumbling in Portuguese from the back seat of the car.

"I'll let you go, honey," Nessie hung up the phone and glanced at her wallet. Then she smiled and looked at Suerro. "You put the ten dollars back?" Suerro just smiled. "That's one way to graciously refuse."

"I was hoping you wouldn't notice. I didn't want to offend you."

"I appreciate the attempt," Nessie laughed a little. Suerro left shortly after that and went back downtown. A few hours later, Nathan called Nessie again and let her know she and Jacob had another grandson named Gabriel Hector Escada Black. Nessie and Jacob made their way to the Cullen house to see their new grandson. When they arrived, Ariel was looking at his new little brother in the living room with most of the family. By the end of the night, Gabriel was playing with some toys his aunts all bought him.

"Alright, you listen here, you little runt," Ariel said when he was sure no one was watching him. "You might be the new baby, but I'm still the oldest and that means I rule the roost." Gabriel just blinked at Ariel. "Keep that in mind," Ariel continued while Gabriel started fiddling with his rattle, "and we'll get along just fine. Do you think you'll be able to handle that?" With his plastic rattle, Gabriel hit Ariel over the head and started laughing. Ariel stayed still and leered at Gabriel. "So that's how it's going to be?"

"Ariel, be nice to Gabriel," Nathan said as he walked over to them. "I know you're used to it being just you, but try to adjust."

"I've told him what I expect and he hit me with his rattle. This means war." Nathan just laughed and picked Gabriel up.

"You two will be best friends before you know it. Your mom's parents just got here, so be nice and say hi to them." Nathan walked to where Rafael and Yaretzi were and handed over Gabriel after Yaretzi reached for the baby. Yaretzi started cooing Gabriel and Rafael stood behind Yaretzi. He pulled out a small toy that they'd brought and handed it to Gabriel, earning Gabriel's excited laughter. After that, Rafael handed Gabriel the toy, he walked over to Ariel and hugged him.

"_Como está fazendo__?" (How are you doing?)_

"Fine I guess. _Não estou entusiasmado com Gabriel." __(I'm not thrilled about Gabriel)_.

Rafael smiled and patted Ariel's back. _"Sei como se sente. Tinha um pouco irmãos também, mas aprendi a amar minhas irmãs pequenas." __(I know how you feel. I had a few siblings too, but I grew to love my little sisters)_.

"I'm bothered with having a sibling at all. I liked being an only child. _Agora tenho essa pirralha de lidar." __(Now I have this little brat to deal with)._

"Ariel Rafael," Rafael said sternly. "Don't speak that way about your little brother. Blood is thicker than water. It has to be otherwise you'd have no one to love you unconditionally."

"I don't have to love him just because he's my maninho."

Rafael smacked the back of Ariel's head. _"Não diga isso sobre Gabriel." __(Don't say that about Gabriel)._

A few months later, the snow was finally beginning to melt and snowstorms turned back to rainstorms. In the spring months, it was Heather's and Gabriel's first violent rainstorm when they were at Nessie and Jacob's house for dinner. Heather started crying, so Suerro carried her around, telling her the tale of Tistihlal (Thunderbird) in Quileute. Gabriel practiced walking by following Suerro as he told his story. Tistihlal was a giant bird that created the sound of thunder with the flap of his wings and caused lighting from the blinking of his eyes. He kept his voice soft enough that, despite the content of the story, Heather started calming down and falling asleep again. When she was asleep, Suerro put her back in her little carrier and covered her ears with her blanket so the thunder wouldn't bother her.

A few days later when the rain had settled a little, Suerro decided to go visit Zurra's grave. He didn't visit it nearly as much as he had in the past, but there also wasn't that unresolved tension that had been associated with her grave before. Suerro didn't bring anything. He only swam to the island and began reciting ceremonial chants that were meant, when he was human, to protect the dead. As Suerro was paying his respects, he smelled something, and then realized it was Billy. But he didn't smell right. Suerro looked in the direction of the smell and saw a small little boat, but from the distance, he couldn't see Billy. Suerro went back in the water to check on Billy, assuming he was just sleeping. But the closer he got, the more he realized that wasn't the case. Aside from the sounds of the ocean, there was no sound coming from Billy. He started to suspect, but when he got to the boat, he knew.

Billy was lying down in the boat. The fishing rod was gone, which led Suerro to believe Billy dropped in. So Suerro dived and looked around until he found the fishing rod. He remembered Billy saying he only ever used his dad's fishing rod. When Billy and his father were finally starting to improve their relationship after he married Sarah, fishing was something they did together with Jacob when he was little. After Will sr. had passed away, Billy kept this fishing rod as a way to remember him. When Suerro found the fishing rod, he swam back up to the boat and began to pull it to shore. As Suerro finally pulled the boat to shore, one of his younger students came walking down.

"Mr. Roux, why are you pulling the boat?" she asked.

"Lilly, I need you to do something for me. You know where Jacob Black lives right?"

Lilly nodded, "In that big house up the road."

Suerro nodded, "That's right, Lilly, in the big house. Could you please go there and see if Mr. and Mrs. Black are home? If they are, please tell them they need to come to the beach right now." Lilly nodded and started running to where the Black house was. He'd have to call them over the phone if they weren't home, but he didn't want to. This wasn't something that was meant to be told over the phone. He did, however, call Natalie.

"_Hey, Suerro. Did you already visit Zurra?"_

"Yes," Suerro answered. "Listen, Natalie, I'm afraid I have to tell you something."

"_What?"_

"While I was at my sister's grave, I saw your grandpa's boat in the water. I swam to his boat to check on him, but," Suerro stopped a moment, already sensing Natalie was getting tense. "I'm sorry, Natalie, but Billy's dead."

"_Grandpa?"_ Natalie's voice became sorrowful. Suerro heard people in the background start coming towards Natalie, having overheard what he'd just told her. _"How did he die?"_

"He looked peaceful when I found him. I think he just fell asleep." Though that was slightly comforting to know, it didn't stop Natalie from beginning to cry. "I sent someone to bring your father and mother to the beach so I can tell them. You call everyone else and let them know. I'll take care of your parents."

Between sniffles, Natalie answered_, "Okay,"_ and Suerro let her hang up the phone. A few minutes later, Lilly came back with Jacob and Nessie following after her. Suerro ran to them (at a human pace) and told Lilly thanks for her help before telling her to go home.

"Why did you ask us out here?" Jacob asked before looking over Suerro's shoulder and seeing his dad's boat. "Where's dad?"

"He's in the boat," Suerro answered before handing Jacob the fishing rod. "He dropped this, so I made sure to get it back. I'm sorry, Jacob, but it looks like he fell asleep while fishing and never woke up."

Jacob looked at Suerro a moment, not saying anything. He just looked upset. He looked at the fishing rod a moment before handing it to Nessie and running to the boat, only to find Billy lying in the boat, his eyes closed as if he really were sleeping. Jacob checked Billy's pulse and that's when he started tearing up.

"Was he like that when you found him?" Nessie asked Suerro as they watched Jacob.

"Yes, he was. I noticed him lying like that and just assumed he was sleeping so I went to check on him. I knew he was dead, though, before I ever reached the boat."

"Thank you for bringing him in." Nessie was starting to get teary eyed herself, more so than Jacob. Sure, Billy was old, but it never felt like he was knocking on death's door. He always looked healthy.

"I called Natalie and told her. I let her know to tell everyone that Billy's dead."

"Thank you," Nessie managed to force out. Jacob stayed at the boat and just held his head down, crying a little more. Suerro walked over to Jacob and sat down next to him.

"I'm sorry for your loss. Billy was a good man." Jacob didn't answer him, so Suerro stayed quiet and let him cry.

"How did you get through it?" Jacob asked suddenly. "When your father died, how did you handle it?"

Suerro shrugged, "I handled it the best way I could. The village mourned all the dead that had been lost in that attack and had funeral pyres in all their honors. But I wasn't allowed to mourn very long. I had to take on raising my little sister. But you," Suerro put his hand on Jacob's back, "you can take all the time you need to grieve." Suerro finally took his hand away and stood. "Do you want me to call an ambulance to come get him?" Jacob nodded, so Suerro walked away, took out his phone, and dialed 911, telling them they had a dead body.

The ambulance finally came about twenty minutes later. They apologized to Jacob for his loss and gave him the number and address of the morgue they were taking Billy to and recommended he wait until the next day to start worrying about anything. When the ambulance was gone, Nessie wrapped her arm around Jacob's waist to comfort him and they walked back to the house. Suerro went back to the boat and lifted it above his head and carried it back to Billy's house. He let himself into the garage on the property and rested the boat where it looked like it was normally kept. After everything was put away, Suerro locked the garage back up and went to Jacob and Nessie's house. They were sitting in the living room together trying to comfort one another. Shortly after Suerro arrived, the Cullens arrived, explaining that Natalie called the house and told them about Billy. Another hour later, everyone else was packed into Jacob and Nessie's house. The whole pack was there, Natalie and her siblings were there, cousins and other family were there to offer their condolences. When Natalie walked in the door, she went to Jacob and cried that she couldn't believe grandpa was gone.

"You found him?" Edward asked Suerro after telling Jacob he was sorry.

"Yeah, I did. You know the whole story."

"I do," Edward confirmed. "I know he's not saying anything now, but Jacob's grateful that you found him so quickly, and for finding that fishing rod."

"Billy said it was important to him. It didn't belong at the bottom of the ocean."

"No it didn't. Billy had promised Jacob that after he died, the fishing rod would be his. It means a lot to Jacob that you retrieved that for him."

"How's Natalie feeling? She sounds like she isn't crying as much."

"She's upset. They're all upset. Billy was a good man and it was easy even for me to forget that he was still getting older and getting closer to death. Carlisle said he'll call the morgue and ask them how Billy died, but based on what you saw I'd say you're right to assume he simply fell asleep."

"I want that to be what happened. He didn't deserve any less." Edward nodded in agreement. "Does the tribe still practice cremation?"

"Not the way they did when you were human. Some cremate, others burry their loved ones in the Forks cemetery."

"What about Sarah?"

"Sarah was buried at Forks cemetery."

"I see," Suerro looked at Edward. "Did Billy have a will at all? I assume he wanted to be buried with Sarah."

"I know Billy has a small will, but it's mostly leaving everything to Jacob so he can handle any legal affairs. He wasn't specific about how he wanted his funeral to be. He did make it clear that he wanted to be next to Sarah, but the specifics of whether he wanted to be buried or cremated weren't made clear."

"Would Jacob be angry if I offered to buy Billy a coffin? I'll even pay for the spot so Billy can be buried next to Sarah."

"I'd say wait to mention it until later. Jacob just wants to be left alone and offering right now might come off to Jacob as you attempting to get on his good side."

"I promise that's not what this is about. I respected Billy and he's always been good to me. Even if I don't buy the spot or the coffin, I want to do something to show my respect."

"I know," Edward reassured, "but just keep it to yourself for now until Jacob's in a better mood. I'll even have Jasper temper him when you bring it up later if that'll make you feel better."

"No, don't. I'll talk to him without Jasper. If I had Jasper there, it would be like me saying I don't trust him."

"Good point," Edward agreed.

"Thanks for letting him know that I dropped off the boat."

"You're welcome." Edward walked past Suerro and went to the kitchen to make some food for the hoard of people that were there. Suerro walked to the living room and stood behind the sofa. He rested his hand on Natalie's shoulder and she took his hand in hers. Paul was the one to call Rebecca and tell her about Billy. They promised to be on the plane to Washington as soon as they could be.

Edward cooked the fish Suerro had caught seeing as there was no shortage of that in the freezer. Those who ate thank Edward for the food, not even realizing they were hungry. After everyone ate, Jacob asked everyone to leave so he could have some peace and quiet. Natalie wasn't in the mood to drive and her eyes were a little puffy, so Suerro drove her home. When they got up to the apartment, Suerro walked with Natalie to her room and kept the dogs preoccupied while she went into her closet and put on a baggy shirt, being bare underneath. Natalie walked back into her room and crawled under her covers. When she was under the covers, Suerro gave her a brief kiss and told her to sleep well.

"Suerro," Natalie said, not letting go of Suerro's hand, "I don't want to be left alone tonight. I'm still really depressed."

"Do you want me to sit by you while you sleep?"

Natalie shook her head, "I want you to hold me. At least until I fall asleep. Please, Suerro. It'll make me feel better." Normally, Suerro would tell her no, but under the circumstances, Suerro complied and went under the covers with Natalie and let her cuddle up to him.

"I love you Natalie. Now get some sleep."

Natalie smiled and kissed Suerro's chin, "I love you too." The next morning, Carlisle called the morgue and as Suerro said, Billy just fell asleep. He never felt a thing and he died doing what he loved. Even though it was Suerro's offer, Edward decided to be the first to broach the subject.

"You only heard a small portion of the conversation I had with Suerro," Edward said to Jacob while he was bent over the hood of a car moping.

"I heard enough of it. I'm grateful that he retrieved the fishing rod, but I don't need him to pay for _my _father's funeral."

"Jacob, he didn't mean it that way."

"He can buy flowers to put on his grave just like any normal person."

Edward sighed heavily, "Jacob, he isn't offering to impress you. He's offering out of respect for your father."

"Well, I appreciate how much he respected my dad, but I'll take care of his funeral arrangements. That's a son's duty, not the granddaughter's boyfriend." Jacob stood up straight and looked at Edward, taking a deep breath, "Did you know he's been doing things around the house for Nessie?"

"Of course I know. You did the same for me and Bella when you wanted to marry Nessie."

"I know," Jacob mumbled. "But at least you liked me."

"Ha," Edward laughed out loud, "I despised you. Frankly, I would've sooner given Renesmee to a badger than let her marry you. It wasn't because you weren't good to my daughter. It was because of the history we had. Feelings like that don't go away easily. Can you honestly say you liked me by the time you and Renesmee married?"

"I loved Nessie enough to pretend I liked you," Jacob teased and Edward chuckled.

"And from what I can tell, Suerro loves Natalie enough to pretend he gives a shit about what you think." Jacob took a deep breath in agitation. "Look, I'm only telling you that Suerro offered to buy a casket and a spot. If you don't want him to, just tell him graciously. Just because you don't like him doesn't mean you can't be a gentleman."

"Can we please not talk about that bloodsucking wretch that thinks he's good enough for my daughter? My father just died. I'd rather have you tell me how much it'll cost me to get him cremated and if we can sneak into the graveyard and spread his ashes over mom's grave. He said that's what he wanted. It was years ago, but he told me."

"A cremation will cost six hundred dollars."

"That's all I wanted to know. I'll buy a decent earn for the wake and funeral, but since we're spreading them on mom's grave, I don't think dad would want me to pay for a fancy urn."

"He wouldn't. Nessie's already looking for urns on the funeral home's website."

"Good," Jacob mumbled.

"I really am sorry for your loss. Billy will be dearly missed."

"Thanks."

Rebecca and John arrived the next day. Rebecca had managed to get control over herself since she got on the plane, but when she walked into Jacob's house and saw him, she started crying again. She cried that she couldn't be home more often, she cried because she didn't get to say goodbye, and she just cried. When Rachael came to Jacob's house to greet Rebecca, the two cried together. The funeral was held that Saturday morning. It took a lot for Jacob to stand before his friends and family and talk about Billy without crying audibly. It was especially hard because his sisters were in front hiccupping with how much they were crying. After the funeral, Jacob had Kevin, Kyle, and Nathan go with him to sneak into the Forks cemetery so they could put Billy's ashes on Sarah's grave. They snuck past security, hid behind trees, and made their way through the cemetery with stealth. Billy would've been proud.

A few days after Billy's death, Jacob surprised Suerro and told him to come out fishing with him Sunday morning. Suerro arrived on First Beach at four in the morning. Jacob arrived a half hour later with Billy's boat, the fishing rod as well as a spare, and a strongbox with things they'd need. Jacob had just gotten off patrol early for that morning and had every intention of keeping this trip short. He wasn't in the mood for fishing. He just wanted an opportunity for them to talk. When they were in the water, they set up and started fishing, saying nothing to one another for a good part of an hour. The sun was beginning to creep up on the horizon before Jacob finally said anything.

"That's where Zurra's buried right?" he asked as the floated near the small island.

"Yes, that's where she is. I buried the tooth with her a year ago."

"Natalie thought about that a lot when you first came around. When you let it go, she was overjoyed."

"I'm pleased to hear that. I was glad to be rid of it too. I don't know why I kept it for so many years."

"Didn't you tell Natalie it was a prize?"

"It started that way, but it started weighing on me more and more until it was like a lead weight. When I threw that tooth in my sister's grave, I felt free for the first time in centuries."

"I imagine. I noticed you're not as much of an asshole since you got rid of that thing too."

Suerro smiled, "I'm not as angry as I was."

"You're still angry?"

"Perhaps in some ways. Natalie makes me think less about those things. Besides, I've come to terms with my sister's death and her husband as best I could."

"As long as you're not like that with Natalie, I don't really care." They were silent for another handful of minutes. "Thanks by the way for getting back the fishing rod. It means a lot to me."

"I know it does."

"And thank you for bringing my dad to shore. Who knows how long he would've been out there if you hadn't found him?"

"If he had to die, at least he died fishing and at peace."

"Yeah," Jacob agreed. "Listen, Suerro, the reason I called you out here wasn't just to thank you for my dad and the fishing rod. It's about Natalie too."

Suerro turned his whole body so he was looking right at Jacob, "I'm listening."

Jacob smiled, "Don't get too excited. I still don't like you that much, but I do respect you at the very least."

"Better respect than disdain."

"Glad you see things my way," Jacob said. "I admire that you want to earn my approval before marrying my only daughter. If she'd fallen in love with or imprinted on anyone else, I'm not sure they would've done that. But then, I imagine if she'd imprinted or fallen in love with _anyone_ else, I wouldn't dislike them as much."

"Even that Spaniard that Gretchen tells me Natalie could've had?"

Jacob looked confused, "What Spaniard?"

"Caesar Ángel Franco. Was that his name? The one that taught her how to tango and that Gretchen bragged to endlessly about Natalie and her talent."

"Oh," Jacob said then shrugged his shoulders, "All I remember about that guy is he gave Natalie the bouquet after she had an allergic reaction to peanuts in the cake."

Suerro smiled, "It's a miracle that poor thing can function with all those allergies."

Jacob chuckled, "I know right? She's like her grandma Sarah. She was allergic to everything too. And with regards to that Spaniard, all I know is he used to be a dancer."

"He owns a dance company. I know that. Either way, Gretchen doesn't mind telling me Natalie had a million better options than me."

"I won't argue with that point. By the way, it's a rarity for me and Gretchen to agree on anything, so consider this a momentous occasion."

Suerro smiled, "Now if only you two agreed that I'm not so bad."

"Natalie loves you. That's really all that's important in a situation like this. We can't control who we imprint on. Believe me, if we could, I doubt I would've ever imprinted on Renesmee purely out of principle. But I did, and I love her. Natalie imprinted on you and she loves you. And I know you love her too."

"I really do. I never thought I'd love anyone let alone a direct descendant of a man I hate, but I love her."

"I know," Jacob sighed heavily. "You have my permission to marry my daughter." When he didn't hear anything from Suerro, Jacob turned and looked at him. He was only smiling. "You seem rather underwhelmed."

"I assumed you didn't want me hugging you or rocking the boat."

Jacob smiled back, "Good call." The two laughed a little and didn't talk much further after that. They returned to shore by the time the sun was up, not having caught any fish. Suerro did ask Jacob to keep this development secret from Natalie. He wanted to do something special for her and he needed time to plan. That would be easier if she had no idea Jacob had said yes.

Suerro picked Natalie up from the theatre later that day and walked her back to the apartment. Today, they'd just been assigned their parts for the upcoming play they would perform: _The Phantom of the Opera_. Natalie was given the role of Christine Daaé and, as a way to prepare, Gretchen had all the actresses (especially the ones in prominent singing roles) wear corsets during practice so they could get used to singing in them. That was easy enough for vampires, but for Natalie it took more work and she was exhausted. When they got to Natalie's apartment, he dropped her off and wished her good night as he always did. When she closed to the door, Suerro immediately went right back to Red Night to speak privately with Gretchen. Suerro had a plan; unfortunately it was a plan that required Gretchen to be on board.

"Why in the bloody hell would I let you do that?" Gretchen asked after Suerro presented his plan. They were in the green room in the basement of the Red Night theatre. Suerro had taken much longer to drag her from the bar than he would've liked, but the point was he'd gotten her to agree to talk to him.

"Jacob said he'll let me marry Natalie, so that's my biggest hurtle cleared. Now I just need you to help me propose and I think this will be just right. I dare say it might even be romantic."

"I don't care how romantic it is. What you're proposing for your proposal is that you want to disturb the whole play just so you can propose to her."

"Yes, but think of the papers and the reviews."

Gretchen gave Suerro a strange look. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"You know just as well as I do that it's the critics that made Natalie famous. That also made your theatre famous. Fame means business."

"And how will you interrupting a play to propose make me any richer, exactly?"

"By giving the critics and papers something to write about. When it happens, it'll be an event few people will have seen. The story will be printed the next morning in the Seattle Weekly and Seattle Times. _'Natalie Black gets engaged before a crowd of fans at Red Night Theatre!'_ it'll say. The story will bring people that might not have been theatre goers to your establishment. Bigger crowd means more business and money for you."

"I'm appalled, Suerro, that you would honestly think that I would allow you to interrupt a show to propose to Natalie, who is far too good for you by the way, just so I could make some extra money."

"Then don't worry about that part. Just let me propose to Natalie and make her happy."

"You could make her happy proposing to her any other way that doesn't disturb Natalie's big role."

"Maybe, but none would be as romantic and appropriate as this. Hell, I'll even pay you."

"I thought you said it wouldn't be about money."

"That seems to be the only way I'll get anywhere with you. Unless, of course, you'd be willing to let me do what I want for free?"

Gretchen sneered, then sighed heavily, "Oh bullocks, fine! I'll let you propose on stage. But you better use the money you saved bribing me to get Natalie a beautiful ring. You'll be able to afford a five carat diamond with how much I was planning to charge you."

"I'll be sure to tell Natalie about that." Suerro stood from the chair and proceeded towards the door. "And thanks Gretchen."

"Murr," was all she mumbled, dismissing Suerro out the door.

In the time following, Suerro watched Natalie during rehearsals. The school was on a late spring break and Suerro took advantage of his time off. Natalie didn't think anything of it and she did her best adjusting to singing while wearing a corset. Suerro didn't sit through the dress rehearsal the day the play was scheduled to start. He was nowhere to be found seemingly. When Natalie called him, he said he was running errands and he'd be at the show to see her. A half hour before the curtain went down, the family were in their usual seats near the middle of the theatre and nothing seemed different until they saw Romney creep through the aisles just in front of where Jacob and Nessie were seated.

"I didn't know you liked this play," Nessie said after they'd all said hi to Romney.

"I prefer the novel myself, but Suerro called me the other day and said he was proposing to Natalie tonight and I knew I had to see this. I've nabbed a back stage pass so I'll get to see the whole thing."

"I wouldn't bother with that," Edward said, looking through his playbill absently.

"You know what he's planning?" Romney asked.

"Of course I do. I'm a mind reader remember."

"Ah," Romney shrugged and sat in his seat waiting for the play to start. The curtain didn't technically go up until after the auction. The curtain opened to reveal a chandelier to the sound of the organ playing.

The play went on normally and nothing seemed strange. Natalie's hair was curled, put up in different styles through the first act and was amusing during her silent role as the page boy. Natalie came to the stage wearing a maid's dress that she ripped off later revealing that she was wearing men's clothing. She stayed quiet and humorous until the Phantom called to the stage, the sound surrounding the theatre, "Did I not instruct," called the Phantom, "that box five was to be left open?" What followed was a cluster of actors trying to correct the stage again after the stagehand was hanged by the Phantom and Natalie singing with her co-star as they raced up a set of stairs that were turned around to create a rooftop scene. Snow began falling onto the stage to set the season. Natalie finished her song and went silent. The Phantom called to her quietly and while she reacted, the audience saw something they weren't expecting. Suerro popped his head out of behind the curtain and gestured for the guy playing Raul to get off the stage so he could take his place. The other actor ran behind the curtain and Suerro stepped out wearing the same costume as the other guy.

"Oh, shit," Romney whispered. "Can Suerro actually sing?"

"We'll find out," Edward whispered back.

Natalie didn't seem to notice initially. She sniffed the air and looked confused, but she didn't turn around until Suerro started singing. She looked dumbfounded a moment while Suerro sang. It was a first for Natalie to hear Suerro sing. She didn't even think he could sing, but he wasn't bad. Without knowing what else to do, Natalie just went along with it and continued singing her part of the love song. They did exactly as Natalie and her co-star had been directed to do, but there was a point where Suerro changed the song. When the part came to whisper Christine Daaé's name, he instead whispered, "Natalie, that's all I ask of you."

Then finally, it came to the part of the song where they both sang, "Love me; that's all I ask of you," and they shared a kiss. With her co-star, it was a simple kiss, but since it was Suerro, he made the kiss last and spun her around. While they kissed, Suerro slipped something on Natalie's left ring finger and she immediately pulled away to look at the ring. Maybe it was partly because Suerro wanted to rub Gretchen's face in it, but Suerro did get Natalie a five carat teardrop shaped diamond ring that was held in a rose-gold band lined with tiny diamonds of its own. The music was still playing, so Natalie didn't have time to react the way she would've liked to. Instead, they finished the song together and shared the second kiss that was, yet again, more passionate than it would be with her co-star. The Phantom finished the scene with his own part of the song and the curtains closed for the intermission.

"Holy shit," Romney mumbled. "Since when was Suerro so public? I haven't seen him dressed like that since it was actually the fashion." Jacob took a deep breath and Romney looked at him, amused. "That wasn't what you had in mind when Suerro said he'd propose to her was it?"

"I agreed to let him marry my daughter, now I have to live with the consequences of my decision." The group started laughing and Nessie patted Jacob's back, giving him chaste and reassuring kisses.

Backstage in the greenroom, Suerro and Natalie were surrounded by cast mates begging to get a good look at the ring. Natalie smiled and showed it off graciously, but she knew Suerro was getting irritated. He wanted a chance to be alone with Natalie so they could have their personal moment out of the engagement. But he sat back and said nothing as Natalie's friends looked at the ring and asked questions of dates and colors and whatever else they could think to ask about concerning a wedding Natalie and Suerro hadn't even begun to plan. They'd gotten no time alone before the play started up again, so Natalie kissed Suerro goodbye and promised to see him after the show was over. Suerro left the greenroom and took a seat in the theatre that was empty. These shows were more often than not sold out, so Gretchen promised to keep a seat reserved for him once he'd gone through with his plan. Suerro noticed, throughout the rest of the play, Natalie continued to wear his ring instead of the fake play ring. She wore it around her neck on a chain during the masquerade scene and wore it on her finger for everything else. She even handed it to the Phantom as her parting gift; tears in her eyes and kissing his cheek, the play ended after the Phantom broke the mirror and stepped through it, escaping the angry mob.

When the cast made their bow at the end and the curtains closed for good, Suerro overheard someone from the Seattle Times talking to their friend, their notepad in hand. "Can you believe it?" he asked his friend, "Natalie Black proposed to on stage. This week's entertainment section will sell like hot cakes!" Suerro chuckled a little to himself and got through the crowd and out of the theatre into the lobby. From there, Suerro made his way back to the greenroom where Natalie would be. She was surrounded by her friends as she had been during the intermission, but when she saw Suerro, she smiled and went right to him. She asked everyone to give her and Suerro some degree of privacy and leave. When everyone was gone, Natalie was the first to hug Suerro tightly.

"Daddy finally said yes?" Natalie asked. Suerro wrapped his arms around Natalie's waist and rested his forehead on hers with a smile.

"He said yes a while ago." Suerro kissed Natalie's forehead. "I don't think he's thrilled with my method, though."

"Oh, I don't care," Natalie kissed Suerro on the lips, "It was romantic and thoughtful and I loved it."

"That's what I wanted to hear," Suerro said. "You are accepting the proposal right?"

"Yes," Natalie answered with a giggle, "Yes, Suerro, I'll marry you."

"That's what I really wanted to hear."

The family stayed in the lobby and waited for Natalie to come out for the night before hounding her to see the ring. They did eventually get away from the crowd and walked back to Natalie's apartment together. Prospero and Caliban rushed to the door when they stepped in and danced around Natalie's feet, so she kneeled down and started petting them. Suerro gave her a few minutes to play with the dogs before he reached down, lifted her into his arms, and carried her to her room with those two dogs following after them. Natalie giggled when he'd picked her up and wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. When he got Natalie to her room, he placed her on the bed and sat down with her.

"So when should we have the wedding?" Natalie asked, continuing their conversation from the walk home.

"Whenever you want, but I think it should be a full moon on the day. A full moon usually means good luck for a wedding."

"Does it? I'll make sure Alice knows."

"Oh no," Suerro jumped in, "I know what that sprite is capable of and I don't want her getting ahead of herself. I don't mind her planning the wedding for you, but I don't want her invited everybody and their mothers. I only want family at this wedding. You've got plenty of that."

"You're not inviting Romney?"

"He can come, but he's like a brother to me. I'm saying I don't want Alice to attempt to invite all those nomads your family is friends with. Most of those nomads don't like me and I don't want them at the wedding."

"Well if you really called Garret a Neanderthal, I wonder why they don't like you."

"I thought he was a moron long before I voiced that opinion."

"You do realize that the Denalis will come to this right? Kate and Garret are sort of married. So he's coming as a family member."

"Wait," Suerro looked at Natalie with an arched eyebrow, "Someone married that pea-brained Neanderthal?"

"You know," Natalie giggled, "He'll probably say the same about you when he finds out we're getting married. He already sent his condolences that I'd imprinted on you in the first place. Imagine what he'll say when we send him the wedding invitation."

"He has nothing to say about me that I haven't heard before. He can come, but he isn't getting any cake."

Natalie gave him a weird look a moment and then started laughing out loud, falling back with laughter. Suerro laughed with her and they stayed up most of the night talking. Natalie was too excited to go to sleep. By the end of the week, Alice had already sent out invitations on a date (a day it would be a full moon). She thought it would be a lot of fun to have a fall wedding in October and she invited many more than just the family like Suerro would've preferred to this full moon fall wedding. Alice was eventually able to convince Suerro that having a big wedding would be a good thing. Either that, or Suerro just got sick of arguing with Alice and just let her do whatever the hell she wanted. Natalie seemed to like all of Alice's ideas, so he didn't fight the matter too greatly. He did, however, insist that it be a beach wedding. Quileute weddings, when he was human, were typically held at the beach so there could be a huge bonfire, another thing Suerro insisted be at the wedding. He compromised on a few things, but those weren't it. As Suerro predicted would happen, the entertainment sections of the Seattle newspapers wrote about Natalie Black being proposed to on the opening night of _The Phantom of the Opera_ on stage. It earned Red Night Theatre a thirty percent increase in ticket sales for the rest of the season.

"She'll never admit it to you, but Gretchen's really pleased with the result of that little headline you caused."

"I had a feeling she would be." They smiled at each other and Natalie cuddled up to Suerro. The pack and the Cullens were surrounding a large bonfire on the beach. Ariel had recently awoken to his wolf, and that meant another gathering to tell the origins of their gift. Seeing as Billy was no longer with them, that responsibility fell on Jacob's shoulders. Suerro offered to let Jacob tell the story in the wolf headdress that he'd made and Jacob accepted.

"Suerro, I'll talk about Taha Aki, so why don't you tell the creation story? I don't think Ariel or Gabriel know that one."

"Alright, then give me the headdress." Jacob handed over the piece and Suerro propped it on his head. Then he began to tell the creation story in Quileute just like he would with his young students. _"As it started, there was a Trickster who called himself Q'waeti. He traveled the land correcting the wrongs of nature and making people where none existed. He made the Hohs that walked on their hands walk right side up. He condemned the beaver, who tried to kill him, to making dams. He condemned the Doe, who tried to stab him, to fear of all. When he found uninhabited land, he threw his dead skin into the water and created the Queets, who walked out of the water. Then, Q'waeti came to our lands. He saw two wolves, but there were no people here. He turned the two wolves into people and told them, 'The common man shall have only one wife, but the chief shall have four or eight wives. For this reason, you Quileutes shall be brave because you come from the wolf. And then Q'waeti went on and made the Makka from two dogs. And so Q'waeti continued, creating people and showing them how to live to their fullest potential." _Suerro took off the headdress and handed it to Jacob. "Are you going to tell your story in our native tongue?"

"I can try, but I'm not as fluent as you." Suerro chuckled and Jacob put on the wolf headdress. "Before I go, did everyone understand him?" Jacob directed the question to all the kids. Heather was still a small baby shy of a year old, so she just sat on Kevin's knee playing with the end of her dress. Ariel and Gabriel, who now looked like a four year old, nodded.

"We got it," Ariel answered.

"Good," Suerro said. "I'm glad I was able to get the language engrained in your brains."

"Do you think Q'waeti is still making people?" Gabriel asked somewhat snarky.

"I'm sure he's out there somewhere. Just like Dask' iya' still lives in the mountain and eats children that are bad."

Jacob burst into laughter, "Oh God, my grandma used to tell me and my sisters that story all the time."

"Oh, I remember," Rachael said back, laughing as much as Jacob. "I remember the first time she told you that story. You were three years old and after she told you Dask' iya' would kidnap you, you went to bed wearing goggles and holding a baseball bat. It was the funniest thing ever."

"I take it she never mentioned that a young Quileute girl pushed Dask' iya' into the fire and saved the other children did she?"

"No, that part always seemed to slip through the cracks. I didn't learn that until my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Songbird, told me Dask' iya' was killed years ago by a heroic girl. That was like discovering my grandma's kryptonite." Jacob laughed. "But figures, grandma didn't seem effected by that creepy ogress's death. She continued to tell me that if I were bad, that Dask' iya' would come down from the mountain and cook me in a giant pot."

"Sounds like the wicked witch from Hansel and Gretel," Emmett said.

Suerro shook his head, "Not at all. Dask' iya' was being evil for the sake of being evil. She kidnapped children, covered their eyes with gum produced from her skin, and cooked them up. The witch from Hansel and Gretel acted out of anger. These little brats started eating her house, so she decided she'd eat them."

"She made that candy house just to attract children," Bella said. "She planned on eating any kid that came around."

"That's the story's opinion," Suerro said and everyone laughed. "Anyway Jacob," Suerro said after a while of laughing, "Let's get to the story of Taha Aki. I'll fill in any blanks if you wish."

"I don't think you should," Jacob said. "You're a little biased."

"Am I?" Suerro asked sarcastically and Natalie rubbed Suerro's shoulder.

"Just a bit," she answered. Once the crowd calmed, Jacob cleared his throat and began, telling the story in the best Quileute translation he could and starting just as Billy would've.

"_Before we were wolves, we were spirit warriors. The first spirit chief, Kaheleha learned the art, it is said, from a wolf that saw tribes coming towards our village. A tribe did attack and we fled because we were a small people and too few to defend our lands."_ Jacob stopped and looked at Suerro. "How am I doing so far?"

"You sound just fine to me."

Jacob smiled, then continued, _"Kaheleha and other spirit warriors left their bodies to frighten away those that took our lands. The wolves attacked them, bats came from the caves to frighten them, and we sent howling winds to blow them away. The Hohs and the Makkas feared our power and from then, swore to be our allies."_

"Just a side note," Suerro mentioned and everyone looked at him, "That was sealed by Kaheleha taking a wife from both tribes. It wasn't until later that taking many wives became out of taste."

"Was it?" Jacob asked.

"Yeah, it was. It was Kaheleha's first wife whose children continued the chiefdom, but those marriages were bound with the hopes of peace. It worked just fine for all my childhood."

"Thanks," Jacob said. "Now shut up and let me finish. You should know better than to interrupt the chief when he's telling a story." Suerro smiled, nodded, and Jacob continued the story. _"Many generations past since that time with many spirit warriors defending the village. There was one spirit warrior that became chief who stands above others: Taha Aki."_ Natalie looked up at Suerro and saw his face: stoic and stone-like, as if Taha Aki were not the topic of the story. Natalie smiled at him, proud. _"Taha Aki was a chief that was….._Firmly planted," Jacob said in English, _"in peace with other tribes and was respected for it. But there was another man that did not see as Taha Aki did. He believed the Quileute should control other tribes and become stronger. He was Utlapa. Now, as spirit warriors, their minds became one and Taha Aki did not like Utlapa's thoughts. So he banished Utlapa from the tribe and he wandered into the forest._

"_Taha Aki was a protective chief and protected the village from every danger. Such was his habit and Utlapa took advantage. Taha Aki left his body and wondered his soul through the mountains. Utlapa found Taha Aki's body with the plan to kill him. But then he thought, 'I shall not kill him, I shall kill myself.' So Utlapa left his body and took over Taha Aki's. He then killed himself as he said and left his lifeless old body in the forest. Taha Aki heard Utlapa's thoughts, but he was too late to save himself and he was forced to wonder as only a spirit. He watched as Utlapa, in Taha Aki's own body, made the tribe believe he was the chief and his first command: No one was to enter the spirit world for he had a vision that such a thing would bring danger. However, in truth, Utlapa feared Taha Aki would be saved if the people went into the spirit world._

"_Utlapa then did what was not done for many years. He took a second and third wife, though Taha Aki had a wife."_ Jacob looked at Suerro. "What was the first wife's name?"

"She was Asa Silii. The second wife that Utlapa took in Taha Aki's body was his own wife. I think her name was Heiata. The third wife he took was a younger girl named Itiyaki. It was at this point where Taha Aki first began to gain animosity from his own tribe, though this part was not his fault and he was forgiven for it."

"Okay, so the first wife of the real Taha Aki was Asa Silii." Jacob cleared his throat and continued. _"Taha Aki requested a wolf to come down from the mountain and kill Utlapa, but the village defended their chief and a young man died, causing Taha Aki great sorrow. His sorrow grew as he was forced to be on the line between life and death. He was hopeless and feared for his people. Utlapa was living his life with three wives."_ Jacob had a thought and looked at Suerro. "Just out of curiosity, do you think any of Taha Aki's sons weren't technically his?"

"No," Suerro said adamantly. "Asa Silii was a celebrated woman because she knew there was something very wrong. She knew this wasn't her husband and she refused him for as long as the real Taha Aki was as a spirit. He did, however, get Heiata and Itiyaki pregnant with his children. To my knowledge, Utlapa also already had two sons with Heiata. I'd go so far as to say that Heiata knew the whole time that it was Utlapa in Taha Aki's body."

"She was alright with what he was doing?" Natalie asked.

"I can't say," Suerro answered honestly. "This was all a while before my time. I didn't come around until the last several years of his marriage with his real second wife, Sulia. What I do know is that Heiata and Itiyaki were among the banished. It was Itiyaki's banishment that brought discontentment with the tribe more than anything. She was seen as innocent in Utlapa's little web, but she was pregnant with Utlapa's child and Taha Aki insisted. He didn't want a trace of the man left in the village."

"Explain that more once I get to that part," Jacob said. He continued, _"The great mountain wolf followed Taha Aki and became his permanent companion. He felt great jealousy towards the wolf. He had a body and a life of his own. But then, Taha Aki had an idea that changed our people forever. He looked upon the wolf and asked, 'Please, brother, allow me to share your body so that I might save my people.' The wolf complied and Taha Aki became one with his companion wolf. The two went to the village as one body, but the people feared the wolf and screamed for help from their warriors. But the wolf retreated and tried yelping the song of their people. They knew this wolf was being influenced by the spirit. Utlapa saw the commotion and feared for his position as the false chief. An old warrior, Yut, ignored the law and went into his spirit form. He then knew this was Taha Aki and welcomed the true chief warmly. But Utlapa could not have this and he killed Yut just as he entered his body again. This brought Taha Aki great rage that could not be contained by the wolf when Taha Aki returned to its body. The wolf shuddered, unable to contain Taha Aki's spirit any longer and Taha Aki returned to being a man. It was not his real body, but his spirit self and the warriors knew him instantly. Utlapa tried to run, but Taha Aki had the strength of the wolf and were able to kill him."_ Jacob looked at Suerro. "The exile part seems to have been lost over the years. So why don't you tell that part?"

"Well, all that's left to tell you is that Taha Aki did not trust Utlapa's family. They knew Utlapa had been wrong, but they were grieved by the loss of a loved one and Taha Aki feared there would be negative backlash. So he banished Utlapa's family and the two wives that were really his. Among the banished were Utlapa's two brothers, a sister, the brothers' wives and children, and Utlapa's two sons. What happened to them thereafter, I don't really know. I can only imagine they either died while traveling or situated themselves elsewhere. After they left, life went back to normal. Things didn't start going south again until the village realized Taha Aki did not age. Neither did the sons he had after his transformation. He and Asa Silii were freshly married when all this with Utlapa occurred, so their sons were born with the spirit wolf. His eldest son, Taha Aka, held onto the wolf while his other sons refused it and went on with their lives. The problem that came with Taha Aki not aging was the fact that Asa Silii was aging. She feared he did not love her, but he claimed that wasn't the truth. Yet after she died, he did not wait too long before taking a second wife. This caused a great deal of upset among the village and especially among his sons."

"Did you know Taha Aka well?" Natalie asked.

"I did," Suerro answered. "He held onto his wolf and took only one wife. When she died, he continued on, but never remarried. He used to tell me that he'd had his sons and daughters and was in no need for more nor did he want another woman's love. Taha Aki was not of the same mindset. He had many more sons and daughters with Sulia and there was a great deal of resentment on Taha Aka's part, but he was always a dutiful and strong son. When Sakei, Taha Aki's first son with his second wife, came to his wolf spirit, he remained in the pack too. Sakei and Taha Aka had a difficult relationship to my knowledge when he first changed because Taha Aka was jealous of Sakei and how his mother was loved while Taha Aka's mother had barely been mourned. The animosity grew after Sulia began to have the same problem as Asa Silii. She was aging, Taha Aki was not, and she feared he no longer loved her. That's when I came around. I grew up seeing Taha Aka and Sakei be angry with their father because of what happened with their mothers. It got worse when Zurra was born. Taha Aki grew fond of her. It's only now that I know what was happening," Suerro took Natalie's hand, "but at the time, I thought he was discarding Sulia for a third wife already.

"When Sulia died, we burned her body and he came to our tent later that day asking my parents if he could be a part of Zurra's life. They refused, but Taha Aki was always with Zurra. He played with her, taught her how to fish, things that were in my father and mother's hands to do. But Zurra was always happy when Taha Aki was around. He used to let her braid his hair; she made him a shawl from rabbit fur every winter once she learned how to do it. My father and mother were displeased with this, but they died when Zurra was very young and I was left to care for her. I did as I knew my father would want and what I thought was best. But Taha Aki continued to pursue my sister. It became romantic years later. I refused his proposal to my sister, but he found a way to discredit me and marry her anyway and went so far as to deflower her as if she were already his wife. When I found out about that, I lost all control. I woke up the morning after my sister left our tent crying because I was angry with Taha Aki for discrediting me and saw Zurra walk out of Taha Aki's tent in the early morning. She looked different and it didn't take much for me to put two and two together. I attacked Taha Aki as soon as I saw him. It took both Taha Aka and Sakei to get me off him, but Taha Aki never fought back. I think that only made me angrier. They were married a few days later and that's when I was changed."

"According to what you've told Natalie and what Romney told her," Jacob started, "You led a vampire to our village."

"I did," Suerro explained. "My understanding of the matter was that Claudia's mate, MacAllister, had gone to where the tribe was settled at the time and attacked some women he encountered. Taha Aki's sons, I'm assuming it was Taha Aka and Sakei, killed him and MacAllister didn't come back to Quebec when he'd told Claudia he would, so she got worried and looked into the matter. All she had were rumors that MacAllister was killed by wolves. When I'd heard that rumor, I knew what had happened and told her. I also told her that I'd only take her to the tribe if she killed Taha Aki and spared the village. I told her that Taha Aki was surely the one responsible for MacAllister's death and she agreed to my terms."

"She attacked everyone," Jacob pointed out. 

"Indeed she did, and she did so against my conditions. When we found the tribe, she became enraged and attacked blindly. I saw her kill Sakei and I didn't see Taha Aka."

"He might've been the son that died."

"That's possible," Suerro agreed, "but Sakei fell to Claudia. This enraged Taha Aki and that's when he shifted into his wolf. He looked so old. I couldn't believe my eyes to see the man aging alongside my sister. I remembered him being a black wolf, but when he changed, he was grey as any old man. Claudia had the advantage. She was fighting a wolf that was forced into fazing after years of inactivity and he could not win on his own, so Zurra drew her own blood to save him and the tribe." Suerro slouched, "I detest the image, but Zurra was a hero and deserves to be remembered as such."

"What was Zurra like if you don't mind my asking," Travis said to Suerro after downing another hotdog.

"She was a good girl. She was a fast learner and devoted. She was very brave too, but she paid for it more than she benefited." Suerro chuckled, "I recall she was with her friends when they encountered a skunk. They were young then and her friends screamed and ran from the creature but Zurra stayed and fought off the skunk. She came home with a scratch on her arm and a smell that forced her to sleep outside."

"Ah, that's nothing," Jacob said. "Did my daughter ever tell you I glued a hall monitor's hand to the floor once?"

"No, but Mrs. Kovac told me." Kevin ignored the name by bouncing Heather on his knee and earning her giggles. "She also tells me you've destroyed someone's house, stolen a bike, put dead things around the house, and had bees attack your brother-in-law."

Rachael laughed, "Yeah, Jacob was a little shit alright." Having heard all these suggestions, Ariel looked right at Gabriel, who was sniffing a hotdog suspiciously, reluctant to eat it. The thought had barely crossed Ariel's mind before Edward chimed in.

"Don't even think about it Ariel."

Ariel didn't answer, but he did look at Gabriel, who was smirking deviously at him. Ariel smiled back and took Gabriel's hotdog and handed it to Nathan seeing as Gabriel didn't want to eat it. Ada María picked up Gabriel and rested him on her lap and sat next to Ariel. Gabriel's and Ariel's relationship was a strange one, but it was getting somewhere good. The conversation turned to the pack officially welcoming Ariel to the pack and Nathan taking the part of telling him what to expect. They also proceeded to plan what contribution he would have to the pack. They really only encountered mean-spirited nomads from time to time, so there wasn't an extensive need for a large number of wolves every night. So they all agreed that Ariel would go out on patrol only twice a week with plenty of flexibility and he could give up his wolf at any time if he chose to. By midnight, the fire was starting to die down and Jacob's sister and Paul had gone home after eating. Paul had retired from the pack years ago and he was more of an elder of the tribe at this point. The group was beginning to pack up when Edward stopped suddenly and looked south.

"Edward, what is it?" Bella asked looking in the same direction and seeing nothing.

"Someone's flying our way." Edward looked at Jacob. "He wants to speak to you and the pack."

"Flying? Since when can you read people's minds from a plane?"

"He's not in a plane," Edward said, looking back towards the south. Jacob looked at Edward strangely and then looked in the direction Edward was staring. It was moments later when they saw something coming their way that looked like a bird.

"What is that?" Ada María asked. No one answered because no one knew. Edward was listening to its thoughts whatever it was. All he knew was that it was a man that was coming to them for help.

The bird got bigger and bigger as it got closer until they could finally get a good look at it. At first it looked like a Peregrine Falcon, but it was too big for that. Then they thought it might be an eagle, but it was too big for that too. It was too colorful to be a vulture, but even if it weren't, it was too big to even be a vulture. And yet it still looked a lot like a Peregrine Falcon, just much bigger. The bird flew over the group and it was then that they saw just how large it really was. The wingspan was massive and looked like it stretched longer than Jacob, Kevin, and Kyle combined and looked like it could stand taller than any of them too. When the bird reached the cliff it seemed to get smaller until it took on the silhouette of a man. The man looked to pull on a pair of pants before making his way to where everyone was standing around the bonfire, confused by this stranger. Kevin handed Heather over to Nessie just in case something was going to happen. The group waited a couple minutes before the silhouette finally came into view and they could see the man clearly.

Travis froze in his footsteps as he approached. The man had black hair and russet skin, just like anyone in the tribe with high cheekbones and a strong, stoic face. He had short hair that looked like a slightly grown out military buzz cut, making his widow's peak easily visible. He also had a tattoo on his chest of a bird. It looked like a Falcon with the American Flag in its talons. The ends of the flag formed into roses and there was a name written in one of the white strips of the flag: Genevieve. "Who was Genevieve?" Travis wondered and glanced over to see if there were other tattoos, but that Falcon was the only one from what he could see. He was muscular and clean looking with thick black eyebrows that were also very clean. He was walking barefoot and wearing a pair of jeans with his hands shoved in his pocket. Travis's heart was racing, he started licking his lips, and he felt that pull he'd known only through the thoughts of the pack. Travis couldn't believe it.

"You're the Quileute wolf pack?" the man asked as soon as he was close enough. Travis shivered when he heard the man's voice. It was smooth and deep. Jacob stepped forward and never took his eyes off the man.

"We are," Jacob answered. "How do you know about us and who are you?" The man held out his hand to shake Jacob's. When Jacob accepted, the man spoke.

"I'm Oscar Barker. I know of you from stories passed down by my forefathers. I am son to Barka, who was son to Ye Keti. Ye Keti was son to Yarok, who was son to Ek Teke. Ek Teke was banished from your tribe centuries ago following the execution of his eldest brother Utlapa." The group was speechless, so Oscar continued. "Ek Teke took those banished with him south until they reached a desert in what's now Arizona. I've come to you because we're in trouble and we need help. There are creatures that are collecting near our tribe. There're large numbers on both sides with red eyes, pale skin, and stone like skin. I made an attempt on one on my own and managed barely to escape with my life. I've heard that your people are well versed in fighting these creatures."

"You've heard correctly," Jacob answered softly. He was still surprised by Oscar's explanation of his lineage. "It sounds like an army of vampires is forming. They might not be a direct threat to your tribe, but we still need to deal with them. Where in Arizona is the tribe? Is it a well known tribe?"

"We call ourselves the Tistihlal," Oscar answered. "The tribe is two hours south of Phoenix. We aren't well known, but we're also very closed off. I've told my father of my intentions and told him to keep the flock at bay until I was able to obtain your help. I know this is sudden, but if you could come to Phoenix by tomorrow, that would be ideal."

"I understand your trouble, but we can't just pick up and leave. To get there by tomorrow, we'd need plane tickets and to arrange time off."

"I'll pay for all your tickets if that's a problem. Just tell me the total you paid and I'll reimburse you. Make an excuse to come to Phoenix. Be there by tomorrow." Oscar reached into his pocket again and pulled out a card. It was curled, but the name and address were all clear. "I'll have rooms ready for all of you when you arrive. I'll even give you all the five star suits."

Oscar started walking away while Jacob looked at the business card. Oscar Barker was in bold letters. Oscar Barker, CEO. The company name above was listed as Phoenix Rochester Hotel and Spa. When Jacob looked up, Oscar was already walking away. They watched as he made his way to the cliff where he landed. They saw him pull his pants off, tie them around his ankle, then get a head start running off the cliff. He fused into a bird before hitting the water and flew away.

"We'll at least go," Jasper said, stepping forward. "If it's a newborn army they're dealing with, they'll need all the help they can get."

Jacob sighed heavily, "I'll make my own arrangements. A newborn army is a newborn army." Jacob finally turned around and looked at the pack and everyone else. "Edward, can you buy plane tickets for all of us?"

"I can get some for the pack, but it's a little sudden. We," Edward directed to the Cullens, "will stay in the luggage compartment of the plane. We'll certainly have to take two different flights. We'll make sure to get to Arizona at least by tomorrow afternoon."

"Good," Jacob said before looking at his pack. "Make all the arrangements you need and be ready to leave as soon as Edward has our tickets."

"I can't get Brie to watch the kids on such short notice," Embry pointed out.

"I'll tell Paul the situation and he and Rachael can look after them. The same goes for Heather and Gabriel." Jacob looked at Ariel, "You too if you don't wish to go."

"I'm going," Ariel said. "What better way to get initiated into the pack than to fight a newborn army?"

Nathan smiled a little and patted Ariel's back. "I expect you to stay close, kid."

Jacob looked at Nessie, "I'd rather you stayed."

Nessie smiled, "I'll keep an eye on things while you're gone." Jacob smiled back before taking a deep breath.


	28. The Thunderbirds

**The Thunderbirds**

The arrangements were agreed upon and Edward bought tickets for the whole pack. The Cullens will hide in the luggage of the two planes. Edward bought tickets for planes that left at five in the morning, so they all went to their respective homes, packed some changes of clothes and other necessities and met at the airport. Edward and the others snuck into the luggage carriers of the plane upon announcement that they would be leaving shortly. Travis, Natalie, and Suerro were sitting together in a three row isle and most of the plane was sleeping. But that was not yet an option for the two of them. When the plane was taking off, Natalie touched Travis's hand, his response being to look at her.

"That Oscar guy looked like he had quite an effect on you I noticed." Natalie was smiling at Travis, and he actually smiled back.

"I never thought it would happen, but it did. I was so scared that if I did imprint, it would be on a woman and I'd end up not being attracted to her. I can't believe I actually imprinted on Oscar." Travis went stiff suddenly.

"What's the matter?" Natalie asked.

"Oh God, what if he isn't gay?"

"Oh," Natalie slouched, "I hadn't even thought about that. Well….Oh come on, of course he is. Do you think it would be possible to imprint on him if he weren't attracted to you? You can't imprint on someone that can't love you fully and that requires him first and foremost to be attracted to you, right?"

"What if he isn't?"

"Travis, you're so handsome and charming, I'm sure you'll win him over instantly even if he's straight. You can make him bisexual maybe," Natalie added hopefully, but Travis shivered.

"Ew," he answered.

"What? What's wrong with bisexuals?"

"There's nothing wrong with bisexuals. It's just that…..Oh fuck, how do I saw this? It's just that bisexuals feel like they're entitled to some recognition when really, they had it a lot easier than gays and lesbians did. Bisexuals have a choice. Gays and lesbians don't. It's just irritating is all. And as luck would have it, the one bisexual I ever dated turned out to be one of those greedy, 'I want what I want when I want it,' bisexuals that think they're entitled to both genders at once, no questions asked."

Natalie smiled a little, trying to be reassuring, "Yeah, I know. I can't believe you felt bad about that."

"I felt bad for the girl he was cheating on. She was dating him first, I ended up the 'other man' and she had no idea about me. I thought she was the other woman or something. Look, if a bisexual wants a polyamorous relationship, that's fine, but they need to take responsibility and make sure _**everyone's**_ on board with that. If everyone isn't on board, then it isn't polyamory, it's cheating that's my point."

"I know, I know. Clyde was a duechebag and we all officially hate him."

"Oh stop, Peanut, you don't have to hate him. Just know that he's a cheating lying son of a bitch."

Natalie giggled, "I was just glad you'd gotten yourself a boyfriend, however briefly he was labeled as such."

"Well, Clyde wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I thought I should start dating again."

"It's not like it was obvious. He seemed like a nice guy when you introduced me to him."

"Yeah," Travis took a deep breath. "Who do you think Genevieve is?"

"Genevieve? Where did that come from?"

"It was on his tattoo, remember?"

"I didn't look at his chest Travis," Natalie teased.

"Well, on one of the white stripes of that flag, he had Genevieve written across it. I was wondering who Genevieve was. Figures Kyle's on another plane, otherwise I'd ask him."

"That would only work if he'd actually read the guy's mind. I say ask the man himself. Maybe it's an interesting story."

"Or his wife," Travis mumbled. "Oh God, what if he's married on top of being straight?"

"Okay, now you're just worrying too much. Relax, Travis, everything will be fine. We've got a long flight, so try to get some sleep. You'll feel a million times better afterwards." Taking her own advice, Natalie asked Suerro to take out two pillows, handed one to Travis, and placed her own on Suerro's shoulder and went to sleep.

Travis tried his best to sleep, but he didn't get a lot. He was still really nervous. Natalie was also the only one in the pack thus far that knew about him imprinting, and on a man no less. Travis never dreamed it would really happen to him, but now it had. The flight lasted about five hours and the first plane arrived around eleven in the morning. Those that got there first waited another hour or so before the other plane arrived. When the group was completely together, Jacob and a few other pack members went to the car rental store and rented four cars between them so they could all drive to the hotel.

When they arrived at the hotel, there was a valet service that parked their cars for them and there was plenty of shade at the entrance. The hotel was massive, just as any hotel and spa. It reached heights rivaling a skyscraper and was a predominantly square building with slight turns in the structure to make it interesting. Rochester was written near the top of the building in letters that were exuding bright lights. With Jacob leading, the group walked into the hotel and stepped into a marble wonderland. The floors were marble all around and there was a large bar to the left of the entrance. The bar wasn't being tended at the moment, but there were people sitting around at tables reading or talking while eating lunch. Directly ahead of them was a massive fountain that shot water into the air and it was before a large staircase that seemed to go up to a collection of stores. There was even a tattoo shop among that line of shops. The staircase had two sets; one facing the entrance and the other facing a five star restaurant that was further back. To their right, finally, they found what looked like the reception desk. The group walked over to the desk that was being manned by a woman with dark hair, russet skin, and high cheek bones. Her long hair was done up in a bun and she was wearing a woman's pinstripe suit jacket over a yellow camisole and wearing a matching pinstripe skirt that rested just above her knee. She was also wearing matching yellow pumps. Alice liked this woman instantly.

"Excuse me," Jacob said when they reached the desk. The woman looked up at him, then looked over the group, then looked back at Jacob.

"Are you the Quileutes?" she asked. Jacob nodded and the woman rolled her chair to the phone on the counter and dialed a number. Then she proceeded to speak, to their surprise, in a strange dialect that was certainly Quileute. _"Grandpa, your guests are here."_

"_I'll be out in a minute. Give them their _Key Cards_."_

"_Yes grandpa."_ The woman hung up the phone and stood from her chair to look through the key cards. "You each have your own room, but a few are on different floors from one another. I hope that isn't a problem. If so, you can arrange yourselves how you wish and come back here with any problems."

"So you're Oscar's granddaughter?"

"Yeah," the woman nodded. "I'm Olivia Barker. I'm the 26th child of 52 kids and counting." One could've heard a pin drop from how silent they all were for a prolonged period.

"How many?" Travis asked.

"52," she answered with a smile. "I know; it's a lot of kids. But when neither of your parents age and they have nothing better to do that to have a lot of sex, they're bound to have a lot of kids. My youngest brother is ten and my youngest sister is five."

"Wait, both of your parents…" Jacob stopped a moment. "I get the feeling there's something we're missing."

"Well, grandpa told me he was brief when he spoke with you, so I suspect there are a number of things you're missing at the moment."

"Olivia," Oscar said as he stepped out of the office behind the front desk and came over. "Give them a chance to rest before we start bothering them." Oscar turned his attention to Jacob. "I realize you've had a long flight and you must be tired. If there's a problem with any of the rooms, call the front desk and Olivia will let me know. I wasn't sure who among you would be sharing rooms, so I made many available. Any you don't plan to use, just return the extra key cards to the front desk before we leave. From what I can tell, these things are more active at night, so we still have time. If you want anything to eat, order anything you like. Just put the price of the food on your tabs and I'll pay for it."

"Look, Oscar, it sounds like there's a lot we'll need you to explain to us."

"I do have a lot to explain, but now is not the time. Get some rest and I promise I'll answer all your questions later. We'll leave when you've all had a chance to rest and eat something. I highly recommend you do eat something. This hotel has a head chef that's won five Michelin Stars. And remember, it's on me, so go hog-wild if you want."

"Thanks," Jacob said. The group finally left the front desk and went to the elevators so they could go to their rooms. There ended up being a few extra rooms since each Cullen was in a pair, so Edward took all the extra key cards and saved them for later. The pack decided to take advantage of their free time and get some sleep while the Cullens walked around the hotel and explored. The spa part of the hotel was on the third floor of the hotel and took up most of the floor and included a high tech gym. From their bedroom windows, they could also see that the hotel had a massive pool out back. The pack members had gotten some sleep on the plane, so they kept their naps brief and made sure to be awake by mid-afternoon. They all ordered something to eat so they'd have something in them before they left.

"You should try this salmon," Natalie said, sitting across from Travis at a small table in his room. Suerro was out exploring, so Natalie was eating an early dinner with Travis in his room.

"Never mind the salmon, this steak is perfect! I don't think I've ever eaten steak this good."

"Oscar wasn't kidding when he said they had a great chef. I could get fat off this food."

"No kidding."

"Do you think he eats this well every day?"

"I would if I were him." Travis took another bite of his steak and some parsnip puree. "I never thought I'd say this, but this parsnip puree and amazing." Natalie smiled and ate more of her rice pilaf. "Let me ask you something."

"Anything," Natalie answered.

"How do you think I should approach him? Should I wait until after the business with the vampires to start talking to him or should I talk to him immediately?"

"I say you should talk to him as soon as you can. In fact, daddy said he wanted Oscar to explain a few things, so why don't you ask all the questions? I'd save the Genevieve question for later though. I doubt Genevieve has anything to do with what daddy wants to know."

"That sounds like a plan. I really want to ask him if he has any other tattoos."

"That's another question I'd save for another time. Focus on asking him about the tribe and all. You have to get to know him while getting out of him what daddy wants to know."

Travis finished his last bite of steak. "I think I'll talk to him now." Travis stood from the seat. "Make sure to get the dishes together for the cleaning service before you leave, okay?"

Travis walked out of his room and walked down the hall, passing Suerro as he went. He told him Natalie was in his room and made his way to the elevator. When Travis got to the first floor, he went to the front desk where Olivia was still sitting.

"Hey," he said, getting Olivia to look up at him. "Do you mind if I speak to Oscar a moment?"

"Sure, hold on a second." Olivia rolled to the phone and dialed Oscar's office. _"Grandpa, a guy from the group needs to speak to you."_

"_Tell him I'll be out soon. I just need to finish some _paperwork_."_

"_Yes, grandpa,"_ Olivia hung up the phone and turned back to Travis. "He'll be out in a moment. Did you get plenty of sleep?"

"Yeah, I did. And that Michelin Star chef can cook steak like a god."

Olivia giggled, "Oh I know! I love that man so much. We've had him for about ten years now and I think he's the best chef we've had since I started working here back in 2001."

"2001?" Travis asked. Olivia nodded and the two stared at each other a moment before Travis threw logic out the window and just asked, "How old are you?"

"I turned 64 in May." She said it so bluntly, as if a woman who looked like she was in her twenties could be in her mid sixties.

"So you kept your bird?" Travis asked, assuming the same dynamics applied.

"Women of the tribe aren't allowed to accept their bird spirit."

"Then…..how are you still so young at your age?"

"It's a long story and I do have to get back to work. I'm going with you guys back to the reservation, so I need to do a little overtime. Just because he's my grandpa doesn't mean I get special treatment." Olivia smiled and seemed to be looking for something through a rolodex. Travis thought of the line of men Oscar had listed as his forefathers. He'd only mentioned four.

"How old is your grandpa if you don't mind me asking."

Olivia looked thoughtful. "He's actually not positive because we didn't have access to a calendar or any way to tell what year it was. He suspects, though, that it was around 1890." Travis was a little dumbfounded. Olivia looked at Travis a little longer, than finally grinned. "You like my grandpa don't you?"

"And if I do?" Travis asked a little awkwardly. Before Olivia could answer him, Oscar finally walked out of his office and came around the desk to Travis.

"I'm sorry that took so long. I was dealing with a difficult couple. So are you all ready to go?"

Travis shook his head, "I can't speak for everyone. I had some sleep and that amazing steak." Travis smiled nervously, Olivia noticed, to which she grinned menacingly. "I've never had a steak that perfectly medium rare."

"What did I tell you? I don't know what I'll do when he decides to retire. At least he'll never quit though. I pay him well enough to ensure that." Travis smiled back. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I," Travis stared and mumbled a little, trying to think of something, "I don't suppose I could get you to sit down and talk with me could I?"

"I suppose so. Olivia," Oscar turned to Olivia, "if you need anything, just come and get me." Oscar started walking towards the bar room and Travis followed after. He walked them to the main bar that was now being manned by a black guy with at least a yard's worth of dreadlocks. Dreadlocks tended to be a hit or miss with Travis. That and cornrows. On the bartender, it was a nice look, even in a dressier outfit. "Luke, I'll have a coke." Oscar turned to Travis. "What would you like?"

"A coke's fine with me too." Luke brought them two sodas and went off again to tend to a group of women that just made their way to the bar.

"So, now that we're comfortable, what's on your mind?"

"Um," Travis started, still nervous. "I asked your granddaughter how old she is. I hope I didn't offend her," he finally said.

Oscar grinned, "Don't worry. She's too old to be offended. You're the first person in a while that she's told her real age to. Normally she tells people she's twenty eight or something."

"And what do you usually tell people? She says you were born around 1890-ish. Is that true?"

"Very true," he answered, taking a gulp of coke. "I usually claim to be a young looking forty year old man, but then I also tell people Olivia is my daughter instead of my granddaughter." Oscar chuckled and Travis smiled too. "A few years before I was born, my father and the flock were fighting off white men that were moving west and wanted our stretch of land. We didn't let them have it, but two men lasted the longest against the flock and managed to kill twelve birds. My father was impressed and asked the men their names before he killed them. One was Oscar, the other was Oliver. I'm Oscar, and Oliver is my little brother. He was born, I'd say, about the time I was roughly thirteen. I wasn't quite a teenager, but I wasn't a boy anymore either. To my calculations, settlers started appearing around Arizona in the eighteen fifties give or take, but if I do the math correctly, I was about forty eight or forty nine when I enlisted into the military for the first time, so that would make me about," Oscar looked thoughtful a moment, "Well, fuck, that makes me about one hundred sixty doesn't it?"

"You were in the military?" Travis asked, instantly intrigued.

"Yeah, I was. I'm retired now. I fought in the Second World War, and then about ten years later, I was stationed in Germany for a time. After that, I went to Vietnam in the early to mid sixties. I was back home from Vietnam by '68, so that means I was in that morbid jungle for about four years." Oscar shuddered.

"You fought it WWII and Vietnam?"

"Yeah, and let me tell you, I'd fight in WWII again long before Vietnam. Those fucking Charlie's were sneaky little bastards and they were hard to pick out. They all fucking looked the same. At least in the Second World War, I knew who my enemy was. If he spoke German and wore a swastika, I had orders to shoot him in the face; simple as that. I didn't have that luxury in Vietnam. It made me paranoid and it took me a while to get over that. I hate Vietnam and even the marijuana we had access to couldn't make it bearable. Vietnam could sink into the ocean and I wouldn't lose a tear over it. No, I'm wrong. I'd lose a lot of tears because I'd be laughing so hard."

"So you're an old man is what you're saying?" Travis teased. Oscar looked at Travis, raised an eyebrow, and made his voice harder.

"I'd watch how you speak to a veteran, boy." Travis smiled and started laughing and so did Oscar. "I'm starting to think you pulled me away from work to have a personal conversation."

Travis blushed and hoped Oscar didn't notice. "I can't pretend that wasn't part of it. But I did want to ask you a few things about your tribe. For one, Olivia said women in your tribe aren't allowed to hold onto their spirit bird." 

"That's correct," Oscar confirmed.

"Well, if she gave it up, why is she still not aging?"

Oscar took a deep breath, "That's a really hard question to answer. I guess I should start by telling you how we got started. I mentioned that Ek Teke was the first to fuse with the desert bird and his brother and their sons followed. Well, Ek Teke became the chief of our tribe and there were no arguments with the sons and who followed in line. After Ek Teke's eldest son, Yarok, came of age, he released his spirit bird and eventually died. Yarok did the same and eventually died. Things changed with Yarok's two sons. The problem is he had twin eldest sons, Ye Keti and Herci. It's said that my grandfather Ye Keti was the 'bad' brother and Herci was the 'good' brother. They argued endlessly over who should be chief after Yarok's death and Yarok never specified his intentions. The truth is, my family has long believed in tough love, so Yarok forced his sons to argue amongst themselves. My father was a huge fan of tough love in fact. So much so that it was pretty much abuse by modern standards. No, not pretty much, it was now that I really think of it.

"When Yarok finally died, Ye Keti and Herci were no closer to coming to an agreement. Herci decided he should be chief because he was still the first born, despite them being twins. Ye Keti did not agree, so he had Herci follow him into the desert so they could 'talk'. Upon his first chance, Ye Keti attacked his brother, but Herci managed to defend himself and killed Ye Keti."

"I thought Ye Keti was the one that became chief."

"He was," Oscar answered, "but it's not as simple as him winning a fight. Ye Keti was able to utilize the power of the spirit and removed his soul from his body before Herci could kill him. Herci went back and said nothing of his brother. He only said it was decided; he would be the chief. Ye Keti wondered for a time until he found another falcon to fuse with. In doing so, he essentially was given back his old body and began walking back to the village. This is the part that gets iffy about the story.

"It's said that shortly after Ye Keti went missing, a shining being was seen wondering until it disappeared into Herci's tent. Immediately following, three slave women were brought to his tent and left with their blood drained. No one knows what happened in that tent, but when Ye Keti got back to the village, he was in a rage and went to his brother. The two fought long before Ye Keti grabbed a knife and attempted to stab Herci. It's said that before Ye Keti drove the knife into Herci's throat, Herci gave his brother a warning. 'When my blood touches the ground,' Herci said, 'you, your children, and your children's children shall be cursed by the spirit bird's power. Some will wish to die, but none of you will. You will be lost to each other in your minds. Our ancestor's gift will be lost to you; their curse the only inheritance you shall have. You may live as chief, but remember this that I've said. Until the moon falls from the sky, until the sun loses its light, until the world goes black and all is lost, you are all damned.' Ye Keti didn't take his brother's threat to heart and slit his throat. When Herci fell to the ground his blood pooled around him and Ye Keti proclaimed himself the new chief.

"Now, I said that Herci and Ye Keti were the eldest sons, but they were also the youngest of many daughters. So it was after Herci's death that Ye Keti took his first wife. He had many of his own children. Among those children was my father Barka, but he was far from the oldest. He was the fifth out of ten brothers and seven sisters that Ye Keti had with his first wife. The men that awakened to their bird but wanted to be rid of it, they eventually noticed, couldn't be rid of their bird. We couldn't communicate with each other the way we had before through telepathy. All those things were gone. Those that didn't wish to retain the thunderbird would refuse to shift, but they remained living. The same went for the women in the tribe, whom weren't allowed to hold on to their spirit bird period, but they weren't spared from Herci's threat."

"So it's because of a curse?"

"That's the tale," Oscar drank the last of his coke. "Ye Keti lived many years and was pleased he didn't age. He took many wives in his lifetime and had sons and daughters with all of them. Now, all his sons grew restless because Ye Keti was not stepping down. My father's eldest brother Yeruk, began to plot the death of Ye Keti so he could take over the thrown as chief, but my father beat him to the punch. One night, when my father was a young man, he took a dagger to his father, mother, and step-mothers' room and murdered all of them. Then he proceeded to kill all his brothers and sisters. I have no living aunts or uncles because of that night. I have plenty of cousins, though. After the massacre, my father took over as chief. People in the tribe feared him and he's been a tyrant ever since."

"He's still in power?"

"Yes. My father has been the chief of our tribe for about two centuries and he won't back down. I don't want to be chief, but I fear my little brother is hardly worthy of the task even if my father were to step down or be killed. Oliver is a bit of a runt."

"I take it you don't get along well with your brother?"

"Not at all," Oscar answered frankly. "I've told you the story of Ye Keti and Herci, so now you know why my granddaughter doesn't age. It's the same reason she has so many siblings. Her mother and father just keep having kids."

"Is Genevieve your daughter?"

Oscar gave Travis a strange look, "How did you know my daughter is named Genevieve?"

"I assumed from your tattoo."

When Travis said that, Oscar smiled, "Oh yes, of course. I guess you did see that tattoo didn't you? Yes, Genevieve is my daughter. She's my only child."

Travis was surprised, "Really? Your family seems to be so fertile. Why did you only have one daughter?"

"Because I didn't want to sleep with my wife," Oscar chuckled. "I married her because my mother made me and I decided I'd get her with child once and that would be it. Wisteria was a good woman, though. I feel bad for dragging her into the mess with Zakra, but I was left with little option."

"Who's Zakra?" Travis asked. Before Oscar could answer, the pack and all the Cullens were downstairs and walked to the bar.

"Oscar, we're all ready to go if you are. We should try and get there before sundown. Jasper wants to make sure your birds are prepared to fight newborns."

"Ah, good," Oscar said, standing from the bar stool. "I'll change into something more casual and then we'll go." Oscar walked away and seemed to say something to Olivia before going to an elevator that was right beside the office. Natalie went right to Travis with a big smile.

"So," she started, "How was your first date?"

"Shut up," Travis blushed.

"Travis," Jacob said, "Now's not the time to be flirting. When everything's handled, then you can do what you want, but please save it for later."

"Daddy, it's more complicated than that."

"He imprinted on him," Kyle just said, and it made everyone look surprised.

"Seriously?" one younger pack member asked.

"You can do that?" another asked afterwards.

Natalie nodded. "It's true; he imprinted on Oscar." She turned back to Travis and hugged him. "So answer me. How did it go?"

"Fine I guess. I found out a few things that you'd find interesting." Instead of having Travis retell the whole story, Kyle touched Nathan's arm, who then touched Kevin's, who then transferred the story through telepathy.

"I see," Jacob said with a hint of pity. "That's quite a story." Jacob looked at Edward. "Is there anything else we need to know?"

"He told Travis everything concerning the flock, unless you were concerned with anything else."

"As long as we know what we need about them, that's all I'll ask to know. As far as I'm concerned, we're handling this and leaving." Jacob finally looked at Travis again. "So you imprinted on him?" Travis nodded and Jacob smiled, "Another wrinkle in our little gift that we don't understand."

"Maybe it really is just about love," Natalie offered as she hugged Jacob. Jacob patted Natalie's back.

"It's starting to look like it. So he has a daughter?" Jacob asked Travis.

"Yeah," Travis answered. He wanted to know more, so he looked at Edward with pleading eyes.

Edward sighed, "Genevieve is his only daughter and her mother's name is Wisteria. The reason he and Wisteria were married in the first place was because Oscar's mother, Tara Caesi, found out about Zakra and threatened to tell Barka if Oscar didn't find a bride immediately."

"Who's Zakra?" Travis asked and this time he got an answer.

"Zakra was Oscar's first lover. He wasn't Tistihlal like Oscar is."

"So he is gay?" Travis asked hopefully.

"Yes, Travis, he is. He and Zakra began having a relationship a few years after Oliver was born, so he was about fifteen or sixteen. From what I can read from Oscar, he'd caught Zakra staring at him and, with pressure from friends, he started bullying Zakra. But one thing led to another and what started out as 'an experiment' became a long term relationship that lasted roughly thirty years or so. So when Tara Caesi found out about Oscar and Zakra, she made the ultimatum and Oscar was forced to marry Wisteria. Wisteria figured out really quickly that Oscar was seeing someone else and he came clean to her about everything. She was understanding and agreed to Oscar getting her pregnant only once. When they had their daughter, they became more like friends than husband and wife. He and Zakra continued seeing each other in private until Oliver caught them and told Barka. Oliver and Oscar have a great deal of resentment between the two of them, but more on the part of Oliver."

"Why's that?"

"Because," Edward began after a deep breath, "when Oscar said Barka is a tyrant, he meant it in more ways than one. He was a cruel chief, but he was just as cruel to his children, especially Oscar and Oliver. Oscar has three older sisters and Barka was very displeased with Tara Caesi for what he perceived as a failure on her part as a wife. Before Oscar was born, Barka threatened that if she gave him another daughter, he'd kill her and find a wife that could give him a son. Tara Caesi was spared because she produced Oscar. Many years later, after five more daughters, Tara Caesi gave Barka their son Oliver. Now, when Oscar was young, if he ever cried, Barka made a habit of hitting him until he stopped. It took Barka doing that to his son once at a young age for Oscar to never cry again, at least not in public and especially not in front of Barka. When Oliver was born, Oscar became the abuser per Barka's encouragement."

"Did he treat all his children that way or just Oscar and Oliver?" Jacob asked.

"It was all the kids, but mostly Oscar and Oliver. Barka apparently has a very specific idea of what makes a man and he wanted to instill those qualities into his sons through abuse and power struggle. It began for each of them at the age of three and when Oliver reached that age and he began crying, Barka ordered Oscar to beat him until Oliver stopped. It didn't work as well on Oliver as it did with Oscar because by the time Oliver did stop crying, it was because he was bloodied, bruised, and a hair away from death. It didn't stop there either. As I said, Barka encouraged power struggles between the two and Oscar, being the oldest, was bigger and stronger than Oliver. Oliver spent most of his life being weaker and unable to defend himself."

"Was he like that with Zakra?" Max asked harshly, now concerned for his brother's safety.

Edward shook his head, "Not at all. The way he treated Zakra and Oliver were like night and day. With Zakra, he was sensitive and understanding. He was rough, but it was never with the intention of harming Zakra. He loved him. With Oliver, every day was another beating that Barka encouraged. The abuse lessened as Oliver became an adult, but Oscar would still exert his authority over Oliver and remind him that Oscar was still the stronger one and that their father favored him. So when Oliver found out about Zakra, he was eager to reveal his brother and cause his downfall. But Barka being Barka, he assumed it was another circumstance where Oscar was proving himself the stronger man and he thought it was amusing. Barka did confront Oscar, though, and despite Oscar's attempts to claim Zakra meant nothing to him with the hopes of his lover being spared, Zakra was still executing. That was Oscar's breaking point and he left the tribe to see what the outside world had to offer. His daughter Genevieve was eight at the time. Oscar went to war, learned English, learned how to read and write, and when he came back, it was only to see his daughter."

"Barka was alright with that?" Travis asked.

"Again, Barka saw it as a way Oscar was proving himself the greater of his sons. Barka does favor Oscar because Barka sees him as the ideal son that holds strength and can intimidate."

"So this hotel isn't owned by his whole tribe?" Max asked.

"No, this is his. The tribe is on a reservation and has no part in this hotel. Oscar's granddaughter is the only one involved and that's because she didn't want to be stuck in a tyrannical 'shit hole' as she refers to it. She wanted to be just like Oscar, so she came to live with him. Now she's on her own and works here at the hotel and has since 2001 as she said."

"Why do I get the feeling this 'Barka' won't want our help?" Jacob asked rhetorically. About then, Oscar walked back to the group with his granddaughter following. He was wearing jeans, a pair of tennis shoes, and a grey tank top that read 'U.S. Military' across the chest and Olivia wore jean shorts, tennis shoes, and a small yellow shirt that wasn't the camisole from earlier.

"Olivia and I will drive my car, so you can follow us. My valets told me you came in rented cars."

"Sounds good," Jacob answered and they all proceeded to go to their respective cars. As they were walking, Travis looked at Oscar's shoulder and saw a splash of color that was covered by the sleeve of the tank top.

"What's on your shoulder?" Travis asked. Oscar glanced at Travis and then looked at his shoulder a moment.

"Oh that?" he pointed at his shoulder where the color was, "It's a memorial tattoo." Oscar pulled the sleeve aside so Travis could see the whole thing. It was a Celtic cross that had a sunflower stem wrapping around the bottom until the flower met at the cross part.

"Who's it in memorial of?"

"Richard Byrne."

"Who's that?"

"He's my late partner." After that, Oscar continued on to his car, leaving Travis with words that revealed very little on the matter, and the others followed him as he drove south.

"_So grandpa,"_ Olivia began in Tistihlal as they were driving, _"what did that guy want to talk about?"_

"_He was asking about the tribe. He told me he asked for your age."_

Olivia chuckled_, "Yeah, he did. He should know better than to ask a lady her age."_

"Lady my ass, Olivia," Oscar chuckled in English. "You're too much like me to be a lady."

"Well fuck you too grandpa." The two laughed more.

"My point exactly," Oscar said through laughter.

"_I think that man has a fondness for you, grandpa. Are you planning to,_ 'have your way with him'?"

"That's hardly something a granddaughter and grandfather should be talking about."

"_Grandpa, I'm your granddaughter in blood only. We both know I stopped being your granddaughter when you taught me the word _fuck_."_ They laughed again. "So? Are you?"

"You know, it's the weirdest thing. When I saw him on the beach, I barely noticed him. But when I talked to him, I started feeling like he was pulling at me. Now I'm really attracted to him."

"Sounds hot, grandpa," Olivia giggled. _"Am I a sick person for being so open with my grandpa?"_

"Extremely," Oscar answered and they laughed more. "He saw the tattoo on my shoulder," Oscar mentioned.

"You mean the cross?"

"Yeah, that. He saw the falcon on my chest too."

"I like that one. You used to make it fly for us. Why did you stop doing that, grandpa?"

"Because you're sixty and at your age, flexing in front of you is creepy."

Olivia snickered, _"I don't know what you're talking about. That was pure, clean entertainment. How many kids can say their grandpa has a falcon on his chest that can fly?"_

"_You're too old for that, Olivia."_

"So what did you tell him," Olivia finally asked, "about Richard?"

"I didn't tell him anything. Now's not the time to talk about that. Besides, I don't want to go back home bent over crying over what happened."

Olivia smiled gently and placed her hand on Oscar's arm. "I know he loved you grandpa."

"And I loved him." Oscar ended the conversation there. The topic was too painful.

With Oscar leading, the group took a total of an hour and a half to get to the reservation. When they arrived, it looked so dismal; that's not to say that reservations weren't comparatively lacking to most towns anyway, but this place was especially sad looking. There was one huge house that was out in the distance and away from the smaller homes that the house overlooked. It had a smaller collection of nicer small homes that resembled a suburb, but the 'shacks' were well out of the reach of those homes. They looked more like shacks than houses and were comparable to the slums of Nairobi, Kenya or any other African town that was severally lacking in basic resources and government help. The house overlooking the tribe was near a large collection of water with a cactus on a small island in the dead center of the lake. Smells of rot and decay surrounded the people that wondered through and around the shacks in the main village and it hit them harder once they all got out of the car.

"Does Arizona not offer much in the way of government support?" Jacob asked, assuming this was a fault more on the part of the state government. Every state was different with how they treated their reservations after all.

"No," Oscar answered. "The state of Arizona has nothing to do with the Tistihlal. My father made sure of that. The people you're referring to," Oscar motioned towards the people in the shacks, "aren't Tistihlal. They're other tribes we enslaved on our trip south. They're not seen as our equals, so they're kept at a distance."

"The tribe still practices slave labor?" Carlisle asked, getting extremely uncomfortable as the seconds passed.

"Here and there," Oscar answered frankly. "It depends on what needs to be done. I've come to find that our society is comparable to the Spartans. The Tistihlal are warriors and are meant to defend the tribe. Women and men that aren't Thunderbirds handle everything else."

"_And this is why I left,"_ Olivia mumbled.

"You said the state of Arizona has nothing to do with the tribe, but do they know what's going on here?" Jacob asked.

"If they do, they have no concern for it. Besides, I wouldn't call these people slaves. I'd call them people the Tistihlal tolerate and use for the sake of amusement."

"What do you mean, 'amusement'?" Jason asked as they continued.

Oscar sighed, "You know exactly what I mean. It's not recommended though. If a Tistihlal gets one of these women pregnant, that child is thrown off that thing." Oscar pointed to a very high up pedestal that resembled a wide diving board. It was basically a launching off point for the birds and was also used to get new birds to shift for the first time. It was also, of course, used for execution of non-Thunderbirds.

"You kill them?" Carlisle was the one who asked, and he was mortified. Edward didn't react, but then he already knew about this by now and had had time to dilute his own mortification.

"They're not pure blood, so they're disposed of. Like I said, we're a lot like Spartans. It's been this way since my father's been chief, but I think things may have been better when Ye Keti was in power. Not by much, mind you, but still better."

"Deplorable," Esme said, looking around and the sadness that surrounded them.

"Wasn't Zakra among these people?" Travis asked. Oscar looked right at Travis, extremely perplexed.

"Yeah," he finally answered. "How'd you know?"

"We have two mind readers on our team," Jason replied, still looking around at all the shacks. The smell was getting to them all more and more as they proceeded.

"Ah," Oscar answered. Then he turned back around and kept walking. They proceeded a few more meters before Embry was stopped suddenly by a tugging feeling. He looked in the direction it came from, and gravity shifted.

The woman he saw nearly brought tears to his eyes. She was naked and in an upright fetal position, seemingly trying to desperately hide something. Her hair was pitch black, but nappy and filthy. There was dirt and debris in her hair and she was covered in 'dirt' and Embry could smell it from where he stood. She appeared to be sleeping and when Embry stepped closer to her, he saw that not only was she covered in dirt, but there was dried blood on her too. She looked malnourished and there were sores on her body. By the time he was close enough to touch her, Embry was on his knees.

"Embry," Jacob called as he approached. Then he saw what Embry saw and realized what happened. This girl was his imprint and she looked harmed and discarded.

"She's clutching something," Embry mumbled. He looked closer and only then realized what she was trying to hide: a round belly, full with child. She looked like she was halfway through from what he could see.

"What's the hold up?" Oscar asked as he approached. He glanced at the woman Embry did and then looked at the group again. "What?"

"This woman is Embry's imprint," Jacob answered.

Oscar looked around the group again, then the woman, then Jacob. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Jacob looked at Oscar strangely. "Your flock members don't imprint?"

"What does imprinting even mean? You guys etch yourselves onto parchment?"

"It's a bond," Travis answered, stepping closer to Oscar. "It's an instant loving bond that can't be broken. It's the closest thing this world has to love at first site. We don't know how it works aside from the fact that when a wolf imprints, it means he's found his mate." Oscar kept looking at Travis then finally raised an eyebrow rather oddly.

"No," he finally answered. "We don't do that. We've never been able to do that, even before what happened to Ye Keti and Herci. I guess it's what comes with being a reptile instead of a mammal."

"Birds aren't reptiles. Birds belong to the Aves class of animals," Kyle said.

"Thanks Bear Grylls. Either way, we don't do that." Oscar walked a little closer. "Leave her be and let's go. The sun will be down in two hours and we have a lot of work to do."

"No, we need to get her out of here." Embry moved closer to the woman. Embry gently rubbed her cheek, trying to wake her. She grumbled a little as her eyes fluttered open, revealing her tar black eyes. She looked at Embry, her eyes flew open, and she screamed almost directly in Embry's ear before crawling away, still attempting to hide her bump. "It's alright," Embry said. "I won't hurt you."

"She can't understand you, Embry," Edward said. "She'll understand you if you speak Quileute. The dialect isn't too different."

"She will?" Edward nodded at Embry's question then he heard his next.

"Her name is Caevia," _(Author's note: pronounced Say- via)_ Edward answered. Caevia, Embry thought, it's a beautiful name. He looked at Caevia, who was trembling, but seemed to relax again.

"_Caevia," _Embry proceeded in Quileute_, "Can you understand me?" _Caevia nodded timidly._ "My name is Embry. I promise I won't hurt you Caevia. I just want to get you out of here."_ Caevia didn't come closer after Embry offered his hand. She scooted further away, still concealing her pregnant belly. "Why is she trying so hard to hide she's pregnant?" Embry looked at Edward and asked the question.

"Because a Tistihlal is the father," Edward answered frankly. Oscar kept looking at the woman, then something dawned on him and he walked closer to her. She tried scooting away further, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back towards the group, never taking his eyes off her face.

"Let her go," Embry hissed back, his voice getting harsh. Oscar held up his finger and told him to be silent.

"Look at her nose." The group did as Oscar instructed. "Now look at mine." Again, they did as instructed and they realized they had the same nose, only Caevia's was smaller and a little thinner, more feminine. "I get this nose from my mother and only Thunderbirds in my line of family have this nose. It's not a trait held among these people."

"You're saying she's a Thunderbird?" Emmett asked.

"I thought you said half-kin were executed." Jacob chimed.

"They are," Oscar mumbled, still looking at the woman. "But it wouldn't surprise me if one slipped through the cracks."

"You can't make such a claim with just a nose, grandpa."

"No," Oscar answered Olivia, "But I can check her voice." Everyone, except Edward, Kyle and Olivia, looked at him oddly.

"What do you mean?" Travis asked.

Oscar didn't answer Travis. Instead, he ordered Caevia to repeat after him and produced a sound that only falcons could make. It was like three different notes in one call. It started from low to high with a third note that was lower than the other two in the background. It was the sound of a falcon call and he made the sound twice. Caevia looked at Oscar, but did not even open her mouth to attempt. Oscar ordered her to repeat after him and made the call again. This time, timidly again, Caevia repeated the call. It was weaker, but it was still the call of a falcon.

"Yeah," Oscar said as he stood back up, "she's a Thunderbird alright. Only people of our tribe can make that noise and do it correctly. I can only assume her mother had a husband to blame the pregnancy on and got away with bearing an illegitimate Thunderbird."

"Okay, fine, now can we please get her out of here?" Embry went back to her and spoke to her again in an attempt to calm her. _"You don't have to be scared of me. I won't hurt you._ Edward," Embry looked over his shoulder at Edward, "where's her family? We should get them out of here too."

"She has no family," Edward said. "Her parents are dead and her brother ran away years ago. That means he's either dead or moved on by now. Carlisle, we can take her back in our car and we'll check her when we get back home."

Oscar shrugged, "If you really want to take her home, fine, but we still need to handle business." Oscar finally continued on, so Edward, Carlisle, and Embry agreed that they would look after her until they were needed. From there, Embry would stay with her. He didn't want to leave her side. Embry was wearing a rather baggy shirt, so he took that off and helped Caevia get into the shirt so she was covered as they walked her to the line of cars. Caevia didn't fight, but she didn't calm down either. By the time Embry sat Caevia in the car, she was shaking violently.

Meanwhile, Oscar and the rest of the group continued to the main house past the slums. Oscar noticed that the houses all seemed slightly empty and this concerned him. He'd made clear to his father that they needed assistance and to wait until he'd retrieved it. Oscar opened the door to the main house and saw only one person immediately: his grandson, Tut. He was sleeping on the couch, snoring as if a mower and it irritated Oscar.

"I'll wake him," Olivia said with a smile and walked to the couch where Tut was sleeping. Tut was older than her, but he was closest to her age of all her other siblings and the two had a special bond because of it. When she was close enough, Olivia started poking him. _"Big brother,"_ Olivia sang, _"Big brother, big brother, sleeping tight, you should've got more sleep last night. The sun is high and scorching, it's time to wake your eyes."_ Olivia kept poking Tut while singing the song until Tut finally woke up.

"_Olivia?"_

"Wake up!" Oscar finally barked startling Tut and making him fall off the couch. "See," Oscar said to Olivia, "was that so hard?" Tut pulled himself off the ground rubbing his head. _"Where is everyone?"_

Tut looked at Oscar and suddenly looked really nervous, _"Mother's in grandma Wisteria's room with the others. Half the flock is gone."_

"_What?"_ Oscar raised an eyebrow. _"What do you mean gone? What happened?"_

Tut hesitated again, fearing Oscar's wrath at being ignored. _"Grandpa Barka decided to attack the cold creatures last night. He died in the assault. So did most of my brothers. Father isn't dead, but the medicine man thinks he will be soon."_ Tut mumbled the last part more to Olivia than to Oscar. Olivia lost the smiled she'd had and looked devastated.

"_Daddy?"_ she asked, falling to the couch, nearly crying.

"_Father's bleeding a lot and he has many broken bones,"_ Tut continued. _"He was awake until high noon and he hasn't woken up since then."_

"_Who else is among the living?"_ Oscar asked harshly.

"_Uncle Oliver made it through the assault. I did, so did Kachei. They're the only brothers that fought and lived besides me. We lost a lot of birds, grandpa."_

Oscar was silent a moment while Olivia began to hiccup tears. _"You said your mother and father are in your grandma's room?"_ Tut nodded and Olivia began running in the direction of the room. Oscar followed closely behind. When they reached the room, the door was closed and Kachei and Taka Eki (who was only ten) were outside the door staring at the wall. Considering the states of undress that the non-Tistihlal had been in, the main tribes' clothes were surprisingly modern. They wore jeans and shirts just as anyone in the real world would. It was an odd combination of seclusion and outdated white apparel. When Kachei looked up and saw the look on Olivia's face, he cringed.

"_Is daddy getting better?"_ Olivia mumbled. Kachei only shook and looked back at the wall solemnly. Taka Eki was beginning to tear up again and dropped his head in his arms. Olivia walked to him and the two hugged, comforting each other. Esme left the group to retrieve Carlisle.

"Oscar?" Oscar turned and saw Wisteria coming towards him. She looked no older than Oscar and she was a tiny woman. Wisteria went straight to Oscar and hugged him. _"Thank goodness you're here."_ She looked up at him. _"Genevieve is hurting. She could use your comfort. I'll keep Oliver away so you can comfort her."_

"_Will Takara live?"_

"_The medicine man said he'd be dead by tonight."_

Oscar nodded and released Wisteria so he could go to the bedroom door. Oscar let himself in and seven of his granddaughters were in there with Genevieve. All the women were wearing dresses of different prints, but they all looked strangely out of date and thin in fabric while covering most of their bodies expect their arms. Takara was in the bed, eyes closed and his breathing shallow. Based on Oscar's experience with war, the man was in a coma. Some of the women in that room, including his granddaughters and wives of his grandsons, were already mourning their husbands' lose. Genevieve looked up at Oscar when he entered. She looked so much like Oscar with cascading black hair and a modest dress that was black. She was in mourning and there was plenty to mourn.

Genevieve's husband, Takara, was a good man. Oscar had handpicked the man as good enough for his little girl and they'd fallen in love instantly. For Genevieve to lose Takara after more than a hundred happy years of marriage…..it was a wound beyond healing. Genevieve's eyes were red and swollen from crying. She'd been crying since she found out her husband was going to die. Oscar walked to the bed where Genevieve was sitting and sat down beside her. They didn't say anything to each other. Instead, Genevieve broke down and plopped her head on Oscar's shoulder while her right hand kept holding onto Takara's limp one. Because Genevieve started crying again, all the other women cried. The group watched them all cry as Oscar cuddled Genevieve and whispered that he was here and everything would be okay. Esme came back with Carlisle soon after, who then went right to Takara with some medical equipment he had in his bag. Genevieve saw him and tried defending Takara by covering his body with hers.

"_What is he doing?"_ Genevieve asked.

Oscar looked at him, "Carlisle?"

"I'm a doctor, Oscar. I'll take a look at him and see if there's anything I can do. He's injured badly, but it doesn't look fatal by my calculations." Oscar repeated as much to Genevieve, who looked wide eyed at Carlisle.

"_Takara will be alright?"_ Jacob translated for Carlisle, who nodded in response and some light came back to Genevieve's eyes. Oscar stayed with Genevieve for five minutes while Carlisle checked Takara and determined, yes, he was in a coma and yes, he had broken bones and had lost a lot of blood, but this was nothing he couldn't treat. He'd have to re-break Takara's bones so they could heal properly, but on the bright side, he'd healed enough that he wasn't losing anymore blood, nor would Carlisle need to give him a transfusion. The medicine man had been correct that Takara would've died that night, but only if he didn't get immediate medical attention.

"Now, be prepared for him to yell," Carlisle said. Oscar translated and Carlisle waited for Genevieve to nod and when she did, the breaking began. That shot Takara right out of his coma, which had been minor anyway. The four other children, including Olivia, that had not been in the room, came right in at the sound of their father yelling and screaming. Carlisle finished in seconds and told Oscar to explain morphine to Takara before he gave any to him. When Takara was still, Carlisle injected the morphine and began casting Takara's broken bones.

"Daddy will be alright?" Olivia asked Carlisle hopefully. Carlisle nodded and Olivia smiled and hugged her little brother amorously, translating to him that their father would live. It was after that time that Wisteria was coming downstairs talking to someone. It wasn't Oliver, but his wife Azhar. Coincidentally, she was also Wisteria's sister. Azhar reached the room and went right to Oscar, poking him.

"_What the hell is going on here?"_ Azhar asked.

"_I brought a white medicine man and he's fixing Takara."_

"_Well be that as it may, Oliver wants to speak with you."_ Azhar said it rather coldly.

"_Tell Oliver he can wait."_

"_He's waited long enough. You know as well as he that you two need to talk."_ Oscar took a deep breath, mumbled something to Genevieve, who in turn whispered it into Takara's ear, and then stood from the bed and began walking to the stairs. There was no point in arguing with Azhar. She wasn't the one at greatest liability over this disaster. Carlisle, Esme, Max, and Jason stayed downstairs while the rest of the group followed Oscar up the stairs to a large set of double doors that led to a master suit bedroom.

"_He already moved into father's room?"_ Oscar asked Azhar.

"_Barka's room is also the meeting room, remember? There's been no moving."_ Azhar opened the doors to the room and stepped in with the group following. Oliver was sitting at Barka's desk and Tara Caesi was standing beside him, tears in her eyes. They weren't for her husband, but for her grandchildren and son-in-laws that were lost. Oliver could speak English and Oscar didn't want either Tara Caesi or Azhar trying to nose their way into this business.

"What happened, Oliver?"

"Father decided to attack those things last night and we were soundly defeated. Father is dead, most of my sons are dead, and we've been reduced from sixty seven birds to twenty eight."

"That much I already know," Oscar said. Before continuing, he told Azhar and his mother to leave. Azhar left willingly, but Tara Caesi wasn't so compliant. Oscar and Oliver stood very still, staring at Tara Caesi until she finally stepped out of the room. "There's something I'm confused about, little brother." The group noticed Oliver shiver a little, despite trying to hide it. Oscar only called Oliver 'little brother' when he was about to harm him or when he was angry. "I told father to wait for me to bring help. He seemed rather willing to do that when I left. So what's this I'm hearing about the flock attacking these things and losing two thirds of our flock?" Oliver didn't answer, so Oscar walked around the table until he was standing next to Oliver, clearing him by a few inches. "Answer my question, Oliver."

"Father decided we needed to fight them immediately."

"Yes and what made him come to that conclusion? You see, I had a chance to speak with Takara about what happened. He'll be alright, but he claims that you influenced father into this last minute change of plans." Oscar moved closer and Oliver backed away. "Is that the case?"

"I decided that we needed to take care of our own business without help from the outside world." Oscar took a deep breath and an eerie silence fell on them.

"I told you both what these things were capable of after I'd encountered them. Why did you go against my advice? What's the real reason?" Oliver didn't answer him, but Oscar already knew the real reason. "Regardless, you went against my advice and now look what happened? Our flock was near obliterated and our father is dead. I'm certainly not taking over as chief. Do you honestly think you can?"

"I'd be better than you," Oliver spat back.

This made Oscar laugh. "Indeed, little brother. We lost a tyrant and get a child."

"I'm no child Oscar." Suddenly, Oscar brought his hand behind Oliver's head and slammed his face onto the table and it caused everyone to jump with surprise.

"Then don't act like one," Oscar said when Oliver hit the floor. Oscar waited for Oliver to get back to his feet before he went on. "What's done is done. Just remember this lesson and don't make this mistake again. That blonde," pointing at Jasper, "is apparently an expert in killing what we're after, so gather the birds we have left and meet us outside so he can show us what to do."

"If he's such an expert, have him take care of it. You've got plenty of people gathered that you claim know what they're doing. I'm not sending my flock back there."

"Let me ask you something, little brother." Just as suddenly, Oscar grabbed Oliver's shoulder and started tightening his grip gradually. "How many pounds of pressure per square inch do you think it takes to crush a human collarbone?"

"This isn't solving anything!" Jacob yelled. Oscar released Oliver's shoulder and it caused Oliver to fall over the table. "With your help, without your help, we're killing those newborn armies. If all you two are going to do is bicker, than we might as well leave now."

"_Then leave,"_ Oliver grumbled.

"Oliver," Oscar barked, "If you want to stay behind, that's fine. It's probably for the best in fact. Olivia, get everyone to meet behind the house so Jasper can instruct them. I'll fly in the newborn army's direction and see what they're up to." Oscar walked past the group, that was currently off put by Oscar's treatment of Oliver, and made his way to the platform. Olivia began looking for the flock members and told them to meet outside the main house.

"Are you sure he wasn't like that with his boyfriend?" Jason asked when they were outside and alone as a group. Carlisle had retrieved Edward to assist in training the men, but it was taking time to get them together.

"As I said; the way Oscar treats Oliver is completely different. I blame their father. Those alive that remember him also remember the way he treated his children. Barka turned Oscar into a bully. It's a miracle Oliver is the only victim, though that doesn't excuse the maltreatment. Oliver and Oscar will probably never be able to repair their relationship. We're talking about roughly twenty years of physical and emotional abuse on Oscar's part with Barka egging Oscar on, telling him he needed to in order to prove the stronger man."

"And he only treats Oliver this way?" Max asked. Edward nodded.

"Well damn," Jason said, "it's no wonder Oliver's being so resistant. It's no wonder he didn't bother waiting for Oscar to bring help because he didn't want to get sidelined by the guy that's been so mean to him. He had something to prove to a father that never loved him."

"Barka never loved Oscar either I imagine," Edward said. "Barka gave his praise to the son that pleased him the most. That just happened to be Oscar. It doesn't mean he loved him. Not that it really matters. Oscar despises his father, always has. When he was young, he used to fear Barka and wished to please him only to be spared his wrath. It was never out of love or respect. He's not too fond of his mother either if we're being completely honest with each other. If you were to speak to her, Jacob, I think she'd remind you of Ann Uley. She may have been a nice woman once, but Barka turned her bitter, so she wasn't exactly a model mother."

"Who was Richard Byrne?" Travis asked Edward suddenly, wanting to speak of anything besides Oscar's and Oliver's hostile and admittedly frightening relationship. Edward looked at Travis a moment before finally answering.

"That's something you should ask him. It's a touchy subject and I have no right to tell you." After a deep breath, Travis just nodded and looked back towards the west in the direction Oscar had flown. He'd been gone about five minutes now and considering how quickly he flew away he was probably overlooking the enemy already.

"Does he have any other tattoos besides the ones on his chest and back?"

"He has a cactus with a rainbow flower on his left foot." Edward seemed to have more to add, but he instead smiled at Travis. "Let him tell you information on his own from now on. He wasn't too pleased when he found out a mind reader was telling you things about him. It made him uncomfortable."

"Can I ask one more question before I stop?"

Edward chuckled a little, "He's fond of you."

Travis asked, "Just fond of me?"

"Attracted to you," Edward corrected. "Is that a word you prefer?"

"That's all I wanted to know." Then there came the sound of a large group approaching them. Oliver led them, but it was a group of twenty seven men that weren't injured. Jasper stepped forward and asked Edward to do the same.

"We have to defeat both these armies and an air force on our side would offer a great advantage," Jasper began, but was interrupted.

"Jasper?" Oliver interrupted. "That is you name correct?" Jasper nodded. "I agree that we need help as much as I may have seemed difficult earlier, but I won't have the men fight tonight. We fought last night and all the men standing before you barely lived through the assault. I'm grateful to your medicine man for saving my niece's husband, but most of our birds were not so lucky. We need time to recover and save our strength."

"I understand," Jasper said, "but you must remember that these newborns do not sleep. You are dealing with vampires. We do not eat, we do not sleep, and in the setting of an army with the advantage of a newborn power, we do not stop. I understand your men need rest, but we must act quickly lest they get the advantage and take your flock and us off guard."

"If that's the case, why have they not come after us already?"

"Because we're dealing with a newborn army," Jasper answered, his officer's voice coming through. "Newborns are created in large droves for one reason and one reason only: hunting territory. If they haven't attacked by now, my guess is their leaders consider your flock inconsequential. You said you lost a lot of birds, including your former flock leader. That's a huge blow and the armies both undoubtedly know that. You're all a blip on their radar and we need to take advantage of that before either army is able to claim territory and kill any innocent people. I suspect they're after Phoenix."

Oliver still looked unconvinced, but they were all brought to attention from the sound of flapping wings coming from the west. They looked and saw Oscar flying back from spying on the enemy. He went right to the group and landed far enough away so he didn't hit anyone with his wings. In the light, the group could finally have a good look at his feathers. His chest and belly were brown with spots of black and his back and head pure black with a white collection of feathers under his eyes. Just like the wolves in the Olympic pack, he held a man's eyes. In his bird form, his eyes were so human, black and penetrating. He walked closer to the group and Travis smiled a little at the way Oscar walked as a bird. It was a strange waddle that made it apparent that walking on two feet was strange for him in this form and it made Travis think of a parrot. Remembering that the group had a mind reader, he stayed in his bird form and just thought about what happened.

"The armies aren't worried about us," Edward said. "They're more concerned about one another and they're preparing to fight." Edward looked at Jasper. "Oscar has an idea. He thinks we should let them fight one another and kill the members that remain. That'll give the men time to rest some more and we can attack them tomorrow morning." Jasper agreed that was a good plan and Edward looked at Oliver. "Is that more agreeable?"

Oscar looked at Oliver, his bird coos increasing as if telling him what to say. Oliver only nodded and Edward suggested they watch Jasper train with Oscar at least. Oliver agreed and Jasper trained the men until nightfall, showing how a newborn fights, thinks and what the birds can do against them both offensively and defensively; especially defensively. Having aerial allies would be of great use. After the training session, Edward informed the group that Oscar would go back and check on the armies again, see what they're up to this far. Oliver offered spare rooms for everyone and while showing the pack around, Edward and Carlisle went back to the car where Embry and Caevia still were. When they got there, Embry and Caevia were on opposite sides of the back seat and Caevia was still sitting in a fetal position on the seat with only Embry's baggy shirt keeping her decent.

"So what's the plan?" Embry asked.

"Oscar suggested we let the armies kill each other and get rid of what's left so the men can get some rest. With regards to Caevia," Edward began, hearing Embry's thoughts, "I talked to Jacob and he said he wanted your help with this. According to Oscar, there are a lot of newborns and we'll need everyone. I talked to Oliver for you and he said he'd be willing to let the two of you share a room, but he does have a condition. Before she sleeps in any available bed, she needs to bathe."

Embry huffed, "She's a person, not a dog."

"Embry, believe me, I understand how you feel. I'm not too comfortable with these people myself, but Caevia should take a bath. It'll make her feel better and it'll give Carlisle a chance to give her a check up and see how the baby's doing." Embry opened his mouth to ask his question, but Edward answered it before he could ask. "He doesn't know she's an unmarried pregnant woman and as long as you don't bring it up, he won't ask. So just keep it to yourself."

"I don't trust them alone with her."

"You can keep her with Wisteria and Genevieve where Takara is recovering. They won't say anything either. Don't mention it and it won't come up." Embry took a deep breath and nodded before looking at Caevia.

"_Caevia, I'm going to take you to the main house so you can take a bath."_ At the mention of the main house, Caevia shook her head and scooted millimeters further from Embry, stopped only by the closed car door. _"Caevia, it'll be alright. I won't let them near you."_ Caevia still wouldn't budge, so Embry looked over his shoulder at Edward. "Is there anything I can say that'll make her more comfortable?"

Edward took a deep and unnecessary breath, "I'm afraid not, Embry. She's scared they'll realize she's pregnant with one of their bastards and she doesn't want to risk it. She's lost three to them already and she doesn't want to lose this one."

Three? The number resonated in Embry's head. "Then tell Jacob I'm taking her back to the hotel. I'll come back and fight, but I want to get her somewhere safe."

"I'll tell Jacob."

"Thanks," Embry said before reaching out so Edward could put the keys in his hand. Embry got Caevia in a seatbelt, but that took longer than expected. He first put it on her without explaining what it was and she crawled out of it. Then Embry explained it and put her back in the seatbelt. She crawled out of it again saying it was uncomfortable. It took Embry forty five minutes to finally convince Caevia to stay in the seatbelt without immediately crawling out of it. As Embry was driving back, it was then that he realized he'd have to get a woman covered in dirt and blood wearing just a t-shirt through a hotel and a crowd of people. "Damn it," Embry mumbled.

When they arrived at the hotel, Embry got the idea to go to the back and have Caevia hide there until he could park the car and he'd get her up to his room without anyone seeing her. He couldn't think of a reasonable explanation for Caevia's condition that wouldn't ultimately wind up involving police. Embry told Caevia to wait for him next to the door and Embry made quick work of parking the car and was back by Caevia's side in five minutes. Embry led Caevia through the back door and they snuck through the hallways until they finally got to Embry's room. When they were in Embry's room, he looked at Caevia, who was looking up at him. She still looked extremely nervous, so Embry smiled at her.

"_I'll start a bath for you, okay?"_ Caevia didn't say anything back. In the time they'd met, she'd squawked, said no, and called the seatbelt uncomfortable, a total of three words in four hours. She stayed standing by the door while Embry went to the bathroom and got the water going. He tested the water until it was nice and warm, then sealed the drain and allowed the water to rise. Embry noticed there was a bubble bath mix under the sink, so he poured some in at the last minute and let the bubbles form. Embry heard the bed make a slight rustling sound and when he came back, Caevia was sitting on the bed bouncing up and down to test its softness. _"It's a nice bed,"_ Embry said, making Caevia look up at him. _"It's something called _memory foam."

"Eōry foa…." She attempted repeating after Embry, but the ms were impossible for her to form. Embry walked over and kneeled so he was facing her.

"Mmmmm," Embry began, showing her how to form the sound.

"Mmmmm," she repeated.

Embry nodded, "Meh," he went on.

"Eh."

"Meh," he corrected gently.

"Mmmm…eh."

"_Good, now put them together."_

"Mmmmeh," she finally managed.

Embry smiled, _"Now say _memory_."_

"Mmmmm," she began, having trouble. "Mmmemmmmory," she finally said.

Embry grinned wider, _"Good, Caevia. You're doing very well."_ The praise, inexplicably, made Caevia smile shyly and look away. Embry left her to think and went to check on the tub. It wasn't quite full yet, but it was getting there. Embry walked back to the bed and saw Caevia holding her legs to her chest again and staring at the floor. Embry sat down next to her and tried touching the bump she sported, but she scooted away and looked frightened. That look of terror in her eyes was more than he could bare. _"I said I wouldn't hurt you, Caevia. I mean that."_

Caevia still didn't answer him. Instead, she stood from the bed and went to the other side of the room. She started shaking. Embry thought, at first, that she was scared of him and that hurt him. But then he realized the hotel's ac was on full blast and she was probably freezing. Embry walked to her side and gently led her to the bathroom and encouraged her to take off the baggy shirt and step into the water. She did as Embry instructed and stepped into the tub with Embry's assistance and when she was submerged he thought he heard her groan in relief. The contented smile brought a smile to his lips as well. She started playing with the bubbles and smiling as she played. It reminded him of Lauren and Jenna when they played with bubbles. When Caevia realized the bubbles could hold a shape, she started forming little balls of bubbles and anything else her hands could construct. While she played, Embry retrieved the complimentary hotel body wash and shampoos and the sponge.

"_You're not coming in?"_ Caevia asked. Embry was caught off guard. It was the first full sentence she'd spoken to him since they met. It was also what she was asking. When Embry looked into her eyes, he didn't see passion or desire, anything. She looked like she thought her question was a perfectly innocent and reasonable one. It probably was now that Embry thought about it. When he'd found her, she was completely naked and unashamed about it as were several other people in that smaller village of people. Bathing in groups was probably as natural to Caevia as shifting was to Embry.

"_I'm alright. Let's just get you clean."_ Taking the body wash, Embry poured some over the sponge and got it to lather before bringing it to her skin and cleaning off the dirt and blood. _"Where did the blood come from?"_ Embry asked; he'd been worrying about it for a while but now seemed like a time when she was relaxed enough to actually talk about it.

"_Two people began to fight near me this morning. It got violent and one man died."_ Embry wanted to be relieved that it wasn't her blood, but he couldn't get passed the fact that evidently, Caevia was all too used to violence occurring right before her eyes.

"_Do you know who the father is?"_ She didn't seem to follow what he meant. _"Who's the father of your baby?"_ Embry clarified and it made Caevia very uncomfortable.

"_I'm not sure,"_ she said frankly and looked at the water. She seemed to turn sad.

"_Do you want to tell me what happened?"_ Caevia only shook her head and a few tears fell from her eyes. Embry attempted to wipe them away, but she flinched. It didn't take much for Embry to figure out what happened. _"He raped you didn't he?"_ Caevia still didn't answer him. Deep down, Embry knew that's what must've happened. He knew the moment Oscar clarified just how the tribe felt about non-Thunderbirds and their bastards.

"_They,"_ Caevia eventually mumbled. Embry looked up at her and saw her crying more. _"I don't know who they are, but there were four."_ Embry felt himself getting ill.

"_It won't happen again,"_ Embry assured. Caevia finally looked at Embry and the look she gave him made Embry nervous, as if she didn't believe him. _"You're safe now, Caevia. You and the baby are both safe."_

After his proclamation, Embry continued cleaning Caevia off while she just stared at him. When the dirt and blood was gone, he tried washing her hair, but it was so matted that he couldn't get his fingers through her hair. When Caevia stepped out of the tub, the water was near black, but Caevia was finally clean with the exception of her hair. Her russet skin was a little darker than Embry's from years of unadulterated sun exposure in a world that may as well be on the sun for how hot it was. Embry saw bruises on her body here and there, but her midsection was as clear as clean water, not an injury to be seen. She'd taken great care in making sure of that. Her elbows, knees, and feet were extremely calloused and cracked, her feet and hands sporting blisters that screamed red. She also had scratches on her arms and legs. They looked peculiarly like defensive wounds and there was a small cut right next to her eye that looked fresh. There was still dirt under her fingernails even though those nails were nearly non-existent and horribly chipped and uneven. Her lips were chapped to the point of bleeding in most spots and there were bruises on her neck that looked too much like hand prints. The longer Embry looked, the more lightheaded he began to get. What all had happened to Caevia and who had to die for it? Caevia didn't want to speak of it, though, so Embry handed her a clean baggy shirt and a pair of sweat pants and socks. It was all too big for her, but when the women got back to the hotel, they could lend her something that fit until they got back to Washington.

"_I need to go back, Caevia. I need to fight tomorrow."_

"_Fight what?"_

"_The army of new cold ones" _Embry answered, but Caevia didn't seem to understand what he was talking about. _"They're bloodsuckers and we need to get rid of them before they harm anyone. I promise I'll be back by tomorrow evening. Do you want food before I go?"_ Caevia nodded and Embry went to the little room service menu. He had enough time to order her a late dinner, so he called the kitchen and ordered something light for her: a chopped salad with grilled chicken. Embry wasn't sure how much she wanted, but there was one thing he knew. She looked malnourished, which meant she was essentially starving. If he ordered her a huge thing, it would make her sick. So he also ordered her a big glass of orange juice so her body could adjust gradually. When the food got there, Embry waited instructed Caevia to drink the orange juice little by little first and save the salad for later.

Embry again promised that he'd be back by the next evening and asked Caevia to promise not to leave the room. He promised he'd also call in food for her, seeing as she couldn't call the kitchen herself. Even if she spoke a little English, she couldn't read. She was at a major disadvantage. He hated leaving her, but he had his orders and needed to get back to the reservation. About the time that Embry left, Travis was wondering around in the kitchen of the main house. He was having trouble sleeping. The house was horribly archaic in plumbing and appliances throughout the house. There was no phone anywhere, and there was no running water, which opened a whole other can of worms on its own. Travis would've liked some warning that they'd essentially be camping. The bedrooms were way too hot too. When it got to nightfall, Travis heard Oliver complain that it was freezing. It was eighty eight degrees outside and that was hot by Travis's standards.

"What are you doing in here?" Travis turned around and saw Oscar leaning against the wall. He had back on his clothes, but Travis could see his tattoo poking atop the collar.

"I couldn't sleep. It's too hot."

"Its eighty degrees, you big baby," Oscar chuckled.

"Eighty eight," Travis corrected. "And don't call me a big baby. I'm used to sixty degree weather."

"I noticed," Oscar said. "I was scared it'd freeze my balls off there." They laughed a little and Travis turned to face him and leaned against the island counter.

"So was there anything knew?" Travis asked, concerning the armies.

"So far, they're still fighting. A couple of them are dead by now, but there's still a lot to go. There's a huge fire going too."

"That would be to destroy them. The only way to really kill a vampire is through fire."

"You don't say," Oscar said. Then he proceeded closer to the island and leaned his hip against it. "So these mind readers of yours," he started, "what else have they said to you about me?" The question left Travis unsettled. He wasn't sure if Oscar was asking because he was genuinely curious or because he was angry about the whole thing. Travis just decided to tell the truth.

"Not much else. We talked a little while you were getting ready. Edward told us about your father, your relationship with Oliver, and your relationship with Zakra. I tried asking Edward a few other things, but he told me to take anything else up with you. He said the fact that we have mind readers made you upset."

"So you know what my father was like, you know how Oliver and I interact, and you know about Zakra? To what extent if I may ask?"

"Edward told us that Barka was a tyrant—"

"I'd mentioned that, yes."

"Well, Edward elaborated. He told us that Barka used to pit you and Oliver against each other." Oscar rolled his eyes a little and shrugged. "Is that not true? I have to say, the fact that you slammed his face in a table and threatened to shatter his collarbone don't really support that claim."

"I'm not denying it," Oscar corrected. "Father always favored me, so he encouraged me to beat on Oliver and make him more to father's approval. It never really worked."

"Abuse does not a man make," Travis said. "Neither does being the abuser."

Oscar raised an eyebrow at Travis. "Are you saying I'm not a man?"

"I'm saying being the abuser didn't make you a man. Your experiences after you left this place are what made you a real man I think. You've been in the military, you've traveled the world because of it, and now you own a successful hotel." Oscar stared at Travis a moment until he left the counter and went to a small fire pit.

"Do you want some coffee?"

"You guys have coffee?"

Oscar chuckled, "It's one of the few things we have. When those white settlers attacked, we looted their things and father found coffee and tobacco. We ran out of the tobacco and never really refilled that, but father loved the coffee and would not be without it. He used to have a bird go and steal some, but since I started living in the outside world, I've been sending him coffee once a month. We still use a handheld coffee grinder and a pit fire and pot of water to make it, but it's good."

"Then yes, I would love some coffee. I've never had coffee made the good old fashioned way."

Oscar chuckled, "It's the only way to do it. I'll be honest with you; I tried using modern coffee makers and pre-ground coffee beans, but it's just not the same. I grind my own beans, boil them in water until the water's black, put it through a strainer into a big porcelain pitcher, and that's my coffee."

"Sounds time consuming," Travis laughed.

"Sometimes, things taste better when they take longer." Oscar lit a fire in the small pit that was in the kitchen. There was a large hole in the ceiling above it that allowed smoke to be released. The kitchen itself was rather detached looking from the rest of the house. When the fire was made, Oscar pulled out a large pan, a coffee grinder, and some Velvet Noir Gevalia coffee beans. "I'll get some water. Why don't you grind the beans? You know how to do that right?"

"I'm sure I can figure it out." Oscar smiled and put the beans and grinder on the counter before walking out with the pan to get some water. Travis got to work on grinding the beans and started with enough for two cups of coffee based on how strong he usually took his coffee. When Oscar got back, the pan was filled halfway with water and he placed the pan over the fire before coming over to Travis.

"You like weak coffee don't you?" He asked in an almost exasperated tone, but he was also amused.

"I don't like it too strong unless there'll be creamer in it."

Oscar chuckled, "Creamer." Oscar poured more beans into the grinder and took over. By the time he was done, there were enough beans for five cups of coffee, at least according to Travis's taste. "This is Gevalia coffee. It's too expensive to muddle with sugar and it's too good."

"So you take your coffee black?"

Oscar nodded, "Like my men." Travis shot a look at Oscar, who looked right back, and after a momentary staring contest, the two started laughing. "What? I've dated black men. My first was a _French_ black man too."

"A black guy that speaks French?" Travis asked. "I personally prefer a black guy with a British accent."

"Eh," Oscar shrugged. "It depends on the guy. I'm more of a German accent kind of guy to be honest. That or Russian. They're so manly."

Travis chuckled, "I won't argue that point. So what was this French black guy's name?"

Oscar looked like he was about to answer, but then he lost his smile and stopped. "Shit! I can't remember." Travis couldn't help laughing. "Give me a minute. It'll come to me. Fuck," he cursed under his breath, looking thoughtful while Travis kept snickering. "Shut up, kid. We only slept together for a few days before I had to leave Paris and march towards Germany. I met him in 1940." Oscar kept thinking while Travis contained himself as best he could. "Phillip? No, it wasn't Phillip. François? No, that's a woman's name. God damn it, why can't I remember? He was such a great fuck."

Travis couldn't help the laughter. "You sound like such a man-whore right now."

"Hey," Oscar said while pointing at Travis. He opened his mouth to say something, but when no defense came out, he let his hand fall and sighed. "Okay, yes, I was a man-whore, but can you blame me? I was in a foreign country with no comfort except one night stands with men that would do just about anything for a slice of bread. Hell, I'm willing to bet that black guy I'm bragging about only let me sleep with him because I gave him food. Paris was in quite a shitty state at the time if you recall."

"I recall what I was told in history class."

Oscar chuckled, "Damn kids and your music." Travis laughed in return as Oscar poured the coffee grounds into the water. While the water was boiling, Oscar looked around until he found the cheese cloth that was blackened from years of coffee brewing. "Fredrick!" Oscar said a little louder than he should have at this late hour. "That was his name: Fredrick. I knew it would come back to me eventually."

"Did you have these habits in Vietnam too?" Travis teased.

"I did at first, but I stopped when I realized they all looked the same. Actually, what happened was I'd been in Vietnam for a year and I finally managed to find a guy that was willing to let me have my way with him and when we got back to his place, some guy came out of nowhere and tried to shoot me. I shot that guy and the guy that'd been seducing me. Then I realized it was a really ugly woman and I felt really stupid. I didn't diddle any more locals after that travesty. That also made me even more paranoid that I'd already been. As I said, I fucking hated Vietnam."

"I have cousins on my dad's side that were killed in Vietnam. One of them was a cousin that died because he ingested glass."

Oscar nodded all too knowingly. "Yup," he said, "they were sneaky little bastards. That's why I never ate or drank anything unless I received it from the military camp. I've seen too many men drop dead because they decided to 'try the local cuisine'. I've had that stuff in America years later and as far as I'm concerned it all tastes like crap."

Travis smiled, "Would you rather not talk about Vietnam?"

"I don't mind telling you about Vietnam. Consider it my friendly warning." Travis chuckled. "You laugh now, but try spending four years in a jungle full of short Asian people that want to kill you and then see how funny it is. I still jump every time a window door closes suddenly. It reminds me of gunfire."

"You're retired now, aren't you? That's good at least."

Oscar shrugged, "I don't know. I probably should've fought in Iraq. At least it's a desert and I'd know what I was doing."

"I'm not sure that's much better than Vietnam."

"It was better than Vietnam, even if only because people actually supported their soldiers. During the Vietnam War, every pot smoking hippy and college student was bitching that it was a war we shouldn't have been in. One) tell that to the Frenchmen that literally deserted us and left us to deal with their problem, and two) tell that to the men that were drafted into the war and had no choice because their mommy and daddy weren't able to get them out of it. When soldiers started coming back from Vietnam, they were ridiculed and shunned by the American people after spending years in a jungle of people that hated them and wanted to kill them. Now they're coming home to their friends and family deserting them too? At least when Iraq was going on, the American people hated George Bush because he was the moron that started this mess, not the soldiers that risked their lives for their friends and loved ones. I've known too many men that have committed suicide after Vietnam because the shellshock and rejection was too much for them."

"My great grandpa on my dad's side was a Vietnam vet. He got leg injury and was sent home, but he never really recovered from the war mentally. He was an alcoholic the rest of his life as I remember it."

"A lot of veterans end up that way." The water was boiling, so Oscar took the pot and strained the coffee through the tied cheesecloth into the pitcher. "You know, when I got back from Germany, everyone thought I was a hero. Even my father was impressed. Though to be fair, I'd managed to smuggle a flesh lamp to him from Auschwitz, so that probably had a lot to do with it." Travis looked stunned while Oscar continued. "I'd given Genevieve a little Star of David necklace I'd picked up from an abandoned home in Paris and I still have an iron cross that I'd picked off a Nazi officer I'd killed. When I got back from Vietnam, I was no hero. I was some asshole that fought a pointless war and all I had to show for it was some dead guy's toe that I'd thought father might like. Needless to say, he thought it was delightful." Oscar said the last part with a degree of contempt.

"That's gross," Travis said, scrunching his nose at the thought of there being a dead man's toe in this house.

"It was either that or the whole foot. I'll be honest with you, those Vietnamese Gorilla soldiers and absolutely nothing interesting on their person. The Nazi's had well tailored uniforms and interesting articles of paraphernalia and so on. Say what you want about the Nazi's but those officer's uniforms were spectacular. The mere thought of a Nazi officer's uniform gives me an erection." Travis finally laughed a little again as Oscar continued. "What did the Vietcong have? Fucking nothing, that's what. They didn't have nice uniforms, they didn't have sexy accents, they didn't have any articles of interesting jewelry, nothing! They may as well have been naked as the day they were born and some of them were too. There was nothing to make the fact that these assholes were trying to kill me worthwhile."

"Interesting way to see things," Travis said.

"Honestly, when you've been to war for as long as I have and in two completely different parts of the world, an interesting way of seeing things is required." Oscar took out two tin cups that looked like they'd been discontinued after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and portioned the coffee equally. "Here," Oscar offered. They both took a sip of their coffee.

"This is way too strong."

"Really?" Oscar took another sip of his coffee. "I think it's a little on the weak side to be honest." Travis smiled and continued sipping at the hot coffee. "So what else did Edward elaborate on?"

Travis put down the tin can. "Well, I asked him a little about Zakra. He said that Zakra was your first lover and that Oliver told on you and your father killed him."

Oscar took another sip, "Yeah. That happened."

"He said you'd spent years with him."

"Yes, I did."

"Did you love him?" Travis asked. The look Oscar gave him made him nervous again. It was a blank look. "I'm sorry," he said when Oscar didn't answer. "I shouldn't be asking you so many personal questions."

"No, it's alright. I did love him. He was the first man I ever loved and he's also the man I've been in a relationship the longest with."

"He aged though, right?" Oscar nodded. "Did he ever feel unloved because of that?"

"What do you mean?" Oscar asked, taking another sip of coffee.

"Well," Travis began, "When Taha Aki for instance changed to a wolf and became immortal as long as he held onto his spirit wolf he stayed the same while his wife aged. Suerro, he's my cousin's fiancé and he was alive when Taha Aki was, says that his first and second wives both felt like they weren't loved once they got older."

"Oh," Oscar shook his head, "No, Zakra never felt that way. At least, I made a point to make sure he never felt that way. He had more of a problem with the fact that my mother forced me to get married. By then, Zakra and I had been together for….I'd say twenty or so years by then. We saw each other in secret every chance we got, and by the time I married Wisteria, we were more of a married couple than she and I ever were." Oscar chuckled. "That's not to say that Wisteria wasn't a good wife. She was extremely understanding on the matter and she allowed me to lead my own life through our marriage and never said a word about Zakra. I owe her a lot for that, even if Oliver caused it all to come tumbling down."

"Edward mentioned that when that happened, you tried claiming he meant nothing to you."

"I was trying to have him spared. If pretending I didn't love him would save his life, I'd do it a million times over. The problem is my father didn't care if I loved him or not. He thought the whole thing was amusing and assumed I considered Zakra disposable. I never thought he was disposable. I made sure I told him that before he died."

"How'd he die?"

"One of the men in our flock slit hit throat. Nothing public or outlandish, but he didn't deserve that. It was my fault that we became lovers to begin with. If father really wanted to punish anyone, he should've punished me, not Zakra. I burned Zakra's body after cleaning him up and I left the next day."

"Did Genevieve understand what was happening? Edward said she was about eight."

"She didn't understand fully what happened. Wisteria adamantly denied having any knowledge of Zakra. I'm proud of her for that, but it didn't end up helping. What Genevieve did understand was that I'd had enough and was leaving, but that I would come back to see her. She wasn't happy with me for a long time, though. Oliver and my mother started bad mouthing me around Genevieve and Wisteria had to do a lot of damage control. By the time I got back from Europe, Genevieve was so confused about what happened that I had to spend hours explaining things to her. She didn't know what had really happened until she was roughly twelve."

"Things seem just fine between you two now."

"They are," Oscar smiled. "I know my mother, more so than Oliver, tried telling Genevieve that my leaving meant I didn't love her, and that's not true. I love her more than anyone; she's my little girl and she always will be."

"That's good to hear. Does her husband like you?"

"Takara? Yeah, he likes me. He better; I'm the one that he needed to impress to win my daughter's hand in marriage. I'd already thought highly of him from what I'd known of him at the time and when I found out from my sister that he was considering finding a wife, I recommended Genevieve. The two already knew each other, but it was after I sat them down and recommended they speak that they really started to like each other. Takara showered my daughter with gifts, went out of his way to do things for Wisteria, and asked me officially to marry my daughter. He was a good match, but more importantly, he made my daughter happy."

"You're certainly a better father than your own." When Oscar looked at Travis, his eyes held a glint of surprise, which then turned to gratefulness. "There was another thing that I asked Edward, but he said it was a matter I should take up with you."

"And what is that?"

"You said that tattoo on your shoulder is a memorial tattoo. You said it was to a late lover named Richard Byrne. That's correct?"

"Richard Byrne, yes," Oscar nodded. "What about it?"

"I was wondering what happened to him."

"He passed away."

Travis looked at his coffee cup. "Am I offending you?"

"You're not offending me."

"Edward said it's a touchy subject."

"It's not a touchy subject, it's a painful subject. Richard's epitaph read, 'I died of red tape,'" Oscar said bitterly before he finished off his coffee. Travis looked at Oscar with immense sorrow, realizing what he meant. "Richard went to the doctor because he was having pains in his side and they found out it was appendicitis and scheduled for him to have immediate surgery. He got blood donations from the Red Cross and the United Blood Center during the surgery. Later, we figured out that the blood was contaminated with AIDS." Oscar began staring at the floor. "Richard was fine for a few days after the surgery, but when he got home, he became sick. He was coughing, spots were forming all over his body, and he was getting lethargic. I called an ambulance and the doctors said he'd contracted Kaposi's sarcoma and it was killing him because his immune system was gone. Turns out that four other patients, including a hemophiliac, a newborn baby, and a woman who'd had surgery there had all contracted AIDS from the same blood bank."

"Oh God," Travis mumbled. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't say sorry to me; say sorry to the United Blood Center. My boss let me use the services of his lawyer and I was awarded $750,000 for blood bank negligence and the lawyer got me another $500,000 for pain and suffering."

"Your boss?"

Oscar nodded, "Yeah. Leopold Rochester, founder of the Rochester Luxury Hotel. That's what it was originally named."

"He let you have the hotel?"

"No, he made me pay for it. What happened was Leo had figured out about me and Dick," Oscar stopped a second, "I mean Richard. I'd call him Dick sometimes, but it was never in front of people. He didn't like that nickname. Anyway, Leo figured it out long before Richard got sick, but he never said anything about it. You see, Leo and his son, Leo Jr., didn't get along well. I'm not sure what happened exactly. All I know is they had a serious falling out and Leo Jr. was being difficult about the hotel. Leo Sr. used to say I was the son he should've had. When he heard about Richard, he thought it was criminal what happened and he offered me the services of his lawyer, who was a top attorney in the state of Arizona at the time. After the trial, Leo offered to let me buy the hotel from him for $1,000,000. I didn't agree immediately because I was depressed about Richard. I became even more depressed after I received a check from the insurance company for Richard's death. I was his beneficiary and that check was like a big slap in the face."

"When did Richard die?"

"April 19th, 1983 at six forty five in the morning," Oscar's voice weakened a little.

"You eventually accepted Leo's offer?"

"Yeah, I did eventually." Travis noticed Oscar's eyes start to water. "When I took over that hotel, I used the insurance money to remodel the banquet hall in the hotel. Byrne Dining Hall," Oscar said proudly. "He would've been proud of it. The tablecloths are all white with eggshell napkins and an oak floor and eggshell walls. That chandelier that's in the dining hall is in the dead center of the ceiling just as Richard would've demanded, all the tables are perfectly lined up, and there are exactly six pots of twelve sunflowers that are refreshed every week." Oscar was smiling a little now. "And every Friday, the restaurant offers a Pot Luck dinner based on Richard's recipes. Grilled Asparagus with a lemon butter sauce topped with parmesan cheese, prime rib with plenty of horseradish sauce, and apple pie for dessert. Those were my three favorite things."

"How'd you and Richard meet?"

Oscar's smile widened at the memories. "I met him for the first time in Vietnam. He was the soldier that had no business being there to be honest. When I first laid eyes on him, he was sitting on a chair that was covered with three blankets and his socked feet were laid on five folded blankets and he was shining his boots. According to a soldier I talked to, Richard had been shining his boots for the past two hours by the time I saw him."

"He was OCD I take it?" Travis smiled back.

"He's the definition of OCD. Seriously, look it up in the medical journal or whatever and you'll see his picture next to the definition." Travis finally laughed a little and Oscar laughed reminiscently. "He washed his hands three times before and after dinner, he showered immediately after sex, he vacuumed every day, he cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms every day, he had three changes of sheets so whenever we had sex, he changed the sheets so he could clean the dirty sheets, he cleaned the windows, if it was in our apartment it got cleaned every day. He did laundry every Sunday and he didn't drink. That's what really intrigued me about Richard: a pure blooded Irishman that didn't drink. I think I saw a pig fly that night he said, 'I don't drink.'" Travis chuckled again.

"Is that why you have a Celtic cross, because he was Irish?"

"He was a good little Catholic boy," Oscar started teasing. "He also adored sunflowers. There was this fake sunflower he had in the little flower pot that he cleaned religiously and always made sure was positioned just right on the table. If he was ever mad at me, or upset about anything, all I had to do was buy him a dozen sunflowers and his face lit up." Oscar chuckled. "I remember when we first moved in together. We'd been dating for a year and a half by then and he had the pot on a diagonal so it lined up the way he wanted on the doily and so the sunflower was facing forward. I thought it looked weird, so I switched the positioning. Richard switched it back without ending our conversation and went back to making dinner. I changed it again and this time, he stopped talking and looked at me while he corrected it again, then went back to dinner and continued our talk. I reached for the pot a third time and he told me that if I changed it again, he'd hit me with the wooden spoon." Oscar chuckled a little and Travis saw a tear fall down his cheek that Oscar immediately wiped away. "God I miss that man."

"How'd you two end up dating?"

"I met him in a bar. He was having a Coke and I tried ordering him a drink that he refused. I tried hitting on him and suggested that we go have sex in the back. He looked at me and said, 'Sir, I would prefer to at least be wined and dined before I get fucked.' Then he walked out of the bar and I was so dumbfounded, I don't think I moved for five minutes. I saw him in that bar a few nights later and this time I asked him to go out to dinner with me and he said he would. We had dinner that Friday and we had a great time. He brought his own silver wear and his own glass and his own napkin." Oscar chuckled. "He wiped the seat with one of those medical wipes before he sat down too. I walked him home that night and tried getting into his apartment and he said, 'I'm no whore, Mr. Barker. I won't sleep with you just because you bought me a fancy dinner.' He closed the door in my face and I stood there stupefied again. It was a year of me trying to woo him before Richard finally slept with me and he took a shower right after. Now, I thought I'd be a hotshot romantic and tried joining him in the shower. I walked into the bathroom and asked, 'You got room for one more in there?' He screamed and said, 'This is a clean place and I need to get clean!' He kicked me out of the bathroom and he pushed me out of bed when I was falling asleep so he could change the sheets." Oscar kept laughing. "And that's how I started dating Felix Unger."

Travis laughed too, "Yeah, that sounds like OCD. How long were you two together?"

"Fifteen years," Oscar answered. "I met him again in that bar in November, 1968. Richard had been honorably discharged from the army due to a bullet to his leg and I'd been discharged because I'd been hit with shrapnel from a bomb. He and I were the lucky soldiers. We left Vietnam early."

"Wow," Travis said. "My longest relationship's only been about two years."

"Only two years?" Travis, now thinking about Brandon, started getting teary eyed himself. "What was his name?"

"Brandon Perry."

"What happened between you two?"

"His father caught us making out and they sent him to an ex-gay ministry in Utah where he hanged himself." The last word came out as a squeak. Instead of saying anything, Oscar closed the distance and hugged Travis. "I sent him letters, but after a while, he wasn't answering them anymore. I got one more letter that said, 'I love you' and the next thing I know, I'm calling the ministry and a woman's telling me that Brandon hung himself."

"I'm sorry, Travis." Travis sniffled in response. "I can't believe there are still ex-gay ministries."

"Well, there are." Travis didn't let go of Oscar. The contact was comforting. "I never even got to say goodbye." Oscar started rubbing his back, "That's what kills me the most. I never got to comfort him or tell him it was okay. The letters obviously weren't enough."

"Travis, there's something you need to understand about places like that. They guilt their victims by making them feel like sinners. The counselors bury their victim's noses in their conduct like a dog that shit on the rug and they make them feel bad about it."

"I wanted so badly for him to get through that, but I think he felt like he had no way out."

"I can see that." Oscar gently pushed Travis away so they were looking at each other. "And here I was thinking you kids these days had it easy. You kids and your Grindr app and your fancy gay clubs, gay pride parades and all that," Oscar teased and Travis finally smiled.

"I've never used the Grindr app." Oscar looked away and started popping and Travis smiled. "You use that app don't you?"

"I've tried it before, yes. I sent out a message and hooked up with the closest guy to me, but it figures that I found the guy that was heavy into 'the scene'."

Travis shuddered, "Oh God, the scene."

Oscar chuckled, "So you've done that too, have you?"

"My last boyfriend was a drag queen named Destiny and he liked to be tied to the bed and for me to spank him."

"Oh, Travis," Oscar patted Travis's head, "That's not the scene. The scene is when it's BDSM. That's some crazy shit. After that encounter, I was too scared to use the Grindr app ever again." Travis smiled. "So you dated a drag queen?"

"For a couple of months, yes," Travis said. "It didn't last long, though. I thought I wouldn't mind the drag thing, but I saw him dressed as a woman a few too many times and it sort of killed it for me. Does that make me a horrible person?"

"No, not at all," Oscar reassured. "Some men just aren't into drag queens. There's nothing wrong with that. Are you still friends with him?"

"Yeah, we're still friends. The only guy I've dated that I'm no longer friends with is a guy named Clyde and that's because he didn't fill me in on the fact that he was a bisexual that wanted a guy and a girl at the same time."

"Ew," Oscar said with a chuckle. "That sucks."

"It's alright."

Oscar smiled back, and then returned to a previous topic. "Do you miss Brandon?"

"Every day," Travis answered honestly. "Do you miss Richard or Zakra?"

"Not a day goes by that I don't think of them. I loved them both and I feel responsible for what happened to both of them."

Travis looked confused. "How was either of their deaths your fault?"

"With Zakra, I wasn't careful enough and I put us in a position where we got caught, not once but twice. If I'd been more careful, Zakra would've died of natural causes like any man should. And I was the one that forced Richard to go to the hospital."

"Well of course you told him to go to the hospital. If he didn't go to the hospital, the appendicitis would've killed him." Oscar looked at Travis a moment and then looked at the cup of coffee that Travis had barely touched.

"We'd better get to sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow." Oscar took the cups and placed them in a large sink. Then he walked over and gave Travis a chaste kiss on the lips. "And thanks for the talk." Oscar started walking out of the kitchen.

"Oscar," Oscar turned around to look at Travis. "After this is all over…how about you and I have dinner together?"

Oscar smiled, "It's a date."

Travis smiled back, "How about seven the night we all get back to the hotel?"

"I'll meet you at the bar and take you to my own private room in the restaurant. Or," Oscar walked a little closer, "would you like to eat at the chef's table? That's the seat that allows you to watch the kitchen."

"That sounds loud. I'd rather the private room."

Oscar raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Private room it is then."

The next morning, Oscar took one more look at the front to see the progress. When he came back, it was with good news. There'd been at least one hundred newborns total and now there was only twenty five left. With the birds and pack all well rested, the flock members went to the platform and flew off, following Oscar. Jasper led the Cullens and the pack in the direction of the vampires that remained. The flock found the army first, so they hovered above them while they waited the next few moments for everyone else to get there. Carlisle stepped forward and asked if any of the newborns wished to leave the army, in which case Carlisle would let them know how this world works and they could go on their own, but the leader of their group had lived through the assault. It was a Hispanic man that claimed he would take Phoenix and that they didn't need Carlisle's 'pity'. It was the leader that ordered his remaining newborns to attack and the fight began there, every vampire's skin shining in the sun. It made everything hard to see, so Oscar ordered some of the birds to stay in the sky and block the sun while the other half acted as defense as Jasper had instructed.

The fight lasted an hour. These newborns were a lot tougher than Victoria's had been. Their leader had been in the military, as Jasper had been, and he had a head for military training and strategy, no doubt the reason his army arose the victors against the other newborn army. But Jasper was also a strategist as was Oscar and their side had the advantage. They had vampires, wolves with teeth that could rip apart vampires, and aerial forces with just as much power and that had a falcon's speed in flight as well as talons that mimicked the wolves' teeth. The pack knew what they were doing this time around, so none of them suffered any horrible injuries and the flock was able to fly faster than the newborns could catch them. When the last of the army was gone, the Cullens made a fire and burned all the bodies, the smoke turning purple with a heavy perfume.

They stayed and watched, making sure that everything was destroyed. Suerro was standing next to Natalie petting her ear. He'd made a point to keep all the newborns away from her so she barely had a chance to fight. It took a while for the smoke to clear from the fire and for the bodies to turn completely to dust but when it did they all walked back towards the Tistihlal village and deliver the news of the army. Upon their return, Embry immediately made his way back to the hotel with Carlisle and Edward.

"I owe you all a debt of gratitude," Oliver said when they were all back. "You helped us in our time of need." Oliver walked over to Jasper and offered his hand. "If you are ever in need of help, consider us your allies."

Jasper took Oliver's hand, "My thanks Oliver. Your flock fought well." Oscar, who'd been downstairs checking on Takara and Genevieve, walked into his father's bedroom and Oliver instantly hardened.

"Of course we fought well." Oliver took his hand away. "We're the Thunderbirds after all."

"Oh no, Oliver, don't lose your backbone on my account."

"That's enough," Jacob said sternly. "Look, we did what we came here to do. We're done here." Jacob walked out, as did the pack. Travis, however, stayed behind as the group left. Oscar looked over his shoulder and saw Travis.

"What?" he asked.

Travis shook his head, "Nothing." They stared at each other for a time before Oscar smiled.

"If you say so," he said. "I'll see you tonight. Now let me and Oliver talk for a bit." Travis smiled back and finally walked out of the room and followed after the pack and the Cullens. When the two were alone, Oscar walked closer to Oliver, but he stood his ground. "So you're the chief now. Can I trust you to be a better chief than our father?"

"This tribe is none of your concern, Oscar. It hasn't been since you left and a white man in red skin."

Oscar chuckled, "Is that what I am?"

"You're a beast, a simple minded fiend just like father. The outside world hasn't made you better, Oscar. It just gave you a bigger head."

"Ha," Oscar laughed, "The chick finally has his talons."

"I won't let you pound me down, Oscar. Father favored you because you're a bully and a tyrant."

"Father favored me because I'm strong, a quality that's severely in you."

"Father favored himself and saw himself in you."

"I'm trying to warn you not to refer to me as our father, Oliver. You would do well to watch your tongue from this point."

"And you would do well to learn your place as the son that abandoned his family because he lost his favorite toy." Oliver's words cut deep and now, Oscar wasn't teasing anymore. He walked closer to Oliver and Oliver saw that cruel glint in Oscar's eyes that signaled the worst.

"I escaped from a monster that murdered the man I loved, a man whose death was your fault. Zakra was never my toy and if you ever speak so lowly of him again, I'll slit your throat as father slit his." Oscar punched Oliver, who fell backwards and hit the wall hard enough to cause some cracks. Oliver managed to pick himself up and looked Oscar dead in the eyes.

"You can call your desertion what you wish and you can claim you loved your whore all you want. The point is you ran away from your wife and child over a worthless thing you found in a shack instead of being a man and raising your child. You think that stupid necklace you gave Genevieve makes any difference? Do you think that human skin lamp or that toe necklace you gave father makes you a hero of our people? It doesn't. You're a coward and a spoiled brat and that's all you'll ever be."

"And what are you little brother? A secluded bigot that would rather hide behind the title Thunderbird than reach out for more, that's what you are. Yes, I left after Zakra died. I admit that I wasn't here for Genevieve as I should have been, but I've done many things since I left and have seen what you've not." Oscar punched Oliver's gut and made him fall over again. Oscar bent down so they were eye to eye. "I may have been an imitation of father for a time just as he'd wished. But I had the strength of mind to break away and live a worthwhile life." Oscar stood again. "Be the chief you wish to be, Oliver. I'm far removed from the matter and I have no interest in teaching you how to lead a small village."

"I wouldn't accept your teachings."

"Well," Oscar straightened his military tank, "I certainly can't expect miracles." Oscar began leaving.

"Don't make a habit of visiting," Oliver hissed as he stood back up.

"Even as an immortal, Oliver, I don't have time to waste on you."

Embry arrived back at the hotel first and he went straight to his room. When he walked in, he saw Caevia under the covers breathing evenly. She was buried under the covers, but she still looked like she was a little cold. Embry had found out there was an extra set of blankets in the room closet, so Embry retrieved it and placed it over her. She looked more comfortable with the extra blanket, so Embry went to the bathroom to take a much needed shower. That desert sun had him sweaty and feeling really grungy. He couldn't imagine how anyone could stand living in this kind of environment, but then, some might say the same about Washington and how rainy it gets. Embry sighed heavily. If Caevia was cold in the hotel, she'd hate Washington. Temperatures as low as the sixties in the summer were extremely common and when it was hot, it was humid and awful. When Embry finally felt clean, he walked out of the shower rubbing a towel over his head loosely drying his hair and a towel wrapped around his hip. He grabbed a clean pair of jeans from his overnight back and a clean pair of boxers.

Caevia was still sound asleep, so Embry changed in the room and hanged the towels back in the bathroom. As soon as the rest of the group got back to the hotel, Carlisle went straight to Embry's room with Alice following close behind. Caevia was still asleep when they arrived.

"Could you give her a check up without waking her?"

"Sorry, Embry, but I need her to be awake."

"Alright, I'll wake her." Embry went to the bed and sat down, but she didn't move so Embry started touching her cheek softly. She started making light sounds and brought one hand out from under the covers and brushed Embry's finger away. "Caevia," Embry said gently and she buried her face under the covers. _"Caevia, wake up. Carlisle wants to make sure you're healthy."_

Caevia seemed to go still under the covers before there were turning movements and Caevia popped the top of her head out, only leaving her eyes visible. That was all she allowed to come out, but it was enough for Alice to see exactly what she'd be dealing with as far as Caevia's hair was concerned. If Embry had tried cleaning her hair, he didn't do a very good job. There was still stuff in her hair and it looked more like a long train of matted sheep's wool than a woman's head of hair. On the bright side, though, at least her hair was now the only part of her body that looked grimy and in desperate need of fixing. Everything else was just scars that needed time to heal and that was easy enough.

"I noticed something about Takara," Carlisle said, coming closer to the bed and speaking to Embry. "After the battle, I went to his and Genevieve's room to see how he was recovering, fully expecting him to be near healed just as Jacob had been when he'd had a similar experience."

Embry nodded, "I remember that. What happened?"

"He wasn't as far along in his recovery as Jacob had been. He's healing at a rather normal pace."

"Yeah," Embry looked back at Caevia and that one lone scar under her eye. "I noticed with Caevia too. She has so many cuts and bruises and some of them look older. Maybe that's part of their 'curse', assuming there is one."

"That very well may be. I had to show their tribal doctor how to properly look after Takara in the coming months and how to remove the casts when the time comes. Takara will be grounded for at least four months and by the looks of it, he's not too pleased with that idea."

"Who could blame him?" Embry said. "Her midsection is comparatively untouched, so I assume the baby's okay so far." Embry took a hold of the edge of the covers and began pulling them down, but Caevia held them up firmly. _"It'll be okay, Caevia. Carlisle just wants to make sure the baby's healthy."_

Caevia shook her head, _"No. Medicine Man takes the babies and throws them from the great tower. Golden Medicine Man will be no different."_

"_Carlisle won't harm the baby, Caevia. If you let Carlisle look after you, the baby will be born strong and will live. I promise you."_ Embry tried his best to reassure Caevia, but she still wouldn't remove herself from the covers.

"What's going on?" Carlisle asked.

"She doesn't want to let you examine her. Evidently, the medicine man in the tribe is the one that throws babies from that huge platform."

Carlisle sighed heavily, "This won't be easy. We'll wait until we get back to Washington I suppose. At least then I'll have the appropriate equipment. Maybe by then, she'll be more open to me helping her."

"Well, then, that means we'll have to get her past the airport," Alice said. "We can't get her past security when she looked like a drowned rat. If we try to get her on the plane, they'll think we're abusing this woman. First of all, get her out from under the covers so I can get a better look at her hair."

"Do you think you can salvage any of it?" Embry dared to ask.

"Based on the smell alone, I wouldn't count on it. I'll see what I can do, though."

Embry smiled weakly a moment and looked at Caevia again, still gently tugging at the covers. _"The Golden Medicine Man will leave you alone, but the other woman wishes to look at your hair."_

"_Why_?"

"_She wants to try cleaning it."_ Meanwhile, Alice went to the bathroom and set up the tub so Caevia could sit on the edge. The bathroom was the only spot in the room that wasn't carpet, and even with Caevia's matted hair, cutting hair on carpet would be a huge mess. Caevia didn't answer Embry, but she did finally release the ends of the covers so Embry could pull them away. Embry helped her out of the bed and led her to the bathroom and translated for Alice.

"I can't salvage this," Alice said after mere seconds of looking at the head of hair. "I can't even move my fingers through her hair. It's like a big rock, Embry. I need to cut it all off and let her re-grow her hair." Embry translated for Alice and Caevia didn't react until Alice turned on the electric razor and the loud buzzing of the machine made Caevia jumped and yelp. She tried getting away, but Embry got a hold of her and tried telling her reassuring words, but electric razor wasn't exactly a word that Embry could translate into Quileute. "Embry, get her to relax," Alice said, handing the razor to Embry. "Try showing her that it's not bad." Embry nodded and took the razor, trying to sooth Caevia, but she fought more when the razor got closer to her.

"_Caevia, this thing doesn't hurt,"_ Embry said while running the razor over his own head. It was still on the setting he usually had it at, so it didn't cut off much hair if any at all. But this didn't calm Caevia and she kept trying to get away.

"Embry, we can't leave her hair like this. Get her to calm down."

"I'm trying Alice, but she won't sit still. _Caevia, this thing won't hurt, I promise. Just calm down and it'll be done before you know it."_ When Caevia still wouldn't calm down, Alice walked to Caevia, pinched the spot where her shoulder and neck met, and she was out as suddenly as it happened with Caevia going limp in Embry's arms, "Alice, what the hell?"

"I had no choice, Embry. I'd rather she be knocked out and still than awake and squirming. This way, she won't even know we're doing it."

"Don't you think that might freak her out more when she's awake?"

"Better she freak out when I don't have an electric razor aimed at her head. Now hold her up straight so I can get rid of this block." Carlisle walked in as Embry, begrudgingly, lifted Caevia in an appropriate position.

"When you're done, Alice, I'll examine her. Might as well since she's passed out." As Alice began, there was a knock at the door and Carlisle let Jacob into the room. He walked to the bathroom where he heard the buzzing sound and when he saw Caevia, he couldn't stop himself from chuckling just a little bit.

"I know exactly how you feel," he said to an unconscious Caevia. "She looks much better than she did yesterday at least. How far along is she?" Jacob asked Carlisle.

"I don't know for sure yet. I haven't been able to examine her. She doesn't trust me."

"She's nicknamed you the Golden Medicine Man," Embry said, Alice one more buzz away from being done. When Alice finished, the clump of hair came off as one huge ball and they all shuddered just a little.

"You wanted me to salvage this?" Alice said as she threw the giant hairball in the garbage.

"It doesn't matter now," Embry said, looking at Caevia's freshly shaven head. Just as Alice feared, there were sores all over her head from lack of hygiene, infections, and undoubtedly parasites too. It was something Carlisle would have to determine while he was checking her.

"Bring her to the bed and I'll start," Carlisle said. Embry lifted Caevia's limp body bridal style and brought her to the bed, resting her atop the covers gingerly. Asleep, she finally looked relaxed. It was a pleasant and refreshing site. "First things first," Carlisle began. "Lift her shirt please." Embry did as Carlisle said while he put on a stethoscope that he, technically, didn't really need. It had simply become his habit over the years and he didn't hear things that he might not have noticed otherwise. Carlisle placed the circle of cold metal on her belly and began to listen. The heartbeat was strong and healthy and the baby sounding like it was moving. "The baby sounds like it's in good shape." Carlisle brought the circle to her chest over her heart. Everything sounded alright. Then he brought it behind her back and waited for her to breath. "She sounds fine. These sores and bruises are another matter, though. Lift her up so I can look at her head." Embry did as Carlisle instructed and Carlisle looked at the sores. "I'll give her a medicated lotion when we get back and some antibiotics." Carlisle opened her mouth to examine the inside and he almost fell backwards. "Good lord," Carlisle mumbled and Alice cringed.

"Are her gums supposed to be that grey?" Jacob asked, staring in disbelief at her gums, which by the way were completely void of full teeth. They were all chipped, yellowed, and some were missing all together.

"No, Jacob, they're supposed to be pink." Carlisle sighed heavily. "This will require a specialist. I know a dentist that will do me a favor and do this for her for free. He fixed up my teeth when I met him in the eighties, so he'll be able to do wonders for Caevia."

Jacob and Embry looked right at Carlisle, "What?" they both asked. "Vampires can have their teeth done?" Embry asked.

"It's an interesting process and yes they can. He pulled out all my teeth and realigned them in my mouth so they were straight."

There was silence until Jacob finally said, "Your teeth didn't naturally look like that?"

Carlisle turned to look at Jacob. "Jacob, I was born in London around the mid seventeenth century. The English aren't exactly known for dental excellence even today, let alone when I was a child."

"So this guy's a vampire?" Embry asked.

"Yes, he is, but he knows what he's doing. He lives in New York last I checked, so I'll contact him and see if he can't meet us back home and look at Caevia's teeth. If we take her to a dental office in Port Angeles, the cost of fixing her teeth will be way too much. If Laurence charges me, at least he'll give me a discount because we're friends."

"Will she even allow that?" Alice asked. "She wasn't exactly keen on you examining her and when I turned on that electric razor, containing her was like holding back a piglet." Embry leered a little at Alice for the choice in reference. "How do you think she'll react to complete medical equipment and needles?"

"Hopefully, by the time we do anything, she'll trust us more. He won't be able to do anything until the baby's born. If we used a local anesthetic instead of anesthesia, then he could perform the surgery while she's pregnant, but somehow I doubt she'll cooperate with that."

"We could always just knock her out again," Alice suggested.

"Yeah and what if she wakes up while this strange man is poking, prodding, and _**drilling**_ into her mouth? That'll go over well, won't it?" Embry looked at Caevia again, who was already starting to come back around.

"Well, Embry, considering how well she took the buzz cut, I'd say we have no choice."

"We might not," Carlisle agreed, taking another look at Caevia's mouth. "If we leave it, it'll just get worse. I don't want to see this get any worse. She already certainly has gingivitis and if we don't take care of this, it'll turn into something more serious. It's a miracle it isn't already. In fact, Laurence's mate might be able to keep her asleep through the whole surgery. When Laurence does surgery on vampires, she rubs their heads while Laurence works and it's extremely calming. It's her gift: tranquilization, which is undoubtedly the most advantages gift a dentist can have at his disposal."

"How long will it take to recover?" Embry asked. Carlisle took one last look at Caevia's mouth before giving an honest answer.

"She's going to be sore for a while, Embry, that much I can say with complete certainty. As far as for how long, we'll just have to have Laurence look at her."

"Why can't you do it?" Jacob asked. "I thought you did everything."

"I can do basic things like fillings and a tooth pulling, but I don't have the training to do something as extensive as the work Caevia will need. She needs someone that knows exactly what he's doing and has a long background in dentistry. The man's owned seven different offices all over the country since the sixties, so he knows what he's doing."

"Why has he owned seven?" Embry asked.

"The same reason I've worked at three different hospitals in forty years. He doesn't age and he can't stay in one place too long. He usually sells one shop and puts the money towards a new one and he's been doing that since he was changed. Trust me, Embry; Laurence knows what he's doing."

Embry didn't say anything else. If Carlisle trusted Laurence, then he shouldn't have anything to fear. Caevia moaned once more before she opened her eyes and looked up to see Embry. He was holding her hand, so she took it away. Embry let her and he made sure not to change the look on his face. Then she noticed her head was really cold and was much lighter. She brought the hand that Embry had held to her head and touched gently, flinching at the drastic difference, then touches her head again to make sure it was real. She touched the open sores and culprits of her frequent headaches, which was now coupled with the added soreness of Alice running the razor over her head. There was a thin layer of hair left on her head that felt brittle, itchy, and prickly like Velcro.

"Now that she's awake, I'll go get my shampoo and conditioner."

"Be extremely careful, Alice," Carlisle said. "We need to clean her scalp, but we have to be really gentle until it's healed completely."

"I'll be gentle with her. She just needs to hold still. I can't be gentle if she keeps fidgeting." Alice left the room to go to her own and get the shampoo and conditioner. Caevia seemed to be getting upset over the loss of the hairball on her head, so Embry had to start calming her, telling her that it was for the best and that it would all grow back eventually. By the time Alice got back with the soaps, Caevia was back under the covers. Embry had told her that he'd not let anyone harm her and he never forced her from the covers when she was concealed, so she hid, keeping herself out of site and keeping these cold things away from her. "Oh, Christ on toast," Alice mumbled.

"Let her calm down," Embry said. He touched the lump of fabric hiding Caevia, felt her flinch, but ultimately stay in place. "She's upset about her hair. Let her relax and I'll talk to her when she's less riled up." While Embry spoke, Alice placed the soaps in the bathroom.

"It looks like you'd have more luck doing this yourself. I'll let you handle it." Alice walked out to look for Jasper, then Edward so she could follow up on the status of their travel plans. The first time she'd been in Phoenix, it was with Bella. James was trying to kill her, he'd tricked her into coming to a ballet studio and Bella barely escaped with her human life. The second time they had involvement with Phoenix, it was dealing with the illusive Jane Doe who's mother had been dead for two weeks with the little girl in the house with her, and now this debacle with a newborn army and some backwards tribe of parrots that murder babies and live in the desert. Alice had had enough of Arizona for one immortal lifetime.

Further down the hall, Natalie was with Travis in his room. "So you two have a real date tonight? That's exciting," Natalie said, smiling.

"Yeah," Travis answered. "We're having dinner in this private dining room and I have every intention of using the quiet to learn as much about Oscar as possible."

"What else is there to learn that would be groundbreaking? You've pretty much learned all the crazy stuff."

"Yes, but now I want to know about the not-crazy stuff. I want to know his hobbies, what music he likes, you know, things that people normally talk about on a first date."

"Indeed," Natalie giggled. "Though some of the things you already know are usually things saved for later date conversations. I'd say you two know enough to up and get married it you wanted to."

"Please don't' tease," Travis blushed. "We should probably get past the two states long barrier before we talk about something like that."

"I expect to be your maid of honor, Travis. Just keep that in mind."

Travis huffed, "Are you kidding? Oscar doesn't strike me as the type that would want anything big even if he wanted to do something like that. I doubt he would let Alice take the reins, that's for sure."

"Okay, the future fantasizing aside, tonight's your chance to talk about you. You already know a lot of Oscar, but he knows so little about you. And no depressing stuff tonight, you hear? Nothing kills a perfectly romantic dinner date like talking about dead boyfriends."

"I think that made us closer honestly," Travis mumbled. "We've both suffered the loss of a loved one and we can empathize with one another. That's always a good thing."

"It's a very good thing, but empathy doesn't build a relationship. Not a healthy one at any rate. A healthy, happy relationship is based on trust and respect. Interest in the same things isn't completely necessary. I mean, look at Jasper and Alice. Those two are like oil and water as far as their interests are concerned. They have virtually nothing in common, but they still love each other, same thing with me and Suerro. Frankly, I think he genuinely wishes he could fall asleep whenever I'm talking about my role in a play. And I _do_ fall asleep whenever Suerro starts telling me about his childhood. I'll be honest with you, Travis. Our ancestors were really boring."

"Isn't boring better than slaughtered?"

"Indeed, but _The Last of the Mohicans_ and _Dances with Wolves_ weren't written about Indian tribes that were happy and everything was honky dory is my point."

"You've never even read _The Last of the Mohicans_."

"No, but I do know that if it were about a tribe where everything was just fine, it wouldn't be as popular as it is." Natalie, who was sitting on the bed next to Travis's suitcase, pulled out a white dress shirt. "How about you wear this? It makes you look classy."

"Maybe," Travis shrugged. "I just want to look really good tonight."

"Are you going to put on some pink lip gloss and eye shadow?" Travis glared back at Natalie, who started giggling. "Will you relax, Travis? You'll be just fine. The simpler you go, the more attention he'll have to your face, which, I might add, is in no need of pink lip gloss or eye shadow."

"You're not helping, Natalie."

"Yes I am, Travis. You're just getting testy with me because I'm telling you to calm down and not to worry so much. Grandpa Edward said he's attracted to you, so you have nothing to worry about. As long as you don't go to the bar to meet him covered in manure and smelling like a latrine, he'll consider you extremely attractive. Hell, if it'll make you feel better, go down there early and have a beer to calm your nerves before he gets there."

"I might just do that actually."

"Good. Now, no offense, but you smell like body odor, blood, and a perfume shop, so I'll leave you to take a shower. And whatever you do, don't wear that awful cologne with the top hat on it. Wear the Polo stuff I gave you. It smells more gentlemanly."

"What's wrong with my Magician cologne? I like that stuff."

"It smells like hookers and disappointment, Travis. Polo smells like success, testosterone, and possibilities. Do you want to go on your first official date with your imprint smelling like hookers and disappointment, Travis?"

Travis rolled his eyes, "Fine, _**mom**_, I'll wear the damn Polo."

Natalie smiled, "That's my baby. Enjoy your date, Travis, and remember to be home by dinner," Natalie teased. "You wouldn't want to make mommy dearest worry, now would you?"

"Can I just shower now please?"

"Don't you give me that tone, young man." Natalie walked out of Travis's room, still snickering a little. Travis sighed heavily and went to the shower. He was done in ten minutes and he still had a lot of time before he was supposed to meet Oscar, so he decided to watch something or take a nap. He set the clock's alarm for six thirty so he'd have time to get dressed and sneak in that beer to calm his nerves.

Travis wound up nodding off and was awoken by the alarm telling him to wake up. He took Natalie's advice and wore the white dress shirt with his jeans and a belt. He personally really liked how belts looked on men, so he hoped Oscar would share the same aesthetics on the matter. Travis got downstairs to the bar with plenty of time to spare and, as Natalie recommended, he wore a very small dab of that Polo cologne, but very little. He didn't want to overwhelm Oscar with expensive cologne. He ordered a beer from the bartender and tried to get through it quickly. His beer was gone in minutes, but he wasn't any less nervous. He heard Oscar coming, but he kept his eyes forward until Oscar was behind him, tapping his shoulder.

"Is that Polo?" Oscar asked.

Travis smiled, "Yeah. My cousin suggested I wear a little. Do you like it?"

"I'd hope so. I'm wearing some too."

"I'm glad to hear it. I almost wore my Magician cologne."

"Thank God you didn't. I hate that stuff. It smells like whores and shame." Travis looked at Oscar strangely, but chose to move on with the subject.

"I happen to like how it smells."

Oscar chuckled, "You really are a young man." Oscar took a deep breath, "That started drinking without me no less."

Travis blushed a little. "I was hoping a beer would help me relax."

"Relax?" Oscar chuckled. "I didn't realize I made you nervous."

"Youdon't make me nervous," Travis said and Oscar smiled. "You said we'd have dinner in a private room or something?"

"Yes, I did." Oscar looked at the bartender, the same man from before with long dreads and a nice suit. "Luke, we're going to the private room. Tell Joana to bring up a bottle of wine." Oscar looked at Travis. "You are over twenty one, right?"

"Of course I'm over twenty one. I did just drink a beer."

"I'm just making sure."

"Was there a specific wine you wanted Mr. Barker?" Luke asked.

"The best red we have." Oscar looked at Travis, "Unless, of course, you'd prefer white wine."

"Red wine is fine. I was looking at that lamb last time, so I might try that."

"I would," Oscar smiled and the two began walking towards the restaurant that was near the back part of the hotel. When Oscar walked in, the hostess knew who he was and led him and Travis further into the restaurant until they reached a room closed by double doors. She opened the doors and the room was massive with an unlit fireplace in the back with lines of books in bookshelves. The room looked more like a study or a 19th century lounge than a dining room. The table looked awfully small for the room.

"This room's huge."

"Yeah," Oscar said, thanking the hostess and walking towards the table. "I usually hold business meetings in this room. I don't typically use it for a date night." Travis blushed again as the doors closed behind them and when Travis looked to his left, he saw another door.

"Where does that door lead?"

"The kitchen," Oscar answered and gestured for Travis to sit with him at the table. Travis came over and took his seat. "I like those double doors to stay closed until my associates and I have completely our business. In this case, what I do on private nights is no one's business but my own." The two smiled and a woman walked in holding a bucket filled with ice and a large bottle of wine. She poured a small amount into a wine glass on Oscar's side of the table so he could taste it.

"Is this alright, Mr. Barker?"

"It's good. Thanks Joana." Oscar looked at Travis. "Did you want to get an appetizer or go straight to dinner?"

"I'm really hungry, so order that spinach artichoke dip. Also, instead of chips, would you mind just using bread?"

"I'm fine with that." Joana was already writing down the orders.

"Alright, I'll bring you that dip." Joana bowed her head politely before walking out of the room through the smaller door. Travis took a sip of wine. It was smooth and rich, very little sweetness. It tasted ancient.

"How old is this wine?"

"This is actually a bottle Mr. Rochester bought long before I was here. This vintage is from," Oscar looked at the bottle and whistled, "1948. It's certainly had plenty of time to rest."

"I can taste it. This is really good wine. How much would you have charged a person for this wine?"

"These wines aren't for sale. When Rochester owned this place, he made sure there was a wine cellar that was reserved only for pleasing important clients or business partners. I've kept up the tradition, but this is the oldest bottle I've got and I wanted to save it for something special."

Travis looked at Oscar over his glass, a little surprised. "Is this really the oldest bottle you've got or are you just saying that to flatter me?"

Oscar chuckled, "It's really the oldest bottle I've got. Only by a year admittedly, but it's still the oldest bottle I own."

With a smile, Travis finished his glass. "Well," he said after, "I'm flattered."

"That was the general idea." The two laughed and Oscar refilled Travis's glass and put a little more in his own. "So what do you do? As a job I mean."

"I'm an insurance claims adjuster."

Oscar stared at Travis for a few seconds. "That doesn't sound especially rewarding."

"It depends on whose claim I'm working on. There's this one guy, Bennett his last name is. Two years ago, he had this…..Hybrid I think it was. Anyway, I get his file and he claims what happened was he was on the road going the speed limit, which was thirty five, and claims that someone hit him at a red light. Now, the other driver swears that Mr. Bennett was actually going much faster and that he slammed on the breaks suddenly and that's why the accident happened. But there's only so far that I said he said will go and there was no one else to confirm either story, so the other driver wound up being at fault. That Hybrid got fixed and I didn't hear from that guy again until the next year around May. He claimed that some guy slammed into him from behind and he hit a building because of it, but the other driver ran off."

"Sounds like fraud to me."

"Me too, but the problem is there's no way to prove it. So anyway, that car got totaled, so he was entitled to some money from our insured towards a new car. Frankly, if that man has another accident any time soon, I'll recommend that we drop him from his policy."

Oscar raised an eyebrow. "You can do that?"

"If I have reason to believe that the insured is taking advantage of the policy and can present compelling evidence of such, then yes I can. I've never had to do that and I'd rather not."

"I'd hate to be the person you have to do that to." Oscar chuckled and had a sip of wine. "I'm proud to say I've managed to keep myself out of trouble where insurance is concerned. About 2013, I bought myself a nice metallic black Mercedes Coup and I've been a good boy with that car."

"How much did that cost? I hear those can cost up to $150,000."

"It was $112,000-ish when I bought it. I've taken very good care of that car and it's been good to me since I bought it. There's only one other car that I have that I love more."

"And what car is that?"

"A bright red 1948 Tucker Sedan," Oscar said proudly. "They only made 51 before the company folded under bad publicity. That car cost me an arm, a leg, and my first born son, but that bright red car's my baby."

Travis laughed. "What happened when the seller found out you don't have a first born son?"

"They don't know yet and I won't tell them if you won't." They laughed again and Travis sighed heavily.

"Please tell me this isn't all because of a small penis."

The look Oscar gave was a cross between humored and insulted. "I give you my finest and oldest bottle of wine and you accuse me of having a tiny penis? I'm insulted."

"Sorry, but nothing says midlife crisis like fancy, expensive cars."

"I'm a little beyond a midlife crises, Travis. Wouldn't you agree?" They snickered. "And for the record, I can assure you that I do not have a tiny penis."

"That's comforting to know." The two were chuckling again when Joana brought in their appetizer and some bread.

"Are you ready to order?"

"I'm ready if you are." Travis nodded, so Oscar started. "I'll have the steak tenderloin, medium rare with that garlic sauce and some sautéed potatoes."

"The usual it is, Mr. Barker." Joana wrote the order and then looked at Travis, "and for you sir?"

"I'll have the rack of lamb with mint jelly on the side, please."

She wrote down the meat, "Alright, sir, and would you like sautéed potatoes, rice pilaf, or asparagus with that?"

"The rice pilaf, please, and could I request a side of lemon wedges?"

"Of course you can," Joana said as she wrote down the order. "So a steak tenderloin and lamb, medium rare, the steak with potatoes and garlic sauce, the lamb with rice pilaf with lime wedges and mint jelly on the side, anything else?"

"No, that should do it for now."

"Alright, sir, I'll get those orders in for you." When Joana left, Travis and Oscar both took a slice of bread and scooped up some artichoke dip.

"This is surprisingly non-greasy," Travis said. The dip was excellent.

"Yeah, I know. I personally like the fried oyster appetizer more, but we aren't serving that tonight."

Travis pouted a little, "Really? That sucks. I've had oysters once in my whole life and I don't even remember what they taste like."

"They're excellent," Oscar bragged on his chef's behalf. "I know I keep saying everything's good, but literally everything is good. I normally hate fish, but even Chef Chaftyn can make me like fish."

"If he cooks like this every night, I may just have to move here," Travis teased and took a dip covered piece of bread into his mouth.

"So anyway, back to you. You said you're an insurance guy. How long have you been doing that?"

"Since I was about nineteen, so it's going on four years now. The best part is I get to work from home."

"Do you?"

"Yeah, I do. I have a small office in my apartment and whenever my cats want me, I'm there to pay attention to them."

"You have cats?" Oscar asked looking a little off put.

"I have three: Ginger, Zoe, and Max."

"You have three cats," Oscar mumbled.

"Do you not like cats?"

"I don't like how they smell and cats are mean."

"No they're not, they're aloof. Besides, my cats are the sweetest things you'll ever meet and they always purr when I start petting them."

"You know, when a person has more than two cats, they start to be that person that has all those cats and no one wants to go to their house."

"Sure, Natalie can't be in my house long since she's allergic to cats, but she's the only one."

"Well that's a relief at least," Oscar teased. "I've never owned a pet."

"You should. Pets are a great source of companionship and they love you unconditionally."

"I'll take your word for it." Oscar finished off his glass and refilled it with more of the wine. "Is it safe to assume your parents know you're gay?"

"Know? My mom figured it out herself. It was news to my dad when we told him, but my mom had seen me kissing Phil, the guy I was seeing at the time, and from there, she just waited for me to tell her. According to Natalie, she knew since 'forever ago'. Those were her exact words."

"Sounds like your relatives didn't give you a hard time about it."

"Not at all," Travis said. "I didn't tell them right away, but it wasn't because I was scared they wouldn't accept me. I just didn't want to be deal with being the only guy in the pack that's gay. I don't like being a first to be honest. In our pack, being a first means you're up for experimentation and observation as far as the imprinting process is concerned. They're fascinated with whether I would still imprint on a woman or if I would imprint on a man. Then if I imprint on a man, what does that reveal about the imprinting process? I've been a guinea pig since we started this trip."

Oscar rose an eyebrow and took a sip of wine. "You've been a guinea pig?"

"Yeah," Travis nodded. "It turns out I can imprint on a man and I have." Oscar didn't answer, clearly remembering what imprinting meant exactly. He looked at Travis thoughtfully, his wineglass still on his lips. "Did I say that too soon?" Travis asked when Oscar stayed silent.

"I'm just a little taken off guard," he admitted. He used a small piece of his bread and scooped up a lot of artichoke dip. Travis started swilling his wine, getting really nervous that he'd revealed too much too soon. "I suppose that explains why I'm so drawn to you."

Travis finally smiled again, "Really?"

Oscar shrugged. "Either that or I'm just extremely attracted to you."

"Can't it be both?" Oscar smiled and nodded.

"I don't see why not." Travis blushed a little bit and took another sip of his wine. They were both on the last glass each by the time their food arrived. Oscar seemed just fine, but Travis could feel the wine getting to him a little. "So how's your food?" Oscar asked when Travis had his first bite.

"It's excellent, like everything else. It tastes even better now that I feel a buzz coming on."

Oscar chuckled, "Oh dear, you're a light weight."

"I'm no light weight. I've just had more alcohol than you tonight. Remember I had a beer before you showed up and now, I'm on my third glass of wine."

"I've drank a whole bottle before and still been able to stand. I learned how to do that while I was in Germany."

"Germans taught you how to drink wine?" Travis asked skeptically.

"No, they taught me how to drink pretzels and beer, which are delicious together by the way. I had to have dinner with a bunch of Italians that were visiting Germany for business reasons and between the three of us we got through maybe four bottles of wine or so."

"Have you ever gone back to Germany after you were stationed there?"

"Oh God, all the time," Oscar said. "I love Germany. When I was stationed there, I was on the western end, naturally, and it was one hell of an enjoyable country. The Berlin wall was still around when I was stationed there. I actually have an original piece of the broken wall you know."

"Do you?"

"Yeah, I do. It was demolished November of 89, so I went December of 89 and got myself a piece. The piece I have is a chunk that shows the graffiti that was on the west side. Richard and I actually went to Berlin for our anniversary in 81."

"And you two would've been dating at least ten years by then?"

"It was our thirteen year mark."

"Did Richard like Germany?"

"Yeah, he enjoyed it. I try to make a point to have a vacation in Germany whenever I get the chance. I took my granddaughter Olivia there once in 2002. By then Germany had managed to recover a little more from the Soviet control of Eastern Germany."

"Oh yeah, that's right. I almost forgot about the fall of Soviet Russia."

"Literally collapsed on itself," Oscar chuckled.

"My cousin Kyle is dating a Russian actually. Well, a third Russian anyway. They suspect her grandmother on Amadora's side was American, but there wasn't much research done on the matter."

"Who's Amadora?"

"Oh, she's a family friend. We have a large collection of family friends, actually, that are mostly from Europe."

"How worldly," Oscar chuckled. "Now which one is Kyle?"

"Kyle's the one that looks like a cross between Kevin and Nathan. Kevin looks more like their mom and Nathan looks more like Uncle Jacob."

"Is he the cute one that's really bashful?"

"I wouldn't label him as cute to be honest," Travis said, just a little bit jealous, "but he is the really bashful one. He's the one that corrected you on birds as reptiles."

"Oh yeah, that kid. So he's dating a Russian bred woman? How's that working out for him?"

"Great, actually," Travis said. "He's going back to Russia this summer to visit her and Evalina, that's Kyle's girlfriend, is trying to gain American citizenship."

"How long has she been working on that?"

"Since last year," Travis said.

"Ah yes, that can be a grueling process can't it?"

"Did you have to do that?"

"Of course not," Oscar smiled. "I told them I was off an American reservation; they took my word for it, gave me a gun, sent me to Europe and said if it spoke German, I'm to shoot." He chuckled. "I have legal documentation by now, but I didn't get it until I got back from Europe."

"Do you speak any German?"

"Nach zehn jahren in Deutschland, würde ich hoffen," Oscar said, smiling.

Travis smiled back, not bothering to pretend he knew what Oscar said, "That sounds great."

"I admit, my German's a little rusty, but I haven't had a chance to go to Germany in a while. I'm a little out of practice."

"Speaking of languages, I notice you and Olivia talk mostly in Quileute to one another."

"We speak Tistihlal to one another. I realize it's extremely similar, but the language did change over the years."

"Into a different accent maybe," Travis said. "It sounds a little different, but I'd compare it to the difference between the East American English accent to a Jersey accent. They sound different but it's ultimately the same language."

"Are you saying my accent sounds like a Guido?"

"I'm saying the accents are different and some of the words are different, but it's still the same language."

"It's still Tistihlal and not Quileute."

Travis chuckled, "If you say so, Mr. Barker."

Oscar chuckled back. "And the reason Olivia and I speak Tistihlal to one another is because it keeps us both comfortable. This may sound strange, but I like having someone to speak to in my native tongue. It makes me feel comfortable and at home."

"I can understand that. Our tribe was losing our language for a time, known only by elders, so they made it a part of the curriculum in the tribal school. By now, Quileute is a commonly known tongue among the younger kids."

"To almost lose your culture's language, it's an averted tragedy for sure. Is it safe to assume, then, that your tribe is a little more 'Americanized'?"

"If by Americanized you mean we have modern things like phones and running water, than yes, we're more Americanized." Oscar chuckled. "Seriously, how do you guys have no phones, no running water or plumbing, or anything else like that?"

"We just don't. Father refused to allow any modernization of the tribe while he was alive. Now that Oliver is taking over, maybe that'll change. I'll highly recommend it at the very least."

"How would they go about it if they don't have money to pay for it?"

"I have money to pay for it and that's what's important. I'll have to see what Oliver says about it though. If I recommend it or anything says I'll have to pay for it, he'll instantly turn the idea down just because it means he'd need my help to make it work."

"Maybe the two of you should sit down together and talk. And when I say talk, I mean like civilized human beings, not like two year olds."

Oscar looked defensive but responded evenly. "And what does that mean?"

"Look, Edward and Kyle heard the whole conversation and if you two do nothing but argue, then nothing will get better. That's all I'm saying."

"You know, I don't much appreciate your mind readers nosing in on my family business or any of my other business for that matter."

"Edward can't help it. And we aren't trying to nose into your business. I'm the one that's trying to be helpful, so don't get upset with Edward or Kyle." Oscar still looked irritated, but he took in a breath and closed his eyes a moment. When he opened his eyes again, he stood from his chair, pulled it until it was much closer to Travis, and sat back down.

"Look, Travis, my brother and I don't like each other and for good reason on both our parts. I understand what you're trying to do and I think it's commendable, but Oliver and I will never see eye to eye, our relationship will always be strained, and more than likely it will always be violent. That's how it's been since we were children. Those sorts of feelings don't go away easily, especially after what Oliver and I have done to one another. Now," Oscar continued, no longer looking upset, "I'd rather not talk about my little brother. I would much rather talk about more interesting things. Tell me, what interests do you have?"

"You mean hobbies?"

"That works."

Travis smiled, "I like hunting and fishing. I like cooking too."

"You had me at 'cooking'."

Travis chuckled shyly. "I take it you don't cook?"

"I can make breakfast and I can grill meat. I've tried making wine, but that was a miserable failure. I made four bottles. I still have three and I only had a sip of one. I threw the rest out."

"Where do you keep the other bottles?"

"Somewhere hidden so no one will know my shame," Oscar teased. "I even named it shame on the bottle."

"Did you really?"

"After the fact, yes," Oscar chuckled. "Its original name was **Barker Brew**."

"Cute," Travis smiled.

"I certainly thought so. But then I drank it and I couldn't stand having my name on it, so I scribbled out Barker and replaced it with Shame. So now it's **Shame Brew**."

Travis laughed. "I want to try this wine now."

"We'll see how the rest of the night turns out. You'll have to do one hell of a job buttering me up to get me to drink that, even if it's fifteen years old."

"It can only improve with age, right?"

"Most wines, yes, but I'm not so sure about that stuff." Oscar finished his last glass of wine with his last bite of steak. "So you said you enjoy hunting and fishing?"

"Yeah, I do."

"I haven't gone hunting in so long. What I do like, though, is to fly to the ocean some times and fish while I'm in my bird form in the wee hours of the morning."

"I should take you hunting some time. Washington isn't short of anything to hunt and if you go to the right spots, you can even fish for salmon."

"If we do go fishing, we'll do it in a bigger boat that has a lower deck."

"What's wrong with a normal boat?"

"I get bored easily with fishing so sometimes I need another source of amusement. Hint, hint, wink, wink."

Travis chuckled. "Aren't you being a little presumptuous?"

"Am I?" Oscar winked and it made Travis blush through his laughter.

"Mr. Barker, I am offended that you would think that I'd sleep with you on our first date."

"This isn't our first date, Travis. This is our third date. Our first date was at the bar, however brief that date may have been, and our second date was that late night talk over coffee. This is our third date and our longest I might add. My attempting to get in your pants at this stage is perfectly acceptable."

Travis started laughing again. "And If I don't agree?"

"I think you'll come to find I'm very persuasive." Joana stepped in seconds later to retrieve their empty plates.

"Would you like any dessert Mr. Barker?"

"Yes, Joana, please give us an order of that deconstructed snickers bar and two shots of espresso."

"Alright sir, I'll have that for you shortly." Joana stepped out with the plates, the empty wine glasses, and the empty bottle, all balanced on her hands.

"How does she do that?" Travis asked.

"I don't care, I'm just happy she can. She's my chief of staff and I make all the servers go through day's worth of training just to learn how Joana balances things on one platter."

"How long has she worked for you?"

"Five and a half years. She got a little lucky on her timing. The guy that had been my former chief of staff wanted to work somewhere else. He wanted to move on and gave me his two weeks, so I gave the position to Joana about three years ago."

"So anyway, what's this deconstructed snickers bar you just ordered?"

"It's an entirely homemade candy. The cookie, the nougat, the peanut butter, they're all scratch made. And instead of a thin layer of milk chocolate, they're all equal layers of each and it's all drizzled with a homemade caramel sauce."

"There isn't peanut butter in snickers."

"No, but there are peanuts and it's the pastry chef's take. Just wait until you try it. It's better than the actual candy bar will ever be." Moments later, Joana came in with two espressos and the dessert. Oscar pushed the plate closer to Travis once Joana was gone. "Try it," he said.

Travis did as Oscar instructed and cut off a small piece of the layer cake with his fork, making sure to get plenty of caramel. When Travis put it in his mouth, he fell back in his chair. The chocolate and peanut butter melted in his mouth, the nougat was chewy and Travis tasted a hint of tartness in the nougat that surprised him pleasantly. The caramel was rich and salty as was the peanut butter. It was mostly sweet and salty with the slightest hint of tart citrus and it was so good that Travis almost fell over.

"Holy shit," Travis moaned and Oscar grinned.

"I told you it was good."

"I actually wish Natalie didn't have a peanut allergy. This is awesome."

Oscar chuckled, "That's a shame." Oscar pulled the plate closer to him and took his own bite and a sip of espresso. "Have a piece with some espresso. That's delicious too."

"But I don't like espresso." Oscar kept smiling and staring at Travis until he sighed, took a sip of espresso, and a bit of the cookie dessert. The bitterness from the espresso added another dimension to the tart, sweet, and salty dessert. The look Travis had on his face made Oscar smile cockily.

"I told you so."

"Shut up and let me eat my dessert." Oscar and Travis chuckled as they finished off the cookie dessert. When they both took their last bite and sip of espresso, Oscar took out his wallet at rested a fifty on the table for Joana. "Does this come out of your take home or something?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I take a percentage of the profits from the hotel and if I used anything our hotel provides; I take that amount out of the percentage I take. This fifty's just Joana's tip."

"That's a generous tip."

"It's roughly ten percent." Travis was a little baffled, but didn't say anything. He pulled out his wallet and took out a twenty. "What are you doing?"

"If this really cost that much, I should at least contribute."

"You don't have to. I do this all the time."

"At least let me contribute to Joana's tip."

Oscar smiled, "Alright. She'd like that." Travis rested the twenty on Oscar's fifty and tucked his wallet in his back pocket. "Do you still want to try that awful wine I told you about?"

"I think you're just trying to get me to go home with you."

Oscar grinned, "Am I that transparent?" Travis just chuckled as did Oscar. "Seriously, come upstairs with me. If nothing else, we'll just have a few more drinks and you can leave when you get bored with me. What do you say?"

They stared at each other for a moment, Travis contemplating and Oscar waiting for his answer until Travis finally sighed. "I'll come up to try that wine. I almost have to after what you said about it."

Oscar grinned, "I'd be happy to accommodate you." Travis followed Oscar as they left the restaurant. The hostess said goodbye to them as they walked and Oscar led them to a private elevator that was to a further side of the building closer to the receptionist desk. When they got to the elevator, Oscar slipped in a keycard, opening the elevator doors. "I work from home too."

Travis smiled and stepped into the elevator with Oscar. When the doors closed, Travis felt himself getting tense. Oscar didn't make any advances and neither did he, but there was still that feeling in the air that if they really wanted to, no one would see them. But the two of them remained separate as the elevator went up to the only floor it had access to: the top floor. On the pad, it was listed as PH, or penthouse. When they reached the floor, the elevator doors opened to a massive living space. There was a couch to the right that was long and had a loveseat attachment that looked onto a large screen plasma TV that was held onto the wall with a bookshelf filled with rows of books. The loveseat was bright beige where the walls were an off-white color, ecru maybe. The bookshelf was a rich mahogany wood as was the coffee table separating the massive couch and TV bookshelf. They were wood floors, much darker than the mahogany furniture that seemed to span the whole floor from what Travis could see. Travis could see the kitchen from where he stood and what he saw was far from small. When he looked to his left, there was an archway that seemed to lead to a study that had a huge grey stone fireplace and what looked like an office space. Oscar walked forward and Travis followed, seeing more of the kitchen and eventually a winding staircase, which were also made of wood. The walls of the kitchen were mostly glass and there were French doors that led to a patio equipped with a pool and outdoor living space.

"This place is beautiful," Travis said quietly.

"Thanks, but I can't take credit for it. I had architects and interior designers that knew what they were doing take care of making this place and I'm pleased with what they did."

"When was this built?"

"I had this place built in '97. I've added things here and there since then, but mostly those additions have been to the kitchen and the master bath upstairs. Wait until you see that. That master bath is a site to see if I do say so myself. I had it redone four years ago and I'm really pleased with it. I've got it covered in grey marble pretty much from head to toe. The walls are painted a bluish grey and it has a nice big shower and a separate, much bigger, tub."

"Sounds like my aunt and uncle's bathroom. Theirs is a brownish marble though."

Oscar looked at Travis strangely. "On a reservation they have a home that can support such a design?"

"My Aunt Nessie comes from a really good family and they're not from the reservation. Her side of the family gave her and Uncle Jacob a house as a wedding present that was on the reservation and big enough for plenty of kids."

Oscar chuckled. "I guess I know who to invite if I ever get married again."

"Are you still married to Wisteria?"

"Legally, no," Oscar said. "Technically," he continued, "yes we're still married. It's only on the reservation, though. I've told her a million times that if she wanted another man, she can seek one and I would not argue. I guess Wisteria just hasn't found a man that she loves."

"I'm surprised the two of you are on such good terms. I don't know if anyone else would've been so cool about all this."

"She's much younger than me and was young when we married. That might have something to do with it. I'm her husband, after all, and if I told her something wasn't bad, than it wasn't bad. In the case of Wisteria and I, I told her the truth because she deserved to know what she'd been dragged into and I didn't like stringing her along. When we were married and it was our wedding night, she told me that she'd been fond of me and was pleased that I'd chosen her. That made me feel like a huge asshole to be honest."

"I bet it did."

"Anyway, that wine. Give me a moment to find a bottle of it." Oscar walked in the direction of the kitchen and it sounded like he'd opened a door.

While waiting, Travis walked towards the couch and TV system and he saw pictures on the shelf of books. One of the pictures was a military photo, but it wasn't Oscar. The man in the picture was very young, perhaps late teens. His face was clean, his teeth straight and white, and his eyes seeming to sparkle even in the sixties quality photo. He was wearing a foot soldier's hat and uniform and the smile gleamed. There was a light pinkish or peachy hue to the photo, attempting to make it a color photo, but it was black and white. Next to it was another soldier's picture and this time it was Oscar wearing the same uniform and looking just as regal, but it was fully black and white and was clearly from the thirties. The other pictures looked specifically seventies quality with better color, but still not looking quite right. This picture had two men in it with what looked like the Berlin call in the background. One was clearly Oscar, the other was a cleanly shaven man that looked slightly like an older version of the man in uniform, but his eyes were covered with sunglasses, as were Oscars. Their arms were wrapped around the others' waist and they both smiled at the camera. The other man was very clean and looked much more put together than Oscar did. This must've been Richard.

"I wish I could say I've read those books, but I haven't." Travis turned around and saw Oscar holding a bottle of wine with a name scratched out with marker and replaced with shame and two wine glasses. "You're staring at my pictures?"

"Yeah," Travis said. "This is Richard?" Travis asked, pointing to the soldier's picture.

"Yeah, that's him. It's one of my favorite pictures of him. He was blonde and blue eyed and pale faced as any Irishman." Oscar chuckled. "It got darker as he got older, but when we met, his hair was still really blonde."

"He's a good looking man."

"He really was," Oscar sighed. "He may have been maddeningly obsessive with cleanliness, but I loved him anyway."

Travis smiled, "Yeah. Brandon had a weird habit too. He used to crack his neck and knuckles constantly. He could even crack his toes and every time he did, it made me cringe."

Oscar laughed, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but I do that too." Travis shuddered and Oscar laughed again, filling both glasses with some wine and handing Travis a glass. "This is the wine I made fifteen years ago. Don't spare my feelings." Travis smelled it first. It wasn't revolting. Then he sipped, and the harsh taste made itself present on his tongue and he almost spit it out.

"This is awful."

"Didn't I warn you?" Oscar took a sip and sighed. "Yeah, age hasn't improved it."

Travis snickered and drank the rest of the glass, purely out of respect. "I'll stop with that."

"I would," Oscar recommended and placed the glass on the coffee table. After looking at the coffee table, he chuckled a little.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing really," Oscar said. "I'm just realizing I forgot to put down coasters. Richard would skin me alive if he saw that." Oscar went to a small table that held coasters and a lamp and placed them under the glasses and the bottle.

"At least he taught you good habits." Oscar smiled after Travis made his teasing comment. "Are those all the drinks we'll be having tonight or should we make third time the charm?"

Oscar sneered teasingly. "Don't mock me further."

"You know what sounds like fun?"

"What's that? You want to wound my pride further?"

Travis smiled, "Not at all. I was thinking we should watch a movie on this lovely plasma screen while we drink the rest of that horrible wine. I don't suppose you have Netflix or something, do you?"

"Yes, actually I do. I hardly ever use it. I was planning to cancel my membership, but I'm glad I didn't right about now." Travis smiled as Oscar picked up the remotes. "You know, the first time I ever bought a TV, it was the early seventies and there were only ten channels. They played the news, cartoons, sometimes movies, and other little things."

"You mean back when dinosaurs roamed the earth and Godzilla was terrorizing Tokyo?"

Oscar smiled, "Yes, Travis, back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, but Godzilla wasn't quite a problem yet. He didn't come around until I was 7 billion years old."

"Don't you mean 100 billion years ago?"

"Who gives a shit? They're all dead." Oscar and Travis laughed as Oscar brought up his Netflix and started looking through the movies.

"What's the first movie you ever watched?"

Oscar looked thoughtful while he scrolled through. "_It Happened One Night_ starring Claudette Colbert and Clark Gable and directed by Frank Capra."

"I've never heard of that movie." Oscar looked at Travis, and then he smiled and looked back at the screen, using the remote to type in the movie.

"It looks like we're watching this."

"What's it about?"

"A spoiled brat that runs away from her parents and ends up in the arms of a reporter looking for a story," Oscar said. "Clark and Claudette are shown being alone in a room together while they're traveling. They're out of wedlock, so back in the thirties, that was a big gasp moment. You also get to see Clark Gable take his shirt off, which was also a bit of a shock back in the thirties."

"A shirtless man was a shock?"

"Yes, young man, a shirtless man was a shock." Oscar pressed play and motioned for Travis to sit with him on the couch. When Travis sat down next to Oscar, Oscar used his foot to pull the coffee table closer so they could better reach their wine glasses. Travis poured more wine and gave Oscar his glass. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather I made us some popcorn and brought out some beer?"

Travis took a sip, tasted the wine, and then looked at Oscar. "What's your beer selection?"

"I've got mostly Wisconsin Brews."

"They sell Wisconsin beers in Arizona?"

"No, they don't. I just pay extra and make them send me the beer through the mail. I've got some Fat Squirrel, which is a nutty beer, some Moon Man, that has a little carrot taste to it, and Spotted Cow. That one's my favorite."

"With popcorn, I'll try the Fat Squirrel." Oscar smiled and put the movie on pause. Travis followed Oscar to his kitchen, which was huge and made all the more open with the glass walls and the high ceiling. The wood was the same and the marble countertops were a lighter brown with light wood cabinets and stainless steel appliances. "This is a nice kitchen."

"Thanks," Oscar said. "Do you want buttered or non-buttered popcorn?"

"Buttered," Travis answered. "I love my popcorn to be nice and buttery."

Oscar smiled, "Me too." Oscar put the popcorn in the microwave above the oven and let it go for two minutes. Meanwhile, he went to the fridge and grabbed a Fat Squirrel and Spotted Cow. He opened both with his bare hands and handed the Squirrel to Travis.

Travis took a sip. "Wow, this is pretty good. You weren't kidding about that nutty flavor. It's like drinking a mixed bag of nuts."

"Yeah, it is. That's why I usually only drink it with sweet things, but everyone has different taste."

Travis rubbed his temples. "I've got to be honest, Oscar. I think you're making me drunk."

"If it makes you feel better, I'm starting to get a buzz now." The microwave dinged, so Oscar got a bowl from a cabinet and opened the bag of popcorn, pouring in the buttered treat. "Now let's watch an old movie."

Oscar and Travis walked back to the couch and sat together to watch the movie. They sat right next to each other and Oscar purposely rested the bowl of popcorn on his lap. Travis didn't say anything about it. He just drank his beer, ate popcorn, and enjoyed the movie. Oscar was finished with his beer about twenty minutes into the movie, but Travis tried to nurse his and make it last. If he drank it too fast, he'd end up incoherent and he didn't want to end up drunk on their first….third date. Not completely drunk anyway. By the end of the movie, most of the popcorn was gone and the two were both done with their drinks.

"So what did you think of the movie?"

"It was cute. I can now say that I've watched _It Happened One Night_."

"And now you know the first movie I've ever watched." Oscar scooted closer to Travis on the couch after putting the bowl on the coffee table. The clock read that it was almost midnight. "I don't know about you, but I'm not tired just yet."

Travis blushed. "You're not?" Oscar put his arm around Travis's shoulder and looked at him.

"Let me ask you something." Travis nodded. "Do you really not want to sleep with me or are you just playing hard to get?"

"Hard to get I suppose."

Oscar smiled at Travis and came close enough so their noses were touching. Neither of them took their eyes off one another and Oscar didn't make a move for several seconds. Travis felt his lips dry, so he licked his lips, but his tongue ended up touching Oscar's lips. When Travis flinched at the contact, Oscar just grinned a little more. This erotic taunting was getting to him, but Travis suspected that was the point of this. Because Travis was shifting position a little, Oscar tightened the grip his hand had on Travis's shoulder, and then he surprised Travis by resting his free left hand on Travis's thigh. It made him tremble a little and lick his dry lips again. Travis waited and waited for Oscar to just kiss him. He wanted him to so badly that he could still taste that brief touch of his lips on his tongue, but Oscar wouldn't do it. Instead, he went right to Travis's neck. The touch of Oscar's tongue to Travis's bare skin made him shiver all over and he let his head fall back and rest on Oscar's forearm as he continued.

Oscar massaged Travis's thigh further and further until, when his lips reached Travis's ear, his hand rested on Travis's growing erection. Oscar used the tip of his tongue to trace every part of Travis's ear and Travis grabbed a hold of the front of Oscar's button down suit shirt. He was still wearing a black business suit, a white shirt, and a blue and black stripped tie. Travis reached for the tie and pulled at it until he was able to get it loose and pull it off completely. While Travis unbuttoned Oscar's shirt, Oscar licked a path to Travis's other ear and repeated the pattern, causing Travis to shiver again. Travis pulled the shirt from Oscar's belted pants and pushed it aside. As Travis was trying to push away the shirt and suit jacket, Oscar pushed Travis down on the couch and got on top of him. When Travis was on his back, that's when Oscar finally planted his lips on Travis's lips. The taste of him was intoxicating. There was the taste of salt and beer lingering and mingling with his own flavor. With the hand that had been on his crotch, Oscar brought it up and pulled at Travis's shirt, trying to get it free from his pants. When they were free, Oscar began unbuttoning Travis's shirt with one hand until it was opened. Travis let his hands go below the fabric of Oscar's jacket and shirt and rubbed Oscar's back sensually. Several minutes passed of tender kisses and dueling of tongues before Travis grabbed a hold of Oscar's belt and tried to undo it. Travis swiftly pulled the belt out of the pant hooks and tossed it right on the floor. When his hands went to the button and zipper, Oscar grabbed a hold of Travis and stopped him.

"Would you rather take this somewhere more comfortable?"

Travis only nodded, so Oscar took a hold of his hand and led him to the stairs that he'd seen earlier. The stairs were the first part of the house to have anything other than wood and it led right up to a bedroom, no doors or anything to separate the stairs from the bedroom. The room was generous in the way of space. The bed was a king sized bed with a minimalist, dark wood mantle and there was another fireplace that looked like it might be around the same spot as the one downstairs. Above that fireplace was a portrait that appeared to be a Monet. It was a water scene with pink flowered lily pads and there were two candles on each end of the fireplace mantle. From where Travis stood, they smelled like cinnamon and apples. The carpet was white and the walls were also white. The sheets on the bed were a burgundy silk that was covered by a red, white, and brown box design comforter. It looked really cozy and inviting. To the far right of the room was another balcony that undoubtedly looked in a different direction from the one near the kitchen and Travis could see the whole city from here. While walking in, Oscar took off his shirt and jacket and tossed it to the side. Travis got a better look at the tattoo on Oscar's back. It was a beautifully done tattoo and looked fresh. Maybe he'd had it touched up recently. He walked into the bathroom and Travis heard some drawer open. When he came out, he was holding a small box that he rested on the right nightstand by the bed and took out a bottle of lubricant from the nightstand drawer.

"Are Trojans fine with you?" Oscar asked. The question was so sudden that Travis almost didn't answer.

"Yeah, those are fine. They're not one of those gimmicky Trojan condoms are they?"

Oscar shrugged, "They're the ones that are 45% thinner. If you'd rather use regular ones, I have those too."

"No, those are fine. Is that lubricant flavored or anything?"

Oscar shook his head, "No, it's not. I'm not a huge fan of the flavored stuff. I've used them, but they never taste right or smell right to me."

"Yeah, I prefer scentless too." Travis began walking over, but it was slowly. Oscar waited until Travis finally made it to him before taking a hold of his hand and pulling him to Oscar's chest.

"You look nervous."

Travis blushed again, "Maybe a little." Travis looked at Oscar's chest and stared at the falcon tattoo holding the American flag. This one looked fresh too. "When did you get both of these tattoos? They look really new."

"I haven't gotten a new tattoo since '92 and that was the Celtic cross on my back, they're all just retouched. This one," Oscar pointed at the falcon, "I got right after the Second World War. The one on my foot I got in '83, and the one on my head I got right before going on the boat to France."

"Wait what?" Travis shook his head a second and looked surprised. "You have one on your head? Edward didn't mention that."

"Probably because I usually forget about it," Oscar chuckled. "It's an eagle and I got it because I got caught up in a group of new soldiers that I couldn't understand. My English was still pretty bad back then, so I just went along for the ride. I also wasn't the first to get a tattoo, so I had an idea what to expect by the time it got to me. It's not that big either."

"Why would you get your first tattoo on your head?"

"Because I was inebriated and it was one hell of a night."

"Can I see it?" Oscar smiled, turned around, and held his head down a little so Travis could see the eagle right at Oscar's hairline. It was really hard to see, but Travis couldn't believe that Edward hadn't seen it. It was a small eagle in flight clasping arrows and a snake in its talons. It was covered by the layer of thick black hair, so unless he was staring right at it, Travis would've never noticed it. It was also really faded. "Did you ever get this one retouched?"

"Fuck no! Tattoos hurt period, but a head tattoo hurts like a mother fucker. I'm never having a tattoo needle anywhere near my head ever again." Oscar turned back around. "I take it the mind reader's the reason you know about the tattoo on my foot right?"

"Yeah, he is. He didn't mention the head tattoo though."

"So you said," Oscar chuckled. "Do you have tattoos?"

"No, I don't. I've never really wanted one. I love tattoos, just not on me."

Oscar chuckled, "Interesting."

"Can I see that foot tattoo?" With a smile, Oscar nodded and sat on the edge of the bed so he could take off his shoes. When his shoes and socks were off, Oscar brought his left foot on the edge of the bed, his knee to his chest, so Travis could look at it. It wasn't anything really special. It looked a little cartoony and the flower on top was really small, but Travis could see that it was the rainbow flag. "I admit I like your chest and back tattoos better."

"Yeah, me too," Oscar admitted. "I got this one as a little act of defiance if you want the truth. The country was in an uproar over the AIDS epidemic and a priest or whatever he was had the audacity to go on national television and tell the people, 'You can't fool God,' I think were his exact words. He's quoted in _And the Band Played On_, actually. Anyway, that made me mad, so I decided I'd get a tattoo to express how gay and proud of it I am and this tattoo was the result. The message was right, but the tattoo fell a little short."

Travis chuckled. "Well, aren't you just a rebellious type?"

"As rebellious as they come." After that, Oscar pulled Travis onto the bed beside him and pulled off Travis's shoes and socks.

Travis tossed off his shirt as Oscar crawled up to him and started kissing him again. They picked up where they'd left off on the couch and began making out for several minutes yet again. Oscar was the first to move to Travis's pants to unbutton and unzip them. Travis reciprocated and unbuttoned the suit pants Oscar was wearing and tucked his hands under the pants and his boxers to touch Oscar's butt. This caused Oscar to groan and thrust forward which made Travis groan too. Their erections rubbed against one another while both of their briefs were still on. With that one thrust forward on Oscar's part, he pulled off Travis's pants and briefs, taking a hold of Travis's erection in his hand and it made Travis moan into their kiss. They stopped kissing due to both of their quickening breaths and Oscar turned to licking Travis's chest and nipping at his nipples, but Travis flinched when he did.

"That tickled," Travis chuckled and when Oscar didn't stop, purely to tease him, Travis started pulling away, still laughing. Oscar followed and got a good grip on Travis and pulled him back. Travis didn't put up much of a fight at all, but he wasn't expecting Oscar to take Travis's erection into his mouth. When he did, Travis went limp.

"Does that tickle?" Oscar teased and Travis just smiled. Travis took a hold of Oscar's head and rubbed his head, tracing Oscar's short hair, and enjoying what Oscar was doing. Oscar continued until Travis was just shy of climax and suddenly stopped. When he stopped Travis watched Oscar go to the nightstand and take two condoms from the box. "I should ask, do you prefer one or the other or is either fine?"

"Um," Travis was still a little dazed. "I can go for either one. I like to do both if I can help it. Do you prefer one or the other?"

"I'm usually top, but I may compromise if you can convince me." Oscar was teasing, and it made Travis smile. Oscar smiled back and tossed one of the condoms at Travis. Oscar pulled the rest of his clothes off and it was then that Travis noticed something that shouldn't have been a surprise, but it took him off guard. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Travis looked back at Oscar. "Sorry, I don't know why that surprised me."

Oscar looked down, then back at Travis, "You mean that I'm not circumcised?"

"I've never dated a guy that wasn't, so I wasn't expecting it."

Oscar didn't address the choice of word 'dating'. Instead he asked, "It's not a problem is it?"

Travis shook his head, "No. It's just new, that's all."

Oscar chuckled. "Well I don't know why you're surprised. It's not like we practiced circumcision in either of our tribes. That's more of a recent Americanized preference of what a man's penis should look like to be frank. And not to sound racist, but with so many Jewish men and women in the medical system over the years, it seems to me that became the norm. There's nothing wrong with being uncircumcised. From the way I see it, it's a way to keep men from masturbating, but you see how well that's worked out for our young people."

Travis chuckled, "Yeah, I know."

Oscar ripped open the packet, "Enough talk kid; it's fuck time."

Travis started laughing harder and the two of them put the condoms on. When Oscar had his condom on, he squeezed some lubricant into his hand and stroked it on his erection. With his dry left hand, Oscar took a firm hold of Travis by the ankle and pulled him forward until he was close enough for Oscar to rub the remaining lubricant around Travis's ass. Oscar slipped a finger in so as to get some lubricant inside and Travis just sighed in anticipation. He'd never been so eager before and when Oscar finally slipped inside, Travis drew in a harsh breath from the combination of pleasure and discomfort. The discomfort always went away after a few thrusts and was completely replaced by ecstasy. It wasn't long before Travis just wanted more, so he grabbed Oscar's right hand and placed it on his erection, demanding he stroke while thrusting. Oscar put a little more lubricant on his hand, minding the condom, and did as Travis asked and making it so much better.

Travis opened his eyes as Oscar continued. He saw Oscar with his eyes closed, focusing on what he was doing and the pleasure it was bringing the both of them. It was a look of concentration that made Travis quiver and he forced Oscar down to him in a kiss. Oscar didn't stop anything he was doing as their tongues dueled and tasted. Travis was so close to his own climax, but he didn't want to tell Oscar that. He didn't want to ruin the moment. They would have time to make their lovemaking last longer in the future. Travis would make sure of that. Oscar took his lips away and started kissing Travis on the neck where the sensitive skin made him tremble. With that line of kisses to his neck, Oscar stroking his erection and thrusting deep inside him, Travis couldn't hold back anymore and he climaxed. Travis groaned and clutched onto Oscar's back tightly, but it didn't slow Oscar down at all. The continuation of thrusts combined with the aftermath of his climax, so Travis didn't stop moaning as Oscar continued.

Shortly after Travis finished, Oscar chose a change of pace and pulled out, only to pull Travis completely off the bed, turn him around, bend him over the edge of the bed, and reenter him and thrust with vigor. As Oscar pushed in and out, his right hand grabbed a hold of Travis by his pecks and Oscar's left hand held Travis's hand. Travis was leaning forward, but Oscar didn't let him get far and after ten minutes of hard pounding, Oscar reached his own climax and tightened his grip where his hands rested. Oscar took a few seconds to recover, but when he did, the hand that had been on Travis's chest came up to his face so as to make Travis face him and kiss him. Travis brought his arm up and held Oscar's head from behind, reciprocating the kiss until Oscar fell to his side on the bed, pulling Travis with him. Oscar carefully removed his condom and Travis's and threw them both away in a tiny waste basket he had near the bed. When Oscar came back to the bed, the two of them stared at the ceiling, contented.

"You're right," Travis said. "You are very persuasive." The two of them laughed and Oscar pulled Travis with him so they were both lying their heads on his pillows. "Would you mind if I spent the night?"

"I'd be insulted if you didn't." Travis smiled and rested his head on Oscar's chest and stared at the falcon. The AC was on, so Travis got under the covers and Oscar followed after him until they were both snuggling under the covers. Oscar used a weird button that was on his nightstand and turned off the lights.

"These are really nice sheets."

"Thanks," Oscar wrapped his arms around Travis and held him close. "They're actually really expensive sheets made of real silk."

"They certainly feel like real silk." Travis closed his eyes as he snuggled under the covers with Oscar. "I'm tired."

Oscar chuckled, "Then get some sleep."

With a content smile, Travis kissed Oscar's chest and Oscar kissed his forehead before the two fell asleep in each other's arms. Travis slept well that night. When the sun started coming up and shining into the room, Travis turned over on his side so he wasn't facing the window anymore. Oscar turned over about ten minutes afterwards, resting his arm on Travis as they continued to sleep. Around nine in the morning, the two were awoken to the sound of Travis's phone. Travis jumped a little at the sound, being sound asleep and not expecting it. Oscar groaned and buried his face into his pillow while Travis lazily scooted through the bed and climbed over Oscar so he could reach his pants and get his phone from his pocket.

"Hello?"

"_Travis, where are you? I've been talking to an empty hotel room for the past two minutes. People probably think I'm crazy by now."_ Travis smiled a little, humored by the image of Natalie talking to an empty room.

"I'm upstairs in Oscar's penthouse."

"_Oh,"_ Natalie said. _"Well that was fast."_

"Yeah, but Oscar's very persuasive." Oscar chuckled in the pillow. "So is there a problem?"

"_No, there's no problem. I just wanted to let you know that Grandpa Edward got us all tickets back home. We leave tonight."_

"Oh," Travis answered a little sullenly. He'd forgotten all about having to go back in all honesty.

"_I can ask Grandpa to push your ticket back if you would like."_

"No," Travis said reluctantly. "I need to get back home. I told my boss I'd only be gone for three days. I can't call him and ask for more time off or it'll cut into my vacation time in July."

"_Alright, if that's what you want. You'll want to get packing soon. We're all leaving at two."_

"Alright thanks Natalie." Travis ended the call and dropped his phone back onto his jeans.

"You have to leave today?" Oscar asked after he lifted his face from the pillow.

"Yeah," Travis answered. He got off Oscar and laid down next to him, looking in his eyes. "Are you terribly disappointed?"

"Perhaps a little." Oscar smiled and gave Travis a kiss. "I heard her say two, so you can stay for a shower and breakfast."

"That actually sounds great."

"That's what I thought. But first," Oscar got on his back and leaned towards his cellphone and dialed a number. He waited a few seconds before someone answered.

"_This is the room service desk, you're speaking with Joana, how may I help you?"_

"Joana?" Oscar seemed a little confused. "What are you still doing here?"

"_Oh, hey Mr. Barker. The chef called some of us in early. There's a huge brunch rush going right now."_

"Ah," Oscar answered. "Well, as long as you clocked in, you'll get paid for the extra hours. Listen, I'd like to order some room service to be brought to the penthouse."

"_Alright, Mr. Barker. What would you like?"_

"I'll have that steak and egg breakfast, steak medium rare and," Oscar took the phone away and looked at Travis, "What would you like?"

"Um," Travis smiled, "Promise not to laugh at me?"

"I'm not making any promises. What would you like?"

Travis sighed, "I'm in the mood for chocolate chip pancakes."

Oscar smiled, "Would you like chocolate milk with that?" Travis didn't answer and just gave Oscar a mean look. Oscar kept smiling and returned his attention to the phone, "Include an order of chocolate chip pancakes and chocolate milk. I've got a twelve year old in my bed." Travis smacked Oscar's back and Oscar just laughed.

"_That's mean, Mr. Barker."_

"You know I'm kidding. He's.." Oscar looked at Travis, "Shit, how old are you?"

"I'm twenty three."

"He's a whopping twenty three years old," Oscar said in the phone and Joana sighed heavily on the other end of the line.

"_I mean, he's cute, Mr. Barker, but for Christ's sake, leave the kid alone."_ Oscar laughed and Travis just snickered, having overheard the comment.

"Breakfast, Joana," Oscar said. They shared a few more words before Oscar ended the call and rested his phone on the nightstand, hooking it up to the charger. Then he patted Travis as he crawled out of bed. "It sounds like breakfast will take a while, so let's take that shower. And don't worry about a toothbrush. I went to the dentist a few weeks ago, so I have a new toothbrush you can use."

Travis scooted out of bed and followed Oscar to his bathroom. Travis could finally see it in all its glory and it was just as Oscar had described it. Oscar walked to the sink and opened the medicine cabinet, pulling out some toothpaste, his toothbrush, and a toothbrush still in its box. Travis took the boxed toothbrush and unwrapped it. Oscar had already started brushing his teeth, so he handed the paste to Travis and made room for him at the sink so Travis could start brushing his teeth. When Oscar finished, he walked over to his shower and turned the water on hot. He checked the water as Travis finished brushing his teeth and after a final rinse, Travis discreetly placed the toothbrush in the glass the way Oscar had and walked over to him. As Travis approached, Oscar determined that the water was hot enough, so he slid open the glass door completely and motioned for Travis to step into the shower with him.

"I really like your penthouse," Travis said.

"Thanks," Oscar said, getting his shampoo and pouring some in his head and then on Travis's head. Oscar started lathering the shampoo on his head and Travis did the same. Oscar finished lathering and got in the stream of water to wash off the shampoo, but the whole time, he was staring at Travis.

"See something you like Mr. Barker?"

"As a matter of fact, yes I do." Oscar started out looking seductive, but then he started getting uncomfortable. "I'm about to ask you something that might be an uncomfortable topic, but if I'm going to have my way with you in this shower, I have to ask."

"Oh God, what are you going to ask?" Travis laughed nervously.

"When was your last STD test?" Travis didn't immediately answer. He was a little surprised. "I'm sorry, I know it's a really intimate question. We can just do it back in the bedroom where the condoms are if you're not comfortable talking about it."

"No, it's okay. I just wasn't expecting this question. I had an STD test after I broke up with Clyde and that was back in April."

"Is that the only test you've ever had?"

"Yeah," Travis admitted. "It's the only time I've ever felt a need to. I trusted Phil and he was clean anyway. Brandon was a virgin when I got to him and I think it's safe to assume he was clean. I dated a drag queen for a while and he was clean. The only reason I felt like I needed to get tested after him was because he'd cheated on me. I caught him with a woman, but I felt a lot better when she was as in the dark about it as I was. She and I ganged up and him and now she and I are really good friends. Her name is Sharon."

"You became friends with the other woman?" Oscar chuckled.

"Yes, Oscar, I became friends with the other woman. She's really nice. I can't believe he cheated on her with me."

"So you're clean right?"

"Yeah, I am. What about you?"

"I'm clean. I had my last STD test last year, but I haven't had sex in a while." Oscar started reaching for Travis, but he swatted Oscar's hands away.

"May I please get clean before you start rapping me?" Travis got under the stream of water and washed away the shampoo. Then he reached for the body wash and poured some in his hand before giving it to Oscar. Travis lathered the body wash on his body and Oscar did the same, but when they were both clean Oscar grabbed Travis and brought him to his chest and kissed a line down Travis's neck. "Oscar," Travis chuckled.

"You said I had to wait until you were clean. Now you're clean." Travis kept chuckling and finally let Oscar start doing what he wanted to.

He turned Travis around to face him and the two spent a great deal of time just making out in the shower. Oscar tried turning Travis around after a time, but Travis made Oscar make good on his promise and Travis topped Oscar instead of the reverse. They stayed in the shower together for roughly thirty minutes having sex and rendering their shower rather inconsequential. They stayed in the hot shower until they heard the faint sound of the dinging of the elevator at Oscar's front door. Oscar handed Travis a towel while Oscar wrapped a towel around his hips and walked out to greet the person at his front door. Travis dried off in the bedroom and heard Oscar talking to the guy that delivered their food. Travis put on his underwear and jeans once he was dried, but chose to leave off his socks and shirt and waited until he heard the elevator door open and close before he came back downstairs. When he did, Oscar was still wearing the towel around his hip and he was at the kitchen counter grinding coffee beans with water boiling on the stovetop.

"Why not just order coffee?" Travis asked.

"Because my coffee's better. It's the one thing I do better than my chef." Travis smiled and walked a little closer then Oscar stopped grinding. "Keep grinding these beans for me. I'll get myself decent."

Travis did as Oscar asked and took over grinding the coffee beans while Oscar went to his room for a few minutes. When he came back, he was wearing his army tank top and sweatpants and now, only the tips of the falcon's wings and the top of its head were visible and a quarter piece of the Celtic cross. When he got back, Oscar took out the cheesecloth and pitcher and covered the top of the pitcher with the cloth.

"Are those beans ready?"

"Yeah," Travis answered and handed Oscar the ground beans. Oscar took them and dumped the grounds into the boiling water. The beans boiled for a few minutes. "Do you want me to set the table?"

"That's alright. The food came with plates and silver wear." Oscar smiled. "You can start eating if you want. I just need to finish this coffee and I'll sit down with you."

Travis walked to the dining table that was in the large kitchen and sat where his pancakes and chocolate milk was placed. It'd been a long time since he'd had pancakes, but if this chef could make the great savory food he did, Travis was eager to taste his pancakes. After Oscar was finished making the coffee, be brought the pitcher and two coffee cups (that were not made of tin) to the table and rested a cup near both their plates. Oscar poured them both some coffee and finally sat down at the table and they started eating.

"How're you chocolate chip pancakes kid?" Oscar teased.

"They're delicious. I feel like a kid again." Oscar chuckled and took a bit of his steak then added a little salt to his pouched egg before cutting the egg in half and allowing the yolk to ooze over the steak, delicious. "Oscar?" Travis said after a sip of chocolate milk.

"Yeah?"

"I don't suppose we could keep this going could we?"

"Keep this going?" Oscar asked and took a sip of his coffee.

"Yeah, you know: start dating. I was hoping this wouldn't be a one night stand."

"I see," Oscar answered and looked thoughtful. "So you want to keep seeing each other even though we're usually miles apart?"

"It's only two states."

"Those are two really big states Travis."

"I know, but you can fly. How long did it take for you to fly to Washington when you did?"

"Four hours," Oscar answered.

"There you go," Travis said eagerly. "You can come visit me whenever you have the free time and when I have time off work or when it's the weekend. I get weekends off."

"So let me get this straight. You want me to fly all the way to the mold state every chance I get?"

"The mold state? Where did you get that?"

"Washington looks like a patch of mold from 3,000 feet in the air, Travis. And it smells like mold too. How you guys don't freeze to death up there I will never understand."

"The same way people from Alaska don't freeze to death. They're used to it and they dress for the weather. Hell, I could argue that I can't understand how you people in Arizona tolerate this hot weather and dry heat. It's like being suffocated, but it doesn't bother you because you're used to it. Also, you have the ac in this building on full blast, so how can you say you would freeze to death in Washington?"

"An ac system is different from a wet patch of mold on the face of the United States."

"I would say so considering you come from an eczema patch on the face of America." Oscar started laughing, but Travis wasn't really amused. Oscar was basically telling him this whole thing would be a onetime thing and that didn't sit well with him. "Seriously, Oscar, I don't want us to stop seeing each other. I've already explained the whole imprinting thing to you."

"Ah yes," Oscar sighed heavily. "I'd forgotten about that actually."

"Look, Oscar, I realize I'm coming on a little strong but if I wasn't interested in you for the long run, I would've never slept with you. I've made that my habit since I came out and I take pride in that."

"What was that like for you? Coming out I mean."

"Oscar, please don't change the subject." Travis rested down his fork, groaned and rubbed his face. He'd lost his appetite and he was getting frustrated. He was starting to wish maybe he'd held out on Oscar like Nathan had with Ada María, but then just because Oscar was sexually active didn't necessarily mean he was a huge manwhore the way Ada María was a huge slut. "It was a little frustrating because most of my friends and family had already figured out I was gay, so most people I told just said, 'yeah, we know' and life went on. There, now can we please get back to the previous topic?"

"Alright, alright, we'll talk about this. Look, Travis, I haven't been in a committed relationship since Richard died and to be honest with you, I still love him."

"And I still love Brandon," Travis said. "I'll always love him and I'll mourn him for the rest of my life. But he wouldn't have wanted me to mope around feeling sorry for myself. He would've wanted me to find someone who made me happy."

"And how do you know I'll make you happy? How do I know you'll make me happy? Travis, you're asking me to make a commitment to you when we've known each other three days. You'll forgive me, but I call total bullshit on love at first site. It didn't work out for Romeo and Juliet and it doesn't work for much of anyone else."

"It worked for my parents," Travis started. "It worked for my cousin's Grandpa Edward and Grandma Bella. It worked for my Aunt Nessie and Uncle Jacob. I can give you a list of pack members and family members who've worked out their love at first site just fine. None of them have committed suicide or murdered their in-laws and my Uncle never suffocated Aunt Nessie with a pillow."

"I'm a big fan of _Othello_," Oscar said suddenly, but Travis continued.

"I already told you that I imprinted on you. No one in my pack or the packs before has ever had a situation where the love wasn't mutual. We've had plenty where the love of the imprinted took time to develop, but they always eventually fall in love. I've even seen my cousin Natalie take a bitter vampire with nothing but hate in his heart and make him hopeful and happy."

"Are you implying that I'm old and bitter?"

"No," Travis sighed heavily. "I'm just saying I've imprinted, that's how I feel, and that's always how I'll feel. I thought you felt that way too." Travis got up from the table, not wanting his breakfast anymore and feeling really uneasy. "I'll get dressed and get going."

Oscar didn't say anything when Travis walked away. Travis went back to the bedroom and put on the rest of his clothes before going to the elevator and using the keycard on the counter to go down. He was in the lobby a few minutes later and went to the next elevator until it brought him to his floor, and then Travis went right to his hotel room and started packing. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door and Travis let Natalie in.

"There you are," she said as she walked in. "I was beginning to think you were never coming down." Natalie lost her smile when she saw the sullen look on his face. "Oh no, what happened?"

"I said I wanted to keep things going between us and he said he'd rather keep me a onetime thing."

"What? But I thought he liked you. He seemed so interested in you."

"That's what I thought but apparently I'm no better than a desperate Frenchman that'll fuck for bread." Travis slammed close the closet door he'd had opened.

"Fuck for bread…what on earth are you talking about?"

"Never mind," Travis groaned. He zipped his suitcase closed and sat on the edge of the bed. "So this is what it feels like for your imprint to reject you."

"He'll come around, Travis, I know he will. Even Suerro came around and…well that was Suerro." Travis smiled a little, somewhat humored. "I mean, can he honestly say he felt nothing for you after all those talks you've had and….well, what you guys did last night? Can he?"

"I didn't bother asking. I think I was too pride wounded to ask."

"If it'll help, you can always call your boss and say there's been an emergency and you need more time off work. Grandpa Edward will push back your ticket. You know he will."

"No, no, that won't help. I want to talk to him again, but I don't even know where to start." Travis looked at the clock: one o'clock. "And I don't have time to come up with anything."

"You know what, make him miss you. That seems to do the trick 100% of the time. It worked for me."

"Yeah, but Natalie that's really only been an issue for you. I don't think it's fair to claim 100% proficiency when it's only happened to one person."

"Well, when it works for you, it'll be more accurate." Natalie hugged Travis and kissed his cheek. "I better get back to packing. I still have things to pack. I went to the spa on the second floor yesterday and let me tell you, it was so relaxing and I did some shopping on the strip, so I've got plenty of souvenirs to pack." Natalie walked out of the hotel room and went back to her own, leaving Travis alone.

Travis was pretty much done packing so he laid in bed and rested, or at least tried to. He ended up just staring at the ceiling unable to relax because of that morning. He lost all track of time, but it didn't feel like a long period of time before he heard a knock at his door again. Travis forced himself off the comfortable mattress and went to the door. When he opened the door, Oscar was standing there and it took Travis by surprise. When the door was open and the two had stared at each other a few seconds, Oscar reached into his jean pocket and pulled out a watch.

"You forgot this," Oscar handed over the watch to Travis. He'd completely forgotten about this watch. It wasn't even a really nice watch. It was some cheap thing that he found in his ex-boyfriend's gay club and no one said anything when he was wearing it.

"Thanks," he accepted the watch and was about to close the door, but Oscar stopped him.

"Can I come in?" After a moment, Travis nodded and stood aside so Oscar could come in. He closed the door when Oscar was in, but he stayed quiet. "We need to talk about what happened this morning." Oscar rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry about what I said to you. It was selfish of me to assume that you just wanted to keep this brief. I really enjoyed the time we spent together since you got here and I was focusing more on the two of us having a good time than anything else."

"I thought I'd made it clear that I was interested in more than a single date when I told you that I'd imprinted on you."

"You did, but I sort of ignored you. I wasn't really in a mood for talking about something long term. Like I told you, I haven't been in a serious relationship since Richard and I really can't picture being with someone like that again."

"I thought the same thing," Travis admitted. "Brandon and I, we were talking about moving in together right after high school. We were looking forward to not having to be secretive anymore once we moved in together and he wasn't under his parents' roof. I still feel like his parents finding out was my fault. When he died, I assumed that I would never love anyone the way I loved him. If I hadn't been able to imprint on you, I would probably never even spoken to you."

"How long were you with Brandon?"

"Two years."

"I was with Richard for fifteen."

"And yet, according to you, you were with Zakra for well over thirty years and yet you fell in love with Richard. Or are you telling me that you didn't love Richard the way you loved Zakra?"

"I loved them both," Oscar said, getting defensive. "I can't say that I loved either more than the other."

"Are you tired, then? Is that why you're reluctant?"

"Why do you mean tired?"

"You've lost two lovers to death, and pretty violent ones. Are you scared it'll happen again?"

"I've really never thought about it. I prefer not to. My first lover's throat was slit before my eyes and my second lover died of AIDS. You can imagine those aren't exactly my favorite memories and I don't like to think about them."

"And you think I enjoy thinking about what happened to Brandon? You think I enjoy the thought of him being so beaten down and ashamed that he felt there was no other way out than to put a noose around his neck?" Travis felt himself begin to choke, so he turned around facing the window so he could brush away the tears forming. "You got to say goodbye to Zakra and Richard. You got to see them and tell them you loved them. I didn't get that. I couldn't be there to tell Brandon that everything would get better and that I loved him. I didn't get to say goodbye." Travis sniffed. "If he hadn't sent me that letter, I wouldn't have even known he was dead." Travis was fully crying now.

Oscar walked over to Travis and took him in a hug. "That's enough of that," Oscar said gently, but Travis pushed Oscar away.

"Stop doing that. Just because you push everything out of your mind—"

"I'm not pushing everything out of my mind," Oscar interrupted and took Travis in his arms again, despite the fact that Travis was pushing Oscar away, though not with much strength if any at all. "I came here because I wanted to apologize to you for this morning. I should've realized my charm and good looks would get you hooked."

"Oscar—"

"I'm kidding," Oscar interrupted again. "I'm kidding, Travis. I was just trying to lighten the mood. Listen, I've had some time to think since you walked out and I really am sorry. I'm not reluctant because of past history. We've just met and I hardly know you, so when you asked me about seeing each other over state lines, it freaked me out a bit."

"I know, but like I said, I already have feelings for you. I can't help that, Oscar."

"You've explained," Oscar said. He gently made Travis look him in the eye. "Look, Travis, I've given it some thought. I don't like how we left off and I feel bad about it. I would love to see you again after this."

Travis looked skeptically hopeful, "Really?"

"Yes, really," Oscar answered with a smile. "You said you get vacations during the summer?"

"At the end of July usually, yes."

"Summer is a busy season for us, but I can spend a weekend with you. Once summer's over, I'll have a little more leeway in schedules." Travis was finally smiling and he wrapped his arms around Oscar's neck to hug him. They hugged for a while, Travis completely content, until there was a knock on the door again and Natalie called in saying it was time for them all to leave for the airport. "I guess you need to get going."

"Yeah," Travis said. He walked to the work area in the hotel room and took a hotel pen and pad of paper and wrote down his number. "Here's my number. Uncle Jacob still has your card, so—"

"That's my business card." Oscar took the piece of paper Travis handed him and wrote another number on the top of the page then ripped that off and handed it to Travis. "That's my personal phone number. I always have my phone with me, so if you want to talk to me or text me, I'll respond."

Travis accepted the number and put it in his pocket. "I'll put that in my phone while I'm in the car." They smiled at each other again. "You know, my cousin Natalie's getting married in October. I still need a date if you're interested."

"Will there be free food?" Travis snickered and nodded. "Then I'd love to come. Just send me an invitation and I'll reserve that time off for myself."

"I'm glad to hear it." They smiled at each other more and Travis went to Oscar and kissed him before grabbing his suitcase and leaving with everyone else. Oscar walked down with Travis to the lobby and they said goodbye to each other one last time.


	29. Autumn Waters Part 1

Autumn Waters Part 1

_(For those who want to look up Natalie's dress, go to Google and type in "Pnina Tornai sweetheart tea length gown in lace" and it's the first three pictures)_

They took four planes as they'd done before while the Cullens remained in the cargo bays and out of sight. For airplane three that Embry and Caevia were on, it was a miserable first few hours of the trip. Caevia started to get nervous with the initial sighting of the plane. Embry had to explain what it was exactly and what it would do, which was hard because there was no Quileute word for 'plane'. He'd said, "_This will take us all home to _Washington." Of course, Caevia had no knowledge of what Washington meant. Embry tried to make her eat something before they got on the plane, but Caevia wouldn't eat. She was too nervous and had no appetite. Caevia was shaking when they got on the plane. She was shaking from fear, shivering because the airport was cold from the AC, and she was cold because she no longer had any hair and was still extremely distressed over that.

Caevia had been cold since she left the Tistihlal reservation surrounded by air conditioners and light bed sheets. She was too hot when they were outside because he was dressed in a pair of maternity pants Alice had gotten for her at the last minute, four pairs of socks on her feet with shoes that were too big, a baggy shirt Embry had loaned her, and a heavy hooded jacket they'd bought at the hotel's novelty store, but the moment they stepped into the airport, she was too cold again. She'd refused to put on a bra no matter how much Embry tried to explain what it was supposed to do, so her breasts were aching not only from pregnancy making her tender, but from the cold making her nipples contract painfully. When Oscar had seen her as they left, he commented that she looked like she'd been at Dachau for two months which didn't sit well with Embry at all since it was the Tistihlals that had forced this on her in the first place.

Then finally, finally, it came time to put Caevia on the plane to Washington and everything was fine until the plane started moving. Embry had kept her away from the window, but she was able to see the plane going into the air from where she was sitting and when she saw that, she started freaking out. She tried getting out of her seat, she started crying and babbling so much that even Suerro couldn't understand half of what she was saying, and she was making a scene. Embry did what he could to calm her down, but she wouldn't relent. She continued to panic, so the moment the seatbelt light went off, Suerro went to her, pinched between her shoulder and neck, and made her pass out, finally allowing an ounce of quiet. Caevia was regaining consciousness within the hour, so Embry kept her head to his chest so she wouldn't look out the window again. When the plane started to land though, Caevia was nervous and started crying again, rather hysterically. The moment the plane was still, Caevia forced her way out from the seatbelt and went to the front of the plane. Embry followed after her and told the stewardess that this was Caevia's first time on a plane, hoping they wouldn't get in trouble because of this. The stewardess sympathized, but told Embry and Caevia to sit in the chairs near the door until it was time to exit.

When the door to the plane opened, Caevia couldn't get off the plane fast enough. Embry had to go after her and restrain her before she could exit the ramp. Embry told Caevia to calm down and that the worst of the trip was over. When she was finally somewhat calm, Embry led her off the ramp into the airport and they waited for the rest of the group to exit the plane before they all went to baggage claim to meet everyone else.

"Now, Embry," Carlisle said when they were walking to the parking lot looking for their cars, "I called Dr. Laurence yesterday and he said he'd meet us at the house to look at Caevia's mouth. I'll get her that medicated shampoo while I'm at work tomorrow too, alright? Her scalp has improved since we've shaved her head, but we should get her some antibiotics and medicated shampoo."

"Alright," Embry looked at Caevia's head and saw all the sores. "Will any of it hurt the baby?"

"It won't, I promise. I already told Dr. Laurence that she's pregnant, so he knows to stock up on maternity safe antibiotics."

"They make specialty medicines like that?"

"Not necessarily, but there are medications that are safer for pregnant women than others. I'll also bring home some vitamins for her to take. The baby seems fine so far, but it couldn't hurt. I'll want to give her a more in-depth examination once we get back too. She's pretty far along and she needs an ultrasound."

"I'll try to keep her calm through the whole thing, but I can't make any promises. She wasn't exactly being easy when you first tried examining her." Embry looked at Caevia who was looking around not listening, not that she could understand them anyway.

"Well, from what I can tell, so far she trusts you the most."

"Do you think so?" Embry sighed a little. "I'm starting to think she's just going along for the ride because she doesn't want to fight back."

"She certainly fought back when Alice tried shaving her head and when I tried examining her. I think she just trusts you." Embry smiled weakly and looked back at Caevia, watching her look around defensively.

Embry and Caevia eventually parted ways from the group and walked to Embry's car. He opened the door for Caevia and she sat down in the passenger's seat and didn't fuss over the seatbelt like she'd been doing. She'd figured out how to buckle and unbuckle it, so she didn't need Embry's help with it anymore. When Embry was in the driver's seat, he looked at Caevia and smiled at her, trying to make her less nervous. Then he reached over and tried to touch her belly, but when he did, she shoved his hand away and brought her legs up to hide her bump.

"_Do you still not trust me?"_ Embry asked. Caevia looked at him a little strangely.

"_I've lost three already. I won't lose another,"_ she said bleakly.

"_I won't hurt you or the baby. How can I make you believe me?"_ Caevia looked at him with a hint of sadness and guilt in her eyes. A moment passed before Caevia brought her legs down, reached over and grabbed Embry's hand and placed it on her stomach. It surprised him initially, but then Embry moved his hand gently over the bump and felt a kick. He always liked feeling his twins kick when Brie had been pregnant. It was always fun to guess whether it was Jenna or Lauren who was kicking. With Caevia, it was just one and it wasn't his, but that didn't feel important to him. Embry kept his hand over the bump and felt another kick and this time he smiled. _"I have two little girls. Twins,"_ Embry said and Caevia looked up at him. _"When they kicked and I was able to feel it, that was my favorite part."_

"_You have children?"_ Embry nodded, still looking at Caevia's bump. _"I didn't realize you had a wife."_

"_I used to,"_ Embry said, finally looking at Caevia. _"Their mother's name is Brie. She and I were married for about three…..winters before we….."_ Embry stopped there. There wasn't a word in Quileute for divorce and he doubted the Tistihlal dialect had a word for it either.

"_You what?"_ Caevia asked.

Embry sighed, _"Brie was…..intimately involved with another man and we….we ended our marriage after that. Our marriage has been ended for two and a half…."_ There wasn't a word for years or months in Quileute either, so he was having a hard time putting a number to it. _"Our marriage has been ended for two winters and a summer."_

"_She was having sex with another man?"_

"_Yes,"_ Embry confirmed. _"She thought I was sleeping with another woman because of my night schedule. I work as a defender,"_ there was no word for security guard, _"some nights and other nights I'm on patrol with the pack."_

"_Why not tell her that?"_

"_Because our pack has a rule. Unless she's an imprint, we're to keep our power secret. I couldn't be honest with Brie and that led to the end of our marriage."_ Caevia seemed a little confused, but she didn't ask Embry to elaborate. So Embry kept his hand over her bump, feeling for another kick. They were both surprised when a vibrating sound began to resonate in the car. It was his phone, so Embry answered it. "Hello?"

"_Embry,"_ Brie said on the other line, _"Please tell me you've come home."_

"Yeah, I just got back. Why?"

"_I was just called to come to work and I can't find anyone to look after the girls. Can you look after them? You don't have to go to work or anything tonight do you?"_

"No I don't have to go back to work until tomorrow. I need to go to the Cullen house, so just drop the girls off there."

"_Embry, that's completely out of my way. I can't do that. Can you come get them on your way home? And come fast. I need to be at work in an hour."_

Embry sighed, "Alright, Brie, I'll be there as fast as I can." The two said goodbye and Embry ended the call. Embry was putting his phone in his pocket when Caevia grabbed it and started looking at it and playing around with it. Embry took it back, brought up a game for her and told her to stay on that screen. Embry managed to get to Brie's house with minutes to spare. _"Caevia, I need to go get my daughters. I'll be right back; you just stay in here and wait for me."_

Caevia nodded and stayed where she was as Embry got out of the car and went to the front door. It was a townhome and Brie and the girls lived in the townhome to the right. He walked up to the door, rang the bell and waited a few seconds before Brie opened the door.

"Finally," Brie breathed out and turned to look towards the kitchen. "Jenna, Lauren, daddy's here." The two little girls, who'd been coloring at the kitchen table, ran to the front door and Embry kneeled down and hugged them when they got to him. As the three hugged, Embry brought both girls up in his arms. "Thanks for this. I know it's really last minute."

"It's alright. How long will you be working? I can keep them overnight if you need and get Nessie to drop them off at school."

"No, that's alright. I'll come and get them by the end of my shift. Just keep your phone on and I'll pick them up from your house. You will be home later right?"

"Yeah, I will."

Embry turned and began walking to his car. It was then that Brie noticed Caevia. "Who's that?"

Embry looked towards the car. "She's a friend," Embry said, not sure what else to say.

"A friend?" Embry nodded. "A female friend that's pregnant and alone with you?"

"Look, Brie, I'm taking her to Carlisle's so he can give her a checkup."

Brie looked a little surprised and, perhaps, agitated. "Why didn't you tell me you had another baby on the way?"

"What?" Embry asked. "I don't have another baby on the way. It's not mine."

"Well then whose is it that you feel obligated to take her to her doctor's appointment? And for that matter, why have I never heard of this woman? If she's around the girls, I think I have a right to know her."

"She's a recent friend, Brie. Seriously, just calm down. You said you had to go to work. You don't have time to argue with me about people I'm friends with or getting acquainted with my female friend that just happens to be pregnant. Look, you need to go to work and I need to get Caevia to her doctor's appointment. I'll see you later when you come to pick up the girls."

Finally, Embry continued walking to his car and put the girls down so he could open the door for them. The two hopped into the backseat and buckled themselves up after Embry closed the door and went to the driver's seat.

"Daddy," Jenna said, "who's this lady?" Embry turned to face his daughters, both now five, in the backseat.

"Girls, this is Caevia." Then he looked at Caevia. _"Caevia," _Embry continued in Quileute,_ "that's Jenna and that's Lauren."_ Caevia looked at the twins and smiled at them. "She's a friend of mine, but she doesn't speak any English. She only speaks a dialect of Quileute, so if you want to speak with her, you need to practice your Quileute, alright girls?"

The two girls nodded and started babbling to Caevia in their best Quileute, though it wasn't perfect. They were learning from family and from textbooks, but since Suerro came around, he's been helping them practice and they've come a long way. Caevia seemed to brighten up when those two girls started talking to her. She smiled and laughed and listened to Jenna and Lauren intently as if their broken Quileute was the most interesting thing in the world. He'd been so worried about making sure Caevia was safe and getting needed medical attention that it completely slipped his mind how the girls might react to her, but they seemed to love Caevia, which was one less thing for Embry to worry about; at least for now. Hopefully their opinion of Caevia would remain positive when, hopefully he could, Embry made their relationship romantic. When they arrived at the Cullen house, Lauren and Jenna got out of the car themselves and ran for the front door with excitement. While Jenna and Lauren were ringing the doorbell (though the Cullens already knew they had arrived anyway) and waited seconds before Alice answered the door and Jenna and Lauren cheered, Embry used that time to explain to Caevia what would happen once they entered the house.

"_Caevia, I need to tell you something before we go inside."_ Caevia looked up at Embry, giving him her full attention. _"The Golden Medicine Man needs to check how the baby is coming along and he brought a mouth medicine man that will look at your mouth. I know you don't like medicine men, but they won't harm you or the baby."_

Caevia sat back in the passenger's seat of the car shaking her head, _"The medicine man from my village killed babies."_

Embry chocked a little, but continued. _"I know, Caevia, but Carlisle and Laurence are different. Carlisle won't harm that baby and neither will Laurence. This baby will be born strong and healthy and will live for years to come. Please, Caevia, just let Carlisle and Laurence examine you."_

Caevia looked nervous and like she didn't believe Embry, but she eventually gave Embry her hand and let him lead her to the house. Jenna and Lauren were already inside playing with Alice and Rosalie. When Embry and Caevia went through the front door, Carlisle looked their way and smiled kindly at them. Next to him was a man and woman that Embry had never met before. The man was black haired and very pale with a square face and the woman was a cotton top blonde with a small nose and a baby face; both had scarlet eyes. Carlisle and Laurence walked over, the cotton top following, to Embry and Caevia.

"Embry," Carlisle started, "This is Dr. Henry Laurence. I've known him for many years and he's a master of dentistry. This is his mate Dianna," Carlisle directed towards the blonde, who smiled.

"I'm also my husband's dental assistant." Embry translated to Caevia to the best of his ability with the limited words and Caevia looked at the three people, smiling timidly.

"Please, follow us up to my office and we'll get started," Carlisle directed and Embry took Caevia with him up the stairs to Carlisle's office where medical equipment was already set up. "Please, Caevia, lay down on this bed and I'll give you the ultrasound." Caevia looked at Embry, who translated that Carlisle wanted her to lay down on the bed. She did as instructed and stayed calm while Carlisle put some of that blue gel on her belly and began to rub it in with the monitor. When the monitor met her bump, a loud thumping noise filled the room.

"_What is that?"_ Caevia asked Embry.

"_It's the baby's heartbeat."_ Embry looked at Carlisle and asked him to show Caevia the image that came up of the baby. Carlisle turned the video screen towards Caevia so she could see her baby. She stared at the monitor as the image shifted with Carlisle looking around. He pointed at the feet, then the head, the baby's hands, and before going any further, he told Embry to ask Caevia if she wanted to know the sex.

"_This thing can tell the gender?"_ Caevia asked Embry back.

"_Yeah," _Embry nodded._ "He can tell you if it's a boy or a girl. Do you want him to tell you?"_ Caevia seemed to contemplate the idea. She looked back at the monitor, seeing her baby in black and green with the heartbeat filling the room. Eventually she looked at Embry and shook her head.

"_I want to be surprised."_ Embry smiled and looked at Carlisle.

"She wants to wait," Embry said and Carlisle chuckled.

"It's been a while since I've examined a mother that wanted to be surprised." Carlisle took the monitor away. "She's approximately 23 weeks along. Ask her if this," Carlisle pointed to a small line going from her belly button down to her pubic bone, "went away with her other pregnancies and if so, when she noticed this line come back."

"What is that called again?" Embry asked. He couldn't for the life of him remember what that was other than it was something women got after a certain amount of time.

"It's the linea nigra. It's perfectly normal, but if she can tell me a little more about her previous pregnancies, I might be able to give her a more accurate timeline."

Embry nodded and looked at Caevia and pointed at the line, _"He's asking if this line disappeared after your other pregnancies."_ Caevia looked where Embry pointed and tried to see what it was. She nodded. "Alright, she's saying it has." Embry returned to Quileute. _"Now he wants to know when this line first showed up during this pregnancy."_

Caevia thought a moment, _"I'm not certain. I think I first noticed it around the half-moon."_ Embry tried to remember when that last was: about three weeks ago by his memory.

"She said it showed up by the last half-moon, so I think that's about three weeks."

"Two and a half, yes," Carlisle said. "So she's more around twenty five weeks along." Carlisle wiped the blue gel away. "I'll give her the proper vitamins tomorrow and Dr. Laurence was kind enough to bring that medicated shampoo I told you about."

"I'd heard about that scalp," Dr. Laurence said, looking at Caevia's shaved and sore head, "and I thought the sooner she got some proper lotion on that, the better." Dr. Laurence came around with his own medical bag while Dianna wheeled over all the tools he would need. He told Embry to tell Caevia to open her mouth and when she did, Dr. Laurence almost fell backwards. "Good Lord!" He looked at Embry. "Where did you find this girl, in a sewer eating rocks? I've never seen gums this grey and her teeth a horrible." Dr. Laurence looked at Carlisle. "You said it was bad, but you didn't say it was _**this**_ bad."

"Yes, I realize it's bad, but that's why I'm entrusting the matter to you. You're the best dentist I know."

"I'm the best dentist period, but there's only so much even I can do."

"So there's nothing you can do?" Embry asked.

"I can do plenty, but not right now. This girl's got gingivitis enough to kill a small animal." Dr. Laurence reached for his bag and pulled out a few bottles. "Before I can do anything, we need to get that cleared up and if she takes two of these a day until they're gone, it should clear up within two weeks. After those two weeks, I'll come back and get to work. I need to get some different equipment anyway." Dr. Laurence made Caevia open her mouth more so he could get a better look. "I'll need to do a root canal on all her teeth and take out all four of her wisdom teeth. Since she's pregnant, I can't put her under, so I'll have to numb her whole mouth and hope that'll be enough to make sure she doesn't feel a thing."

"How long will she be recovering?"

"Based on all the work I'll have to do? A good two or three weeks." Dr. Laurence seemed to look closer, then sighed. "She has access gum tissue running along her top front teeth. I'll need to get rid of that too, otherwise she'll just get gingivitis again."

"Will she need braces do you think?" Embry asked.

"That depends. Do you want me to do this quickly and get it over with or do you want to see how she reacts to wearing braces for about two years?"

"If I say the first thing, what will you do?"

"Well, I can do a rush straightening treatment as I like to call it, but then, I normally only use that on vampires and Carlisle already warned me that her people don't heal the way yours do. So here's what I'll do. It'll hurt a lot more, but it'll be done faster. I can put some braces on her and shift them every couple of days so this won't take two years. Instead, I can have her new teeth straight within three months. I'll come back every two weeks and shift the braces until they're straight and when they're off, she needs to keep on that retainer for a long time. Do not let her forget about that or her teeth will just shift right back, especially since this is a rush job. She'll need to wear it longer to ensure her teeth stay in place."

"And you would do that all after you've given her the root canal and the gum surgery?"

"Yes, it would be after."

With a deep breath, Embry looked at Caevia. _"Laurence says that he'll need to do a lot to your mouth. I'll translate it as best I can. He says that he'll need to repair your teeth and your gums, but only after you take two of these," _Embry presented the bottle,_ "a day until they're gone. When you've healed, he'll fix your teeth and use hard strings to shift your teeth until they're straight and that will take three full moons to complete. After the hard strings are removed, he says you'll need to wear something in your mouth to keep your teeth in place. He says it will hurt, but it'll all be worth it in the long run. Are you alright with him doing this?"_

Caevia looked at Embry, then at Dr. Laurence and became extremely nervous. _"Why should I do this?"_

"_It's for your health. He'll fix your teeth and mouth so you won't be in pain and so you'll be able to eat without difficulty. Your teeth being straight is a…"_ Embry was trying to think of an appropriate replacement for the word 'cosmetic'. _"It is for beauty. If you wish to leave out the teeth straightening, I'll tell Dr. Laurence not to give you the hard strings."_

"_If I did, would it please you?"_ Embry was surprised by her question. He didn't realize she would want his opinion, but this would be a painful process and Embry wanted it to be her decision.

"_I will be pleased with anything as long as you're healthy. You chose what you wish and it will please me."_ After a moment, Caevia began to look at all the other people in the room, looking at their teeth. Embry had called the teeth straightening a beauty thing, which implied that if her teeth were straight, Embry would think her beautiful. Embry had been so kind and something in his eyes made her heart flutter in a way she'd never known. She wasn't scared of Embry and she believed him when he said he would never harm her. She wanted to please him in return.

"_Tell him I will wear the hard strings."_ She smiled at Embry and he smiled back before looking at Dr. Laurence again.

"She says she'll wear the braces and let you do the surgeries."

"Good, because I wouldn't have given her a choice with the root canals. If we don't repair her teeth, the rotting will kill her. It's a miracle it hasn't killed her already." Dr. Laurence took out some toothpaste and handed that to Embry. "Make her brush with that along with taking those antibiotics. Her gums are going to bleed with brushing, that's unavoidable, but it will help with the infection and strengthen her gums. I'd like her to use this toothpaste until it's gone, then she can use whatever she comes to prefer. Do you want me to write any of this down?"

"No, I can remember. She'll stay here for the time being anyway." While Dr. Laurence put his things away and spoke with Carlisle, Embry spoke with Caevia. _"Caevia, are you alright with staying here while you're recovering?"_

"_I don't mind. You'll be here right?"_

"_I'll be here as often as I can be, I promise. I'll come see you every day after work and before patrol. I need to take the girls home so they can get to sleep."_ Caevia looked disappointed so Embry took her hand and rubbed it. Her hands were cold and she eagerly accepted the warmth Embry radiated from his body._ "I promise, Caevia, I'll be back tomorrow and I'll be back every day after that."_

"_Alright,"_ she finally said and she let go of his hands when he walked out of Carlisle's office so he could get the girls to his house until Brie could come pick them up.

The rest of the pack, upon arriving back to Washington, went right home except those that had to pick up their kids from Nessie's and Jacob's house. He didn't mean to seem rude, but Jacob made a point to get everyone out of the house quickly. He wanted to be alone with Nessie simply out of being tired and missing home. It had been a horrible visit and he just wanted to relax, so he and Nessie took a bath together with Nessie sitting behind him and rubbing his shoulders, trying to help Jacob relax.

"You know, Jacob, you sound like you could use a few days of just relaxing," Nessie said as she rubbed Jacob's shoulders. "How about we get someone to look after the shop for us and we go somewhere nice and just relax? We could go to San Diego or something, just the two of us."

"You have no idea how much I'd like that, but we can't leave the shop so suddenly. We'll save that for winter. How about that?" Nessie smiled and kissed Jacob's neck.

"Over the winter it is. It'll be nice to get out of the snow and go to California. The sunshine and alone time will do you a lot of good."

Jacob took in a deep breath. "I'm a little more concerned about right now. Go a little lower," Jacob asked and Nessie's hands trailed a little lower on his back. The change made Jacob groan, "Have I told you I love you today?"

"You have, but it never hurts to hear it again."

Jacob chuckled, "I love you, Nessie. The bullshit aside, I just hated being away from you."

"It wasn't as bad as when I was going to school was it?"

"It was comparable. At least when you were at school, daily life was predominantly uneventful. These three days were more eventful than I would've liked without your shoulder to rest my head on." Nessie giggled and kissed Jacob's neck again, never ceasing to rub his shoulders. "Did I tell you Travis imprinted on Oscar?"

"Yeah, you mentioned that. You also complained that Oscar wasn't your favorite person in the world."

"I don't seem to like much of anyone these days."

Nessie smiled, "That's true. You're becoming a grumpy old man, Jacob."

"Ha," Jacob said, "I want to argue with you, but you might be onto something. Do I look like a grumpy old man?"

Nessie shook her head, "No. You don't look like a grumpy old man. You just act like one." Jacob laughed and reached behind and took a hold of Nessie's hand and brought it to his lips. "Don't worry Jacob. You know I love you anyway."

"Yeah, I know." They smiled at each other and Nessie massaged Jacob's shoulders with her free hand, letting Jacob continue to hold her right.

When Natalie got back to her apartment with Suerro, she didn't bother changing out of her yoga pants and heavy clothes. She just fell right into bed and went to sleep and when she woke up the next morning, Suerro was sitting on her bed reading her script and the notes she had written down.

"You've got a lot of verbs written next to the lines of dialogue."

Natalie nodded, "Bethani taught me how to do that. When she was human and going to college, she had to take a theatre class and that's how her instructor showed her how to practice a script. It's worked for me for eighteen years."

"It certainly has." Suerro handed over the script which Natalie took and began looking through. "Did Gretchen say when she wanted you back in the theatre?"

"She wants me back tomorrow. We need to start practicing our Shakespeare for Roosevelt High."

"What plays did they ask for this season?"

"_Midsummer Night's Dream_, _Hamlet_, _Macbeth_, and _Romeo and Juliet_. They wanted another play for the AP British Literature class, so we're doing _King Lear_ for that."

"_King Lear_? Will you guys be able to find a good King Lear character? He's supposed to be a really old man after all."

"We'll be able to use makeup and fake facial hair to make one of our actors look much older. Guess who I'll be playing."

"Cordelia?"

"Nope," Natalie giggled, "but I'm flattered you would assume so. I'll actually be playing Regan."

Suerro shuttered a little, "Oh God, why?"

"Because I wanted a challenge. Also, we're doing _The Crucible_ in the spring and I'll be playing Abigail Williams. I need to practice my bitch."

Suerro laughed, "From what I can tell, being yourself will accomplish that just fine."

Natalie gawked at Suerro and slapped his chest, giggling, "Look who's talking." Suerro and Natalie continued to laugh for a moment. Then Natalie returned her attention to her script and focused on that for the rest of the morning.

"Have you spoken to Alice about the guest list?" Suerro asked eventually.

"Um," Natalie started and hid her face behind her script and cuddled into Suerro's chest, "I haven't gotten to it yet."

"Natalie—"

"I know, Suerro, I know, I'll talk to her, but she always invites lots of people when she plans a wedding."

"I get it, but this isn't just anybody's wedding, this is our wedding and I want it to be small. Alice doesn't have to invite everyone she's ever spoken with to this wedding." Natalie giggled. "I'm not kidding, Natalie. Alice is inviting vampires your family rarely even talk to. I don't mind if she invites the Denali family, I don't care if she invites Ada María's family, I don't even care if she invites the former Volturi guards seeing as some of your cousins are married into that family, but that's about it."

"What about Romney?"

"Well, of course Romney can come. I'm not saying he can't. He's my best man. I'm saying that Alice doesn't need to invite everyone and their mothers."

"I know, Suerro, I said I'd talk to her. Just promise you'll let her go crazy with everything else. I really want a nice extravagant Alice Cullen wedding even if we won't have that many guests."

Suerro sighed and smiled, "Alright Natalie. As long as it's a small ceremony on the beach, Alice can do whatever she wants. I'm putting my foot down on this one thing, though. No more than seventy five people. Deal?" Natalie looked at Suerro as if he were nuts.

"No, no deal. My side of the family and extended family is sixty five people alone and I have at least twenty eight people from work I want to invite. That's ninety three people!"

"By my math, the immediate family and your coworkers is only fifty five people."

"You'll have to be more specific with what you mean by immediate family, because according to my definition, that's way off."

"People you're related to and those who are married into the family. I can tell you're counting members of the former Volturi guards that aren't married into the family. Ryan's married to Lia, so Felix and his mate Jillian can come. Kyle is dating Evalina, so Dante, Amadora, Alphonse, Demetri, Heidi, Afton, and Chelsea can come. That's about it for the Volturi guards. Tae Sook is married to your cousin Valerie and then there's their daughter Mi Sook and her boyfriend, though I don't see why he'd come anyway. We barely know him. The only reason I'm allowing Gretchen to come is because she wouldn't take no for an answer. So by my math, that puts your guest list at fifty five people. I only plan to invite Romney to the wedding as far as people I know, which puts the list at fifty six people, so that gives you nineteen more people you can invite."

"Let's make it one hundred."

"Seventy five."

"One hundred."

"Eighty."

"One hundred, Suerro."

"Eighty five and that's my final offer."

"One hundred and I'll resist the urge to tell Esme to serve a whole pig. You know, with an apple stuffed in its mouth and everything."

Suerro tensed a little, "Why should I care if you serve a whole pig?"

"Suerro, I know you're scared of pigs, so cut the pretense and let me have a one hundred guest list range."

"I'm not scared of pigs, Natalie. I just don't like pigs. There's a big difference."

"You're scared of them, Suerro. A pig squealed right behind you, it was the first time you'd ever seen a pig, and you kicked the pig screaming right back at it. You've been scared of them ever since. Now let me have one hundred and we won't have any pig at all. No pork, just chicken, beef, and fish for those that are eating. Agreed?" Natalie held out her hand to Suerro, but he didn't take it as he continued to smile.

"Eighty five, Natalie. It'll take a lot more than threatening me with a pig to make me change my mind."

"But Suerro," Natalie began, giving Suerro her saddest puppy dog eyes and her best pout, "I would really like it if we could invite one hundred people."

"Now, now, Natalie you should know that doesn't work on me. Hell, if we were to really do things my way, it would be you, me, the man marrying us, and a bonfire on the beach but you said you didn't want that." Natalie slouched, lost those puppy dog eyes and pout, and returned to her script. "Oh my God," Suerro growled a little, "how about this? Ninety people can come to the wedding, but that is absolutely my final offer, otherwise we're going right back to seventy five." Natalie looked up at Suerro from her script. Eventually she smiled and wrapped her arms around Suerro's neck.

"I'll take ninety. That's at least reasonable."

Suerro reached over to the nightstand and grabbed Natalie's phone and brought up Alice's number. "Let her know?"

Though smiling, Natalie sighed while she took the phone and waited a single ring for Alice to answer before giving her the bad news that Suerro was putting his foot down about the guest list and would allow no more than ninety people to be invited to the wedding. Alice ended up playing the number trading game with Suerro, but she didn't get nearly as good a result. Suerro never budged on the guest list number and only threatened to lower the number with Alice being so insistent, so she finally agreed to only ninety people and told Natalie to come to the house so she could see her dress. Suerro was forbidden to join her.

"You don't really believe me seeing your dress is bad luck do you?" he asked from her bed while she was in the closet changing.

"It doesn't matter if I believe it or not, Suerro. It's tradition. Besides, don't you want to be surprised when you see me on our wedding day?"

"I'm marrying you, Natalie, not the dress. You could walk down the aisle in yoga pants and I'd still think you're the most beautiful woman to become a bride."

Natalie smiled, "Flattery will get you everywhere." She gave Suerro a kiss and grabbed her purse. "Do you mind keeping an eye on Prospero and Caliban for me?"

Suerro looked at the two dogs, who were both napping at the end of the bed. "I think I can keep an eye on them for you."

"Just make sure they don't burn down the apartment while I'm gone." They laughed a moment and shared one more kiss before Natalie grabbed her keys and left. When Natalie arrived at the Cullen house, Kevin was there with Heather, who was playing with Caevia's belly. Heather had grown so much already and was sitting up all by herself and making small noises, learning how to talk.

Alice came downstairs moments after Natalie walked into the house and took her upstairs so she could try on her dress. It would be the first time Natalie saw the dress and she was excited to see what Alice had picked for her. Alice had a big smile on her face as she got the dress bag out of the closet and began unzipping the bag to reveal a lacy dress. The see-through midriff of the dress marked it as a Pnina Tornai. When Alice got the dress on Natalie, that's when she could really admire it. It was long enough that it went past her ankles, but short enough that it wouldn't be touching the ground which was important considering it was a beach wedding. A sweetheart top that was strapless accentuated her breasts and left plenty of bare skin that could be covered by a nice necklace. The shoes Alice had picked for the dress were only two inch heels, which was strange for Alice. But considering Natalie was pushing six feet tall and Suerro was barely over six feet tall, Natalie couldn't wear heels that were too big or she'd tower over Suerro. The shoes were sandals with two white silk ribbons that wrapped around her ankle in a Greek style.

"Oh, wait until Nessie and Jacob see you. They'll be in tears." Alice went back to the closet and got Natalie's veil. It was a birdcage veil that, when Alice loosely put it in Natalie's hair, covered just under her nose and around to her left ear. The right where the veil started had a barrette covered with three fabric white roses with tiny pearls in the middle of each flower and the whole thing was surrounded by a small tuft of white feathers. "Now we just need to figure out what to do with your hair."

"Suerro said he wanted my hair down. Maybe we can curl it or something."

"Are you sure you want to comply with that? We're talking about a yard of hair on you, Natalie."

"I'm sure," Natalie said.

"Alright, Natalie. Get out of that dress and we'll see what we can come up with." Alice helped Natalie get out of the dress and she put back on her other clothes and sat at Alice's vanity. "I don't think you should have it completely down and lose. The birdcage veil won't work with that. I have an idea, though." Alice collected Natalie's hair and put it all on her left side. "What I can do is I can curl your hair, than make a braid starting to your right, and use pins to keep it together. It'll work with the veil and your hair will be down the way Suerro wants."

"I like that," Natalie smiled. "Wait, what about that fur coat you said I'd have for the wedding? You know, the long bell sleeve one that is supposed to only cover my chest and upper back."

"I've ordered it, but that hasn't gotten her yet. It'll be here by the wedding, don't worry."

"Okay, good. Also, remember to send an invitation to Oscar. He's officially Travis' guest, so it doesn't count."

Alice giggled, "Oh, by the way, I've been meaning to ask you for Maleshia's phone number."

"Oh, sure. What did you want it for?"

"To be honest, I feel really bad about having to shave Caevia's hair and I know she isn't pleased with it either. It's already starting to grow back and that shampoo she's using is making sure her hair's growing back healthy. Since we've shaved her head, that alone has done wonders already. I'm hoping that when her hair has grown out enough, Maleshia can give her a weave. She knows how to do that right? I remember her saying she did."

"Yeah, she knows how." Natalie handed Alice her phone so she could see Maleshia's phone number. "Maleshia's not the most gentle hair dresser, though. She's fast, but holy crap those micro braids hurt. I don't even want to think how much the head braid will hurt with how fast she goes."

"I would think the faster she gets done, the better. Caevia isn't very good about staying in one place when things are being done to her."

"I hear she did just fine when Dr. Laurence was examining her mouth."

"Amazingly, but then, Dr. Laurence didn't actually do anything except tell her that she needed to start taking medication to clear the infection. I shudder to think how she'll take having her whole mouth numbed with the doctor giving all her teeth root canals and having all four of her wisdom teeth removed."

"On the bright side, she has two weeks before she has to worry about any of that. So when are you taking her dress shopping for the wedding? You should probably wait until the last minute. Baby bumps have a way of out-growing things."

"You let me worry about that, Natalie. I'll make sure she has a nice, tasteful dress that's a light purple." Natalie smiled. "Speaking of which, what's the plan for you and Suerro?"

Natalie looked up at Alice, confused, "For?"

"For children," Alice clarified. "Have you and Suerro talked about children? He knows he can get you pregnant right?"

"Of course he knows." Natalie shrugged. "We haven't really talked about kids, honestly. It hasn't really come up."

"Well, dear, you'd better bring it up. That's not a small matter."

"I know. I'll bring it up when I go home, I promise."

"You do that, Natalie. If the two of you don't want to have kids, that's another matter, but don't let Gretchen be the one to dictate that. She can live with giving you some brief maternity leave."

Natalie giggled, "Yes Alice."

Natalie left the Cullen house shortly after finishing up with Alice, and Embry came by later with a present for Caevia that he had a feeling Dr. Laurence would kill him for. It was a small bag of Lindor truffles that were just straight milk chocolate. He didn't want to do anything outrageous when this would be the first time she had any chocolate at all. He was also desperately hoping that she wasn't allergic to chocolate like some people he'd heard of. God forbid Caevia be anything like Natalie and be allergic to everything under God's green earth. Caevia was still downstairs playing with Heather when Embry sat down on the couch with her, who smiled up at him. Embry handed Caevia the small bag of chocolates and rested his hand on her baby bump while she spoke. He didn't immediately answer her because he got distracted by a small kick.

"_What's this?"_ Caevia asked, looking at the packaging that she really couldn't read anyway.

"_They're things called _chocolate_."_

"Chocolate?" she repeated. _"What's it for?"_

"_It's for eating; it's food. Go on, try one."_ Caevia looked back at the bag and took a little time to get the bag open. When she did, she took out a chocolate and popped it in her mouth, packaging and all. Embry was about to say something, but she'd already had it in her mouth and with one taste, she spit it out in her hand.

"_That tastes horrible."_

"_No, Caevia, you have to take this off."_ Embry took another chocolate from the bag and removed the small truffle from its wrapper and handed it back to Caevia. _"Now try it."_ Caevia took the chocolate and popped it into her mouth but this time when she chewed, she sighed and fell back.

"_That was delicious."_ Embry smiled, happy that he'd found something she liked, and then she proceeded to eat seven more truffles.

"_And all you needed to do was take it out."_ Embry rubbed Caevia's belly again. _"Have you been taking those _vitamins _and _medications_ like the medicine men told you to?"_

"_Yes and they're awful. Those colorful things are sweet and I like them, but those brown things have a bitter aftertaste and I don't like it at all."_

Embry smiled, _"Yeah, I never liked those either. Don't worry, though. By winter, you won't have to take anything of the nature."_

"_When is that?"_ Embry chuckled, but then realized Arizona didn't have a winter.

"_Soon,"_ Embry promised as he continued to rub the bump. _"How has the baby been treating you?"_

"_Fine I suppose. I haven't been sick or anything if that's what you mean. Otherwise, the baby just sits there. Unless I put something on top of my stomach, then the baby starts kicking."_ To demonstrate, Caevia grabbed the cap of her water bottle and rested it on top of the increasing bump. They waited a moment before the baby began to kick where the cap was rested and they both laughed._ "See what I mean? The baby is restless."_

"_That's a good thing, though. Restlessness means the baby's healthy."_ Caevia looked at Embry and smiled, resting her hand over his on her belly.

Embry stayed with Caevia for the rest of the afternoon before he had to leave for his night job. In the meantime, when Natalie got back to her apartment in the afternoon, Suerro was still there keeping the dogs entertained with treats for tricks in her bedroom. As Natalie walked to the bedroom, Suerro kept his attention on the two dogs. She sat next to him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"So how was the dress fitting?"

"It was great. I think you'll like it. And my hair's staying down, just the way you asked."

"Good news," he answered, still looking at the dogs.

"Alice mentioned something she thinks we need to talk about."

"And what's that?" Suerro finally looked at Natalie and left the two dogs alone.

"She thinks we need to talk about kids."

"What about them?"

Natalie took a deep breath, "I guess I should ask if you want kids to start."

"Of course I want kids. I kind of assumed we'd have kids. It comes with getting married," Suerro said very matter of fact-ly.

"Maybe when you were a kid, but these days, plenty of married couples don't end up having children. We should at least make sure we're on the same page on this."

"Are you saying that you don't want children?"

Natalie shook her head, "No, that's not what I'm saying. I just think that we don't have to rush into having kids. When you get me pregnant, the baby will be here within two weeks and I'd rather be able to plan for a few months like most mothers do."

Suerro finally chuckled, "So you want nine months to plan? I can agree to that. Or are you saying you want years?"

"I don't know," Natalie moaned as she fell back on the bed. "I want to wait until we're ready." Suerro started laughing and Natalie leered at him. "What's so funny?"

"If you want to wait until we're ready, then we'll never have children. Kids don't come with a manual and there's really no way to prepare for your own child. There's a reason they say it takes a village to raise a child. That was certainly true for me when I was young. We don't have to have children right away, Natalie, but I don't want you deluding yourself into thinking there is a How-To-Book out there that'll teach you to be the perfect mother. We can be prepared but I'm sorry Natalie, you will never be _ready_." Suerro laid back next to Natalie and smiled at her. "If you want to wait before having children, that's alright."

"I don't know," Natalie sighed heavily and retreated to Suerro's chest. "What do you think?"

"I think we should wait until you know you want children. You'll never be completely ready, but you can at least be ready to take on the responsibility." Suerro kissed Natalie's head. "Until then, how do you plan to avoid pregnancy?"

"The same way anyone does." Natalie took a deep breath. "I really don't know." Suerro smiled and kissed Natalie's head again.

"We've got until October to talk about this. There's no need to make a decision on the matter now. You can speak with Gretchen and see what she can do as far as leave during, and you can speak with family for insight. You're the one that will be pregnant, so it's only fair that you be the one to decide when we have children." Natalie smiled and hugged Suerro tightly.

"Now if only I could make a decision." Suerro and Natalie laughed together and the dogs both jumped onto the bed and went right to Natalie's face, poking her with their noses and licking her cheek with gentle kisses.

"I think your dogs are stupid. I've been trying to get them to sit for the past five and a half hours and they still won't do it."

"They won't do it just because you have treats for an afternoon. It takes time and, I'll be honest, Chihuahuas aren't exactly the most trainable dogs in the world. I didn't start early with them, so they won't do anything unless they damn well please."

Suerro chuckled, "Stupid dogs." Natalie just giggled and snuggled closer into Suerro's chest.

Two more weeks went by and Caevia took all the medications and vitamins she was prescribed. She started taking the antibiotics with milk because it made the pills less bitter to swallow. At the end of two weeks, Dr. Laurence and his mate Dianna came back to see the progress of her gums and they looked a million times better. They were actually pink, they weren't bleeding when she brushed anymore, her breath didn't smell bad anymore, and the roots of her teeth were a little healthier, which meant that Dr. Laurence would have less trouble. She was also beginning to fill out at last. No longer was she looking sickly and too skinny, but she had color in her skin again and meat on her bones.

"It's a miracle what two weeks of drugs and food can do," Laurence chuckled. Her scalp was much healthier too. Her hair was still really short, but it at least looked like a man's really short haircut by now. Her hair was growing at a decent rate too.

"Do you think you'll be able to operate today?"

"Definitely, but it'll take me a while. It's a good thing I'm a vampire, otherwise this surgery would take four to five hours instead of just one. When does Embry get here? I assume Caevia wants Embry here when I do this. He's the only one that'll be able to explain what I'm doing and keep her calm. Speaking of explanations how's her English coming along?"

"She's improving," Carlisle said. "She's still limited to a few choice words here and there, but that's just for the time being. Since she's surrounded by English, she'll figure it out eventually. She still has a hard time pronouncing ms and ns, though."

"Does she?"

"Yeah, so when she picks up a word with one of those letters, she's hard to understand. She'll get the hang of it eventually. Embry has work until five and he has patrol tonight usually, but I'm sure Jacob wouldn't care if he stayed behind so he could be with Caevia for the surgery. He could use some sleep too. He's only human; I don't know how he does it. Jacob says he sleeps on patrol and when he's on the job for the most part, but that can't be enough."

"Why does he work two jobs anyway?"

"Bills," Carlisle answered. "Now that he and Brie are divorced, he has a few less money troubles to worry about believe it or not. It's cheaper for him and Brie to be divorced with him paying child support than it was for him to be married and taking most of her expenses as well as his. Brie wasn't a bad woman, but she wasn't the best when it came to money. Embry's too good a man at times, I think. Instead of yelling at Brie and telling her to keep her spending in check, he compensated. Let's hope Brie's next husband or boyfriend is as generous."

"Indeed," Laurence said then checked his watch. "Looks like we've got another hour or so before Embry gets here," Laurence said. "How's the baby doing?"

"The baby's doing great. It's kicking and wiggling and developing normally and the baby will be born around November."

"What gender is the baby?"

Carlisle glanced at Caevia who was playing with her fingers. "I shouldn't say in front of her. I don't know if she knows boy or girl yet, but she wants to be surprised and I don't want to ruin it."

"Fair enough," Laurence said. "How long will she be staying with you guys?"

"At least until she's fully recovered. As far as whether or not she'll move in with Embry, I can't fairly say. I imagine she will; it's not like she has any other option as of right now, but that's something she and Embry will need to talk about. Embry asked Edward, Jasper, Emmett and Esme to help him add a room to his house so she and the baby can have their own room. We're still drawing up plans and trying to get a permit, but once that's all in order, we'll have it done within a day."

"Have you told the family if it's a boy or a girl?"

"I did tell Alice so she can start buying things. Esme knows so she can start decorating accordingly and once the room is built and ready for decorating, neither Embry nor Caevia will be allowed in until the baby is born."

"Sounds like quite the surprise."

"I wish we could've had children," Dianna said. "We would've made such beautiful babies."

Laurence chuckled and kissed Dianna, "I'm inclined to agree." Dr. Laurence, Dianna, and Carlisle stayed in the office with Caevia and kept waiting for Embry to come. He finally came at around five thirty and went straight to Carlisle's office. "Ah, there you are. Her gums are finally healthy, so I can operate today."

"You can?" Embry asked as he went right to Caevia. "How long will it take you?"

"For me, it'll be an hour at most. I've been looking at her teeth, and now that they're healthier, it looks like they aren't as crooked as I thought. She might still need some braces, but it won't take as much. I'll save my final opinion for after the root canals and her wisdom teeth are gone, but that's what it looks like for now."

"Alright, that sounds good." Embry looked at Caevia, _"He says that he can work on you today. He'll fix your teeth for you and there's a chance you might not need the hard strings after all. We'll see what he says when he's done."_

"_Will it hurt?"_

"_You won't feel a thing while he's working. You'll be sore for a while, but that'll be the worst of it, I promise."_

Caevia looked at Embry, then at Dr. Laurence, and then took a deep breath. _"Okay," _she said._ "Tell him he can get started."_

Embry smiled kindly at her, trying to be reassuring. "She says she's ready."

"Alright," Dr. Laurence said, looking at Dianna. Dianna handed him his bag and the first things he took out were some cotton swabs and a small bottle of solution while, with her other hand, she began to rub Caevia's head to relax her. "Ask her to open wide for me so I can rub this on her gums." Embry translated to Caevia and she opened her mouth as instructed. Dr. Laurence rubbed the solution on her gums and within seconds they were numb. Just to be certain, Dr. Laurence looked at Embry and said, "Ask her if she can feel that," as he gently tapped her mouth.

"_Can you feel him tapping you? Do your lips feel numb?"_ Caevia nodded, confirming she couldn't feel anything there. "She's numb."

"Okay, now," Dr. Laurence reached around for a sterilized needle and Caevia immediately became unnerved, despite Dianna's calming rubbing. "Since she's numb, she shouldn't feel more than a pinch from this. Let her know."

"_Caevia, it'll only pinch because of the medicine. It'll be okay. Just let the medicine man do what he needs to do."_ Caevia looked at Embry a moment before she took a deep breath and stayed still while Dr. Laurence injected the Novocain. Caevia squeaked a little when she felt it, but it wasn't as bad as she'd imagined and after that one pinch, she didn't feel any more pinches. Her whole mouth, including her tongue, went completely numb. After all that, Dr. Laurence asked Dianna to pull a small machine over with a nose piece. He put it on Caevia's nose and the medication she was breathing in helped her relax to a point where she realized she didn't care what the medicine man did. This would give Dianna freedom to help out Laurence during the surgery.

Dr. Laurence decided to start with pulling out Caevia's four wisdom teeth (after rubbing a generous amount of balm on her lips) and got all four done rather quickly and with her feeling no more than pressure while he worked. Caevia even dozed off here and there while Dr. Laurence pulled out here teeth. She looked more relaxed than she usually did and Dianna used a small suction tube to make sure there was never too much blood in Caevia's mouth. Embry held her hand the whole time, but he didn't always watch. He looked away while Dr. Laurence removed Caevia's wisdom teeth; even if it was fast for most people, he could still see it and it made him a little queasy. When her wisdom teeth were removed, Dr. Laurence turned his attention to reducing Caevia's gum tissue.

Embry couldn't watch that either, Dr. Laurence literally scrapping away the access gum tissue away and using a needle to stitch them up. When that was done and Dianna cleaned out her mouth with water and had it sucked back up with the small tube, what followed was the really horrible surgery. Dr. Laurence pulled out a drill and a small waxy blue tarp thing and covered it over Caevia's mouth. With the awful high pitched drill sound came the smell of burning teeth. The drilling of her whole mouth took him only thirty minutes and when that was done, Dianna handed him the things he would use to fill in cavities and filled in what had been drilled away, making her teeth (fake or not) actually white. Finally, he used porcelain veneers to fill in where she had no teeth, which, thankfully, were only four spots. As promised, he was done within an hour and when he finished, he cleaned and whitened her new teeth and looked very pleased with himself.

"Forgive my arrogance, but I did a great job if I do say so myself," Dr. Laurence said, putting his equipment away. "I was able to sculpt her teeth to be straight, so she doesn't need me to forcefully straighten her teeth. She has a smile an actress would envy."

"That's good news." Embry looked at Caevia and smiled. "I'll tell her when she comes back around." Dr. Laurence chuckled and removed the nose piece from her face so she wouldn't have that calming mist anymore. Then he reached into his bag and pulled out two bottles and a small box.

"Alright, she's going to be sore for a while, but it'll be better if she follows the healing instructions. This," he held up the biggest bottle, "is medicated mouth wash. It has no alcohol, so it won't burn when she rinses, but it will help her mouth heal. This," he held up the smaller bottle, "is a generous bottle of Vicodin. This is to help with the pain but she _**cannot**_ take more than two at a time every four hours. I cannot make that anymore clear."

"Will it kill her if she does?" Embry asked, concerned.

"It could, but it'll more likely make her sick and she also has a baby to think about. If she takes too many, she'll be at risk of a miscarriage and we don't want that. This won't harm the baby as long as she follows the instructions exactly. In fact, I would prefer that she not exceed two pills a day. And finally," he held up the small box, "these are steroids. They're meant to help with the swelling. There are directions on the back, but she is to take the line on the marked day. For example, there are six steroids marked, 'day of surgery', so she needs to take all of them today. The first two she needs to take in two hours, the other two she'll take before dinner, and the last two she can take before she goes to sleep. And there's one more thing. This'll be annoying, I know, but it needs to be done or it won't heal properly. She needs to rinse with salt water every hour for the next week. So she should start right after she takes out the gauze and takes the steroids."

"Alright, I'll keep it in mind. Besides the obvious hard foods, is there anything else she should avoid?"

"Don't let her eat anything that requires suction. So no yogurt or anything she would need to use a spoon for. I suggest that she stick with infused broths for the time being. Some of my patients drink chicken broth with herbs. I recommend sage; it's soothing. She'll also need to keep ice on her mouth for forty five minutes at a time to ease the pain. After the first week, she should replace ice with a heating pad for the same amount of time. I'll tell Carlisle all this too, but since you'll be here in the afternoons, you should know all this."

"I'll remember." Embry looked at Caevia again and she was beginning to come to, but she wasn't relaxed anymore. She was still mostly numb, but all the pain killers were starting to wear off. Dr. Laurence went to Carlisle and handed him all the medications and that he'd come check on her in a few weeks. If any problems arose otherwise, Carlisle would know what to do to keep damage to a minimal. _"You can take out the clothes now."_ Embry said to Caevia, who was now resting in Edward's old room, two hours later. Caevia gently reached into her mouth and pulled out the gauze that were a dark red now and she whimpered from the loss. She tried to say something, but moving her mouth like that hurt too much. _"Don't try to talk, Caevia. Give yourself time to heal."_ Embry handed Caevia the two steroids and two Vicodin. _"Take these. When you have those down, I'll give you something to rinse your mouth with."_

Caevia took the four pills in her hand and put them into her mouth as gently as she could and drank a little water, but she didn't drink the whole thing. The water tasted off because of the open sores. When those were down, Embry handed Caevia the glass of salt water and reminded her that she only needed to rinse and not to swallow it. Caevia did as instructed and didn't spit the water out until Embry told her to. He had a bucket for her at her bedside. She was too drowsy to move around and considering she had forty extra pounds of water and baby to worry about, Embry didn't want her moving around too much. Embry stayed with Caevia for the rest of the afternoon and even stayed with her through the night. He didn't leave until he needed to go to work and he promised he'd come see her in the afternoon before going to work again. After Embry left, Carlisle came up to check on her with Edward there to translate.

"I can smell her breath from here," Edward said. "It smells like a zombie apocalypse."

"Tell her to open," Carlisle instructed and Edward translated for Caevia. When she opened her mouth, everything looked like it was healing properly. "Thankfully, her breath just smells like open sores. She's doing alright." Edward told Caevia she could close her mouth and she groaned and rubbed her temples. "Does her head hurt?"

"Yeah," Edward answered. "All the soreness is giving her a headache."

"Give her some Tylenol. That won't hurt the baby. We'll let her have Vicodin later before Embry gets here. I'll help her brush her teeth and rinse. Lord knows she needs it."

Caevia did all that she was instructed and healed quickly the way she was supposed to. By the end of a week, she was able to eat solid food without it hurting, but she didn't like to. Food would get stuck in the holes where her wisdom teeth used to be and she didn't like spending an afternoon sucking them out. Carlisle assured her those would close eventually and Dr. Laurence promised the same when he came to give her a check-up. He encouraged her to tolerate the feeling and start eating solid food again. Caevia did what he said, but she always made a point to eat carefully. She was delighted with the new teeth though. Embry seemed to really like them and when she got a chance to really look at them when her mouth wasn't sore anymore, she found the whiteness of her teeth rather pleasing and she noticed it didn't hurt to chew anymore. Perhaps there was something to the Golden Medicine Man and his friend.

While Caevia was healing, Emmett, Edward, Esme and Jasper helped Embry out with adding on to his house. He called off work that Friday in the hopes that he could help and have it done before Saturday when Jenna and Lauren came to the house. They worked late into the night for that reason and when it was done, Embry went right to bed to sleep. He woke up to the sound of his doorbell ringing and his phone going off. He reached for his phone first and answered.

"Hello?"

"_Embry, are you home? The girls and I have been out here for five minutes waiting for you to answer the door."_ Hearing Brie on the other line, Embry shot up out of bed.

"Sorry, I overslept. I'm home; I'm coming to the door." Embry hung up his phone and went to the front door to let the girls in. "Hey," he said to Jenna and Lauren when the door was opened, "sorry, I was up most of the night. Come in, it's freezing. Did the two of you eat?"

"Mommy gave us poptarts," Lauren announced proudly.

"They were smores flavored," Jenna elaborated as they walked in and Embry chuckled.

"Were they really? Those are my favorite too."

"What's that?" Brie asked, pointing out the area of the house that suddenly had a door while the girls went to their room to drop off their things.

"Oh," Embry glanced over, "I'm adding a room to the house."

"Can you afford that?"

"Sure I can," Embry answered, but he was getting slightly defensive. He wasn't really ready to explain Caevia to her. He wasn't in the mood to be yelled at when he'd woken up mere moments ago either.

"What do you even need it for? Lauren and Jenna haven't been hounding you to let them have separate rooms have they? If so, just tell me and I'll get them to drop it. You spoil these girls too much, you know."

"It's not for the girls," Embry said. "I just need the extra space."

"For what?" she asked. "Did you get a job that requires you to have an at home office or something?"

"No, that's not it." That's all Embry said.

"Well, what is it?"

"It's an added bedroom."

"For whom?" she continued.

"It's for," Embry began, but he stopped momentarily. He had to do this delicately but the truth was there really was no way to do this delicately, so he just sighed heavily and was blunt. "It's for Caevia. She's moving in with me."

"Who?" she asked, confused.

"Caevia," Embry said again. "You've seen her before. She was waiting in the car that time you needed to work late and I'd just gotten back from Arizona."

"Wait what?" Brie barked, "What do you mean she's moving in with you? Why is a pregnant woman moving in with you, especially when I don't know this woman?"

"Why do you need to know her? I don't know your boyfriend, and I'm perfectly fine with that."

"So you and this woman are dating? Last I saw her you said you two were just friends."

"Like I said, I don't complain about your boyfriend nor do I complain about not knowing him. I trust your judgment and I'd like it if you trusted mine. I realize its fast, but she's a good woman and she's great with the girls when she's around them. Frankly, Jenna and Lauren like her and Caevia likes them too."

"Seriously, Embry, isn't dating a woman that's pregnant with another man's child in bad taste? Or did you lie to me and that really is your kid? In which case, why did you lie to me?"

"Brie, I'm not the father. It's a long story and frankly, I have to go to the Cullens' house, so get on about your day."

"Embry, this woman is around my kids; I have a right to ask a few questions about her."

"They're my kids too Brie and you should know I would never put the girls in a situation where their safety is compromised. Caevia won't hurt them or be a bad influence on them or whatever the hell you're being so damn pissy about."

"I'm being 'pissy' about this because you just started dating a woman that looks to be about six months pregnant with another man's child! That's a bad influence on the girls in and of itself to be perfectly frank Embry. What the hell was wrong with the last guy that she left him and what kind of woman is she that she's dating a new guy when she's still pregnant with another man's child? I mean, who's the father?"

"She doesn't know," Embry answered frankly.

"She doesn't know? What kind of woman are you dating, Embry, that she doesn't even know who the father of her baby is?"

"She was raped," Embry stated bluntly in Caevia's defense and with a harsh tone. "She was raped by four men and any one of them could be the father. She can't help what happened to her or the type of motherfuckers she was surrounded by in that pigsty of a village in the middle of a fucking desert. That's why she doesn't know and don't you ever imply she's a whore in my presence again, do you understand me?"

Brie was silent a moment before answering. "You never mentioned that. How was I supposed to know that's what happened?" Embry started walking away to the kitchen to make coffee hoping that conversation was over. But evidently it wasn't. "Well, wait. Hold on just a minute. If she were really raped, then why the hell is she dating again? I've heard of that kind of trauma and it's not something one recovers from with ease. How the hell is she dating when she's supposedly gone through that kind of assault? She should be frightened of men right now."

"Brie," Embry said harshly again, "we haven't talked about dating. Technically we're not dating, but I have feelings for her. I think she cares for me too and when she's ready, and only when she's ready, we'll start something more than what it is, but for the time being, she's a woman who I'm helping out and, frankly, you're not my mother who's allowed to tell me what I can and cannot do. I don't tell you what to do, so don't tell me what to do. Can we agree on that?"

Brie didn't answer as Embry walked towards the coffee maker and got things set up. Whether she agreed or not, Caevia was moving in with him as soon as the baby was born. If she wanted to leave when she was able, that was her choice and Embry would deal with it, but for now, he was taking care of his imprint when she needed him most. He loved her already and he could tell she was beginning to love him too, or at the very least beginning to trust him. Trust was a good starting point at least.

Brie stayed to have some coffee before she left, but they really didn't talk to each other for that time. They just watched the twins play together. Before she left, Brie mumbled something to the girls, but Embry heard her. She was asking the twins to tell her things about Caevia when they got home so she'd have an idea what kind of person they were being exposed to. He'd have to make sure the girls understood there were some things they couldn't tell their mother, like the Thunderbird thing. They could tell her she was Tistihlal, they could say how they found here and where, but they needed to leave out the fact that she was descended from desert falcons and the real reason they were in Arizona in the first place. He'd told Brie he was going there for family business and that was it. He wasn't technically lying seeing as the Tistihlal were technically Quileute, at least they were in a previous lifetime.

Embry let the girls unwind for a while before he told them to take a few coloring books and crayons because they were going to the Cullens' house to visit Caevia. Eagerly, the girls followed Embry to his car with their sources of entertainment. When they arrived, Caevia was downstairs eating a plate of scrambled eggs and Embry instantly envied her. Esme cooked the best scrambled eggs and once you've had scrambled eggs done perfectly, there's simply no going back. Anything less tasted like rubber. The girls ran to Caevia and spoke to her in their imperfect Quileute and told her about their morning with Caevia smiling and listening intently. It turns out speaking with the girls was helping Caevia learn English a little at a time. If the girls encountered a word that couldn't be translated into Quileute or they didn't know, they just said it in English and she'd figure out what the word was based on context or what Embry told her.

"_How do you like those _eggs_?"_ Embry asked Caevia when he reached the couch and sat down with her.

"_They're delicious,"_ she answered with a smile and brought the plate to Embry and gave him a bite of her eggs. He would want a little more pepper on his, but they were delicious anyway. _"I watched Esme do it and asked her to teach me. She said she would."_

"How is your English coming along?" Embry asked her, hoping maybe she'd understand him at least a little. He didn't mind speaking Quileute to her, but the fact is that outside the tribe, no one spoke Quileute, so she'd need to learn English. Caevia looked really thoughtful a moment, trying to translate the words that she knew. She knew the word 'English' for sure.

"E…glish?" she said, but not quite properly.

"English," Embry corrected gently.

"Eeeeeenglish," she said. Embry smiled, encouraging her to try again, "English?" Embry nodded.

"Good job, Caevia," he said proudly. Caevia didn't seem to understand, so he translated what he said and made Caevia repeat the words in English. She was definitely a fast learner and he admired that she was trying so hard. Edward and Suerro were even helping her learn the alphabet and how to spell, both in English and Quileute. _"Did Suerro make you read anything yesterday?"_

Caevia nodded. _"He made me read a story about the trickster raven and the Thunderbird tale. I actually really like reading."_

Embry chuckled, _"Good. I hate reading, so I'm glad you like it."_

_"What is there not to love about reading? It's so_…..iersive?"

"Immersive," Edward corrected from the other room.

"Immersive," she repeated, struggling momentarily with the ms but eventually getting her mouth around the sounds. Watching Caevia try to pronounce the word properly made him smile. It figures that she was learning big words before she was learning easy words. That was English training by Edward. Embry was beginning to really love Caevia's accent. It sounded like a strange mix of a Spanish and French accent all rolled into one with a softening of the pronunciation of nasal sounds. There really was no way to describe it. It was one of a kind and he loved it.

"_I'm going to ask Esme to make more of that. Do you want more?"_ Caevia nodded and began walking to the kitchen with her plate. Embry followed and Esme was already making more eggs for the two of them. Edward threw some bacon in a pan for them as well. Embry wanted some and Caevia hadn't tried it yet. While Esme made the eggs, Caevia watched her like a vulture, trying to figure out the secret behind Esme's perfect scrambled eggs. While she watched Esme pour a quarter cup of cream into six eggs and scrambled them together with a fork, she fiddled around with the ends of the pull ties on the baggy sweatshirt she was wearing that Kevin had lent her. It was grey with Yale in big blue letters across the chest and the Yale Bulldog on the back in the same bright blue with it unzipped to allow wiggle room for the baby bump. Underneath, she was wearing an old Mickey Mouse shirt that Rosalie's and Emmet's surrogate mother, Morgan, had forgotten years ago. She was also wearing sweatpants that Bella had lent her. Caevia didn't like maternity pants and wouldn't wear them, so they gave her the sweatpants. She also still refused to wear a bra. She thought they were uncomfortable and a hassle, so she just never put them on. She'd figured it out, but she just wouldn't wear them. They let it go for now but eventually they would be a little harder on her about it. Her breasts were only getting bigger because of the baby and, as it was, she already was in no position to go braless. Such a thing was only passable for women with A-cup breasts and Caevia was far from an A-cup.

After the food was all cooked, Caevia and Embry sat down and ate together with the girls at the table asking Caevia to help them color. It was a Disney Princess coloring book, so it was an opportunity for Caevia to learn the basics about what one would consider an 'American culture' if one would wish to call it that. After spending half an hour trying to explain Cinderella to Caevia, they insisted on making her sit down and watch it with them. She wouldn't understand a word of it, but at least she'd learn new words that she might not learn in any other context, like Fairy Godmother. Caevia did her best to follow, but by the end of the movie she knew little more about Cinderella than she did before the movie. While the twins were lying on the couch after the movie taking a nap, Embry and Caevia sat downstairs with them and he chose that time to bring up the room addition.

"_I've added a room to my home for you and the baby."_

Caevia looked at Embry, not completely sure what to say. _"I'll be staying with you?"_

"_After the baby's born and only if you want to. There'll be a bed for you and a bed for the baby."_

"_You already made it?"_ Embry nodded. _"Why can't I just move in now?"_ Embry couldn't fight a smile seeing as Caevia was clearly alright with moving in with him.

"_The room isn't ready yet. They aren't even letting me in until after the baby's born because it would ruin the surprise."_

"_They all know the baby's gender?"_

"_Yeah, they know. They're decorating it appropriately so that when the baby's born in _November_, all that's left is for the two of you to move in and make yourselves comfortable."_ Caevia smiled before she rested her head on Embry's shoulder and it made Embry smile. _"You can stay with me for as long as you want, alright?"_

"_I don't know where else I would go even if I wanted to leave."_ Caevia released a breathy giggle and she finally spoke again after a brief comfortable silence. _"May I ask you a question?"_

"_Sure you can."_

"_Why me?"_ she asked and it surprised Embry.

"_Why you, what?"_ he asked.

"_There were plenty of other women hiding out in those huts. Why did you decide to save me?"_

Caevia wasn't looking at him, so she didn't see Embry lick his lips nervously and thought nothing of his sudden intake of breath,_ "Because you saved me," _he finally answered and it made Caevia finally look up at Embry.

"_How did I save you?"_

Embry smiled at her, _"I imprinted on you, Caevia. I am what you need me to be and I loved you the moment I saw you."_ Caevia didn't seem to understand the word 'imprint'. As it is, it was a word Taha Aki had made up (according to Suerro) that hadn't originally been in the language. At least, that was the only explanation Suerro could come up with because it wasn't really a word when he was human. What Caevia did understand, however, was Embry saying he loved her and it made her blush and pull away which made Embry extremely nervous. _"What's wrong? If I said something to upset you, I'm sorry."_

Caevia shook her head. _"No one's ever said, 'I love you,' to me before. Even my mother never told me she loved me."_

"_Why?" _

"_My false father never allowed it."_

"_Your false father?" _Embry asked.

"_The man that my mother raised me with," _Caevia elaborated._ "He was my mother's husband, but he wasn't my father and he never let me forget it. He hated me."_

"_Why?" _

"_Because," _Caevia continued meekly,_ "I reminded him that he'd been powerless. I reminded him that my mother had been raped by a Thunderbird and he hated me for it. He excluded me. He would never let me eat with the family whenever we did have food, if I needed clothes I had to get them myself because he wouldn't get them for me, and if I were ever in trouble I had to protect myself. He held no love for me and he never let my mother hold love for me either. My older half-brother was just as bad if not worse."_

"_Where are your parents now?"_

"_They're both dead. Mother and my false father both died of disease. I was only spared because I'm strong like the Thunderbirds. My brother ran away and I haven't seen him since. I begged him to take me with, but he refused. He said I deserved to be raped by my brethren I resembled so much."_ Caevia brushed away a single tear.

"_Well, you didn't deserve it."_ Another tear fell from her eye, but this time Embry brushed it away. _"I wish I could, Caevia, but I can't change what happened to you. All I can do is give you better if you'll let me."_ Caevia didn't answer Embry verbally, but the look she gave him was all the answer he needed. She looked at him with pleading eyes that were wet with tears being forced back. Embry didn't say anything else either. He just wrapped his arm around Caevia and brought her to his chest where she rested her face. A few minutes later, Embry took a hold of her hand with his free right hand and let his left hand drift the her sides so he could touch the bump.

"_Thank you for everything."_ Caevia kissed Embry's chest, which took him by surprised. _"I love you too. You should've been this baby's father."_

"_I might not be this baby's real father, but I'll help you raise it. I'll love this baby as if it were my own if you want me to."_

Caevia looked up at Embry and she was finally smiling. _"Will you really?"_

Embry smiled back and nodded._ "Yeah, I will."_ Caevia smiled wide, showing off her new teeth, and grabbed a hold of Embry and hugged him tightly.

Embry kept the girls at the Cullen house so they could all spend more time with Caevia. He didn't want to call their relationship dating yet. For all he knew, her love was still purely platonic and he'd have to wait for her to be comfortable with anything else. Sure, asking him to be this child's father seems like a very intimate request, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions, especially considering her violent history. This was also a woman that thought it was perfectly normal for strangers to share a bath, so who knows. He needed to be tentative with her and that seemed to be working for the time being. Later that day, Natalie came to the house to try on her fur half-coat she'd be wearing for the wedding and when she came in, Embry was watching the cooking channel with Caevia sleeping on his shoulder. Natalie said hello to Embry and he waved back as she went up the stairs to Alice and Jasper's room.

"Oh, Alice, it's beautiful!" Natalie said when Alice took out the small coat and made Natalie try it on with a triumphant smile.

"I knew you would love it. This'll keep you nice and warm while making sure you're still stylish for the wedding. Suerro will drop dead when he sees you."

"He's already dead, Alice," Jasper said, who was lying in bed reading.

"Details, my love," Alice retorted, "minor details." Jasper chuckled and continued to read his book. "So anyway, did you and Suerro talk about kids?"

Natalie licked her lips, "Kind of."

"What do you mean, 'Kind of'? Either you guys talked about it or you didn't, so which is it?"

"We talked about it, but we….._I _haven't come to a decision about it. Suerro said he wants kids but he's letting me decide when we have them and I don't know when we will. I would want time to prepare for a baby and I won't have that if I get pregnant immediately, but then if I put it off, what if I put it off for too long and we just never have kids? I told him that I wanted to wait until we were ready and he just laughed at me."

"Did he now?" Alice smiled. "At least he's realistic I guess. So he's letting you decide when you'll start having kids, now you just need to make a decision."

"Exactly," Natalie said.

"Well, honey, I can't tell you that. What I can tell you is that you know that I'll gladly buy you and Suerro baby things and clothes. Also, you should keep in mind that part of 'planning' includes knowing the gender and that won't be an option in any case. From what I can tell, all you'll be able to do to prepare is make a room available and invite plenty of people to your baby shower. Tell them to buy gender neutral and you should be fine. Does that sound like a plan?"

"I guess so. I just don't know if I'm ready to have kids. I feel like I should wait until I'm older."

"No offense, dear, but I'm inclined to agree with you," Jasper said through the pages of the book. "You're a bit of a brat and you need to grow out of that before you start making babies."

"Jasper," Alice barked back at him.

"What? I'm sorry, but it's true. She still has her own growing up to do as far as I'm concerned. I think you," Jasper continued, now speaking to Natalie, "are still a little young to have kids and your father will absolutely agree with me."

"Nathan had kids at nineteen."

"That doesn't mean he should've. It's a good thing all turned out well, but your brother is a little more levelheaded than you are."

"So I should wait about a year?"

"That depends; will you be a big girl in that time?" Natalie just stuck her tongue out at Jasper and made him chuckle. "I take that as a no."

"What Jasper is _trying_ to say is if you're not ready then don't have kids yet. Suerro's not getting any older and neither are you. Your clock isn't going to stop ticking any time soon, so he can wait." Natalie smiled and slipped out of the fur coat.

"Thanks for the advice. I think he and I may wait a while."

"Just make sure he knows that and get Carlisle to give you some birth control pills. Point zero one percent babies seem to be a trend in your family, so who knows, maybe the baby will be the one to decide when it's time. It happened to your parents twice and it's happened to two of your brothers, so I don't see why it wouldn't happen to you."

"Nathan factors into that logic, yes, but I don't know about Kevin. He was so drunk it was probably just a case of forgetting to use a condom."

"Either way, honey, when the time's right, it'll happen. You're still young and you're at a point in your life where your career takes up most of your life. It's not right to bring a baby into that. You realize that, right?"

"I don't want to give up my career," Natalie said meekly, feeling more like a brat than ever.

"Honey, you don't have to. You just need to explain to Gretchen that the theatre can't rule your life once you and Suerro have a baby. Plenty of women in the arts have children and successful careers."

"Yeah, and a lot of those kids become drug addicts and alcoholics." Natalie groaned and rubbed her face. "What if I'm not a fit mother?"

"That didn't stop Snooki," Jasper mumbled.

"Jasper, she's nothing like Snooki. If you're not going to be helpful then you can just go read somewhere else." Taking an unneeded deep breath, Jasper ran out of the room to go read somewhere else. "Don't listen to him, honey, you'll be a wonderful mother when the time is right and not a day before. Only you can decide that, Natalie….well, you or the baby, but you get my meaning."

Natalie smiled, "Yeah. I do."

"Good," Alice returned before putting the fur back in its plastic case. "Now you have another conversation with Suerro later." Natalie nodded and scratched the back of her head.

When she got back to her apartment, Suerro wasn't there. She hadn't expected him to be. He'd been gone that morning too. His eyes were getting really dark and he needed some blood that wasn't from the bar. Gretchen had been hounding him lately; something about a loss of profits because some people were upset with the interruption in the Phantom show or whatever. Honestly, she was bitching just to bitch. The theatre had had increased profits because of that one showing and the ones that were upset by it got over it rather quickly. Prospero and Caliban greeted her with wagging tails while still lying on the couch, never moving from their spots. Natalie sighed heavily as she looked at her two Chihuahua mixes. She was hardly home because of her career and the two dogs she'd bought for companionship needed her less than she needed them. Those two dogs were more like her roommates than her pets. They just didn't pay rent or have jobs like lazy bum roommates. How was she supposed to be a mother if she could barely keep her attention on her dogs?

Natalie went to her room and rested her purse on her bed and then walked into her closet, throwing all her clothes in her laundry basket so she could change into her theatre clothes. They were starting with _Midsummer Night's Dream_ and she needed to be prepared for the role of Puck. She loved playing Puck because she got to unwind and be weird and eccentric and mischievous. Natalie was out of the house as soon as she'd arrived and went to the theatre for practice. It was really late when she got back and she plopped into bed and didn't wake up until nine the next day to go back to the theatre. She stayed late again and when she arrived home, Suerro was finally back from his hunting trip with his freshly scarlet eyes.

"There you are. How was your trip?"

"Fine," Suerro said while sitting on the couch petting Prospero. "I haven't hunted in a while, so it was a nice change."

"You know I don't like it when you do that, though."

"Well, tell Gretchen to get off my ass over nothing and I won't hunt living humans anymore." Suerro smiled and took a hold of Natalie's hand and pulled her to him on the couch. "Hard day?" he asked.

"Yeah," Natalie nodded. "I've been at the theatre all day and I'm tired. Alice and I talked about the baby thing and she says that I should wait until I'm in a position to cut back on my work hours."

"Well that's easy enough."

"And Jasper recommended that I wait until I'm older."

"I'd agree with that too."

Natalie sighed and looked up at Suerro. "Do you think I'm a brat?"

There was a moment of silence. "This isn't a trap is it?"

Natalie groaned and rubbed her face. "That answers my question I guess. I talked to Carlisle about putting me on the pill. The way I figure it, we can just wait for that to fail and when it does, that's when we'll have a baby. It's worked for just about everyone else in the family, so I guess it'll work for me too."

"If that's what you want, Natalie," Suerro said, petting her hair. "You are a little young to be thinking about kids and I don't mind waiting. I'd rather let you live a little before we tie ourselves to a strange-ling child for the next three or four years."

"You're really okay with waiting a while?"

"Of course I am. I never thought I'd have kids, so the fact that it's even possible is enough. I would like kids, but we have plenty of time for that. I'd rather have you to myself for a while."

Natalie smiled and rested her head on Suerro's chest, "Yeah, me too."

The summer eventually progressed into early fall and Suerro went back to school in September. Carlisle gave Suerro plenty of colored contact lenses so his eyes would appear black and no one was ever the wiser. Oscar wasn't able to come to Washington during the summer because there was a rush of concert goers that had come to the hotel and the hotel needed him there and on call at all times. These weren't exactly the easiest guests to cater to and Oscar had a knack for defusing problems with them. Caevia's English was coming along really well. She was picking up words and beginning to form short clauses and sentences, though they weren't always grammatically correct. She had a lot of trouble with verb conjugations in English and it was impossible to match it with her native grammar where verbs and nouns oftentimes sounded so similar. She was getting better but she still needed work.

Though they didn't get to spend time together over the summer after the trip to Arizona, Travis and Oscar were talking to each other on the phone a lot. Their longest phone conversation went well into the night and they talked for a good five hours. It was without a doubt the best phone conversation Travis ever had. They couldn't talk every night, but when they did talk, it was always for hours.

It was midway through September on a weekend. That was one beauty of his job: he did get weekends off at least. Unfortunately, Natalie wasn't usually so lucky, so spending a day with her was a rare thing indeed. This weekend in particular was no exception. He'd tried calling Oscar earlier in the hopes that he might've had some free time to talk, but that turned out to not be the case. He'd been unable to reach his cellphone and when he called Olivia, she told him that Oscar was busy and he'd call back later. So he decided to call Sharon (the 'other woman') and ask her to come spend time with him. She was free and, getting in a social mood, he also called Destiny (whose real name was Randy) to come over too. He popped popcorn for them before they arrived and he brought up _It Happened One Night_ on his DVD player. He'd found it in a discount bin and couldn't resist buying it. Sharon was the first to come and she made quick work of the popcorn, making it clear that the bowl of popcorn was hers.

"When is Randy getting here?" Sharon asked as she sat on the couch munching on popcorn. "What are we watching?"

"To answer your first question, he should be here soon." Travis put the second bag of popcorn in the microwave to pop. "To answer your second question, we're watching an old movie that Oscar introduced me to."

"Oscar who?" Sharon enquired before stuffing a handful of popcorn into her mouth.

"Oscar Barker," Travis answered. "You don't know him. I met him in Arizona while I was out there with my family."

"Neat," Sharon said. "Is this movie any good?"

"I liked it," Travis answered. Then he looked at his feet to see his three cats. Whenever he was in the kitchen for an extended period, they always came in and waited at his feet expecting to get some canned tuna. They were all meowing and staring at him with wide eyes and rubbing his leg. Travis smiled a little at the three cats and caved. He went to the 'tuna cabinet' and took out a small can of tuna. The cats meowed with a vengeance, waiting impatiently for their treat. Travis pulled out a small paper plate and finally pulled open the can of tuna. He separated the tuna into three portions, stopped momentarily to get Max to stop climbing up his pant leg, and finally put the plate down for the three cats.

"You know what movie I haven't seen in years that I want to watch? _Tarzan_. You know that Disney movie about the ape man?"

"Yeah, I know which you mean. We can always look it up after this movie."

"Sounds cool, and I don't mean that '_Tarzan and Jane_' shit where they used different animators for some unfathomable reason and they sucked, I mean the first movie where it was done right."

"I know what you mean, Sharon," Travis said as the microwave dinged. "Are you good on popcorn?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Did you want anything to drink?"

"Bring me a Pepsi if you've got one. Preferably diet." Travis took out a beer for himself and Sharon's Pepsi (though he didn't have any diet). He brought the extra bowl of popcorn and drinks to coffee table in time for the door to buzz. Travis pressed the button on his intercom to ask who was at the door and let up Randy.

Randy was a younger man around the same age as Travis that had taken up drag when he was still in high school. His own hair was black and rather short and his skin was a coaxed bronze to make him look more Italian. When he was in drag, he preferred brunette or black long haired wigs that he styled on his own and his nails were always well manicured for his work. Aside from the nails, when he wasn't in drag, he was a good looking guy. He looked great in drag too; able to pass as a woman easily if someone didn't look really close.

"Hey Randy," Sharon said from the couch.

"Hey Randy," Travis also said, letting Randy into the apartment.

"Hey back," he said. Randy sniffed the air and chuckled. "Those cats made you give them tuna I see."

"You know how they are," Travis chuckled back.

"The first step to solving a problem is admitting they have one." Randy walked to the kitchen and helped himself to a Pepsi. "You have rum somewhere right?"

"It's under the sink." Filling a glass with some ice, Randy poured in a shot and a half of rum then added the Pepsi.

"So what are we watching?" Randy asked when his drink was made. Travis was sitting next to Sharon, so Randy took the last open third of the couch. "How old is this movie?" He asked when he saw the menu screen.

"It's from the thirties, so it's old. I met this guy Oscar while I was in Arizona and he introduced me to this movie."

"Oh yeah?" Randy asked. "Who's Oscar?"

"He's a guy I met in Arizona I said. He owns Rochester Hotel and Spa in Phoenix." Randy and Sharon both raised an eyebrow.

"You didn't mention that," Sharon said.

"So when you say you met this guy, do you mean you two are friendly or do you mean that you _met _someone?"

Travis shrugged while smiling bashfully. "I guess you could say I mean that I _met_ someone."

"If he owns a hotel, how old is he? There's no way he's your age," Sharon pointed out.

"He's, um," Travis tried to think of the number Oscar said he usually used. He never said an exact number, but a forty range. "He's about forty eight."

"Wow," Sharon said with another bite of popcorn.

"I never took you for one to be into older guys. And this guy lives all the way in Arizona on top of that? How the hell will you make that work?"

"We talk over the phone all the time and we talk for hours. I'd say we're doing good so far."

"Well that's all well and good but what about a love life? Are you two having phone sex or something?" Randy asked.

Travis blushed, "We tried that, but Oscar just got frustrated and said we'd never do that again."

Randy shook his head, "Simply no imagination."

"That's not it. He just prefers the real thing and phone sex just wasn't good enough. He's coming to Washington for my cousin's wedding, so we'll have that time to spend together then."

"I was hoping I could be your date," Randy took a sip of his drink.

"If I'd never met Oscar, you would've been," Travis teased and finally started the movie. Zoe and Ginger, after finishing their tuna, climbed onto their scratching tree while Max hopped onto the coffee table and laid down. Travis and his friends were quiet for a portion of the movie, but the urge to laugh at its age and the difference in acting styles was too great.

"Let me ask you," Sharon said to Randy and Travis, "why is it that back then their line delivery and movements were so stiff compared to today?"

"I think that depends on what you're comparing it to," Travis said. "There are lots of recent movies where there's worse dialogue with even more wooden actors. At least back in the day, the movie industry and craft was still evolving. By now, we've formed a standard that may or may not be folded to depending on the actors. We don't need to pop out the Star Wars prequels and sequels do we? Those people weren't bad actors; they had bad dialogue with horrible direction. I blame George for the prequels. The sequels," Travis sighed, "I want to believe Mickey Mouse did his best, but damn it, part of making a good series is to know when to leave well enough alone."

Randy laughed, "You know, when I was a kid, my dad and I were watching _Return of the Jedi_ and I called Princess Leia a Disney princess. My dad hit me across the head and told me to watch my mouth. I'm lucky he never mentioned it to mom. She might've washed my mouth out with soap."

"Do parents still do that even?" Sharon asked.

"They do if you come from an Italian family whose grandma was fresh off the boat from Rome." Randy looked at Travis. "What about your parents? Did they ever do that to you? I can see your dad doing that maybe, but not your mom. You're mom's too nice."

Travis chuckled a little, "Please. Whenever I bring a guy home or my brothers bring a girl, my mom's always on her best behavior. When we were kids, if we ever did anything really bad, we were lucky if washing our mouths out with soap was all we got away with. Did I ever tell you guys about the time my cousin Kevin got us shipped to France?"

Sharon and Randy looked at Travis strangely. "I can't say you have," Sharon said.

"Yeah," Travis laughed a little. "We were climbing on a fence of this Amatech place and one of my cousins lost balance and we fell into a box and were shipped to France. Our parents were so angry at us for that. They spent weeks thinking we were kidnapped and we spent most of our summer locked in a huge box. We all got our asses whooped so badly we couldn't sit."

"How did that not kill you guys?"

"We had some left over lunch snacks that we split and some water. Don't let my big shot lawyer cousin fool you. He was a trouble maker and he got us in a lot of trouble over the years too."

"Oh I bet he did," Randy chuckled. "So hey, speaking of trouble makers, when do I get to meet this handsome old man that has your eye?"

"He's not an old man," Travis mumbled. Who was he kidding? Oscar was over 160 in reality. "I could try googling a picture of him or something. Maybe his picture is somewhere on the hotel's website."

"A picture hardly befits the real thing. When he comes into town, you should definitely bring him to the club and introduce us. But beware, Travis, for I might steal him away." Travis elbowed Randy gently as they chuckled. "So what does he look like?"

"He's really tall. He's maybe a few centimeters taller than me. We have the same shoe size I think."

"I like that," Randy chuckled. "There's something sexy about being able to wear your boyfriend's clothes."

Travis chuckled too and continued. "He's really muscular and he has four tattoos."

"I love a man with tattoos."

"Yeah, and he used to be in the army." Randy purred and it made Travis laugh. "Yes, it's very sexy. Anyway, he has an eagle tattoo on the back of his head that he hates. He says he was really drunk when he got that and he doesn't like people to see it. He has another small tattoo on his foot that's a cactus with a rainbow flower on top."

Randy laughed, "Awesome."

"His other two tattoos are much sexier. He has a falcon on his chest that's holding the American Flag in its talons. The ends of the American flag curl up into roses and his daughter's name is in one of the white strips of the flag."

"He has a daughter?" Randy asked.

"Yeah," Travis nodded. "He used to have a wife, but they're not together anymore."

"Not together? I didn't hear you say divorced."

"They're divorced," Travis said, though it wasn't really true. They were still married by tribe standards, but according to the United States of America, Oscar and Wisteria weren't married and that was good enough for him. "They're just really friendly. It wasn't a nasty divorce or anything and they're still friends."

"That's nice," Sharon smiled. "It's always refreshing to hear of a couple handling their differences like adults."

"It wasn't necessarily a matter of differences. It was a matter of attraction, or lack thereof. His mom made him get married because she found out he was gay and that didn't help anything."

"That sucks," Randy said. "His mom sounds like a prude."

"I can't say," Travis said honestly. "I barely said two words to the woman when I did meet her."

"You already met the mother?" Randy asked.

"Not the way you're thinking. I've seen her and I've said hello to her and that's the extent of our interaction."

"What about siblings?" Sharon asked. "Does he have any brothers or sisters?"

"He has a lot of sisters, but I don't remember how many. He only has one little brother and they don't get along."

"Is it because of the hotel or something?" Sharon asked.

"No, they just don't get along. Now, back to the tattoos. The last tattoo he has is on his back and it's a Celtic cross with a sunflower. His first lover died of AIDS and it's a memorial tattoo."

"Wait, wait, wait," Randy interrupted, "This guy has AIDS?"

"No, he doesn't have AIDS, his late lover did. He caught it because the hospital gave him infected blood."

"Seriously?" Sharon said, "That still happens in this day and age?" Travis just shrugged. He was hardly in a position to tell them this happened in 1983.

"Yeah, it does. He was dead within a few weeks."

"How long was he with that guy?"

"Fifteen years," Travis answered. "They were together for a long time."

"What was his former lover's name? When did he die?" Randy asked.

"I don't know when he died," Travis lied. "Oscar never said. He doesn't like to talk about it, so when I asked about it, he told me to change the subject. I don't want to make him talk about it when it's such a painful memory for him."

"You told him about Brandon didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did, but I didn't pound him over the head about it. He didn't want to talk about sad things. Besides, what would Brandon say if I were still crying about what happened and not moving on with my life? He wouldn't have wanted that."

"Oh, I know, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that the two of you should be able to talk to each other about the bad times as well as the good times."

"We'll get to that when it's right," Travis lied again. "For now, I'd like to enjoy the new phase while it lasts."

"I love that phase," Sharon said. "It's the time when the guy's great and you don't know he's cheating on you with a guy." Travis smiled and nudged Sharon, who nudged back with just as much humor.

"I can assure you, Oscar's not cheating on me with a woman."

"And if he is, at least you'll have a new best friend when you find out," Randy said and the three started laughing.

"I could always handle a new friend." When the movie was halfway over, the buzzer went off to the front doors downstairs. "Did either of you invite someone?"

"I didn't," Sharon said.

"I mentioned I was coming here to Carlos. He sounded interested in the movie day, so it might be him."

"Oh," Travis stood from the couch. "Carlos is one of the queens from your club right?"

"Yeah, he's Miss Jackson remember? He usually has the fancy Nicki Minaj wigs and wears a lot of pink."

"Yeah, I remember him now." Travis didn't turn on the intercom or anything and he buzzed who was at the entrance into the building. "Did you invite anyone else? I can make more popcorn, but I can't make any promises I'll have enough drinks."

"I didn't really invite anyone technically. I just mentioned I was coming over, but you know those queens. They really do like you," Randy teased.

"No thanks. Dating you was enough."

Randy pretended to be insulted, "Well, I never." Travis just smiled and waited at the door for a knock from whomever he'd let in. When it came, Travis opened the door and saw Oscar of all people standing at his front door holding a small suitcase and a big grin.

"How're you doing kid?" Oscar smiled back.

"Oscar? What are you doing here? You didn't tell me you were coming to Washington."

"It's going to be a slow week at the hotel and Olivia can handle it, so I decided to surprise you and visit."

"Wow," Travis mumbled and he heard Randy and Sharon come to the door.

"So you're Oscar," Randy enquired as he walked to the door and held out his hand to shake Oscar's. "My name's Randy. I'm Travis' ex-boyfriend."

Oscar accepted the hand Randy offered. "I judge by your nails that you're the drag queen he told me about?"

"He told you about me? I'm flattered."

"I'm Sharon," Sharon reached her own hand out to Oscar and he shacked her hand too.

"Sharon? You're the other woman right?" They laughed together and Travis closed the door.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. I'm flattered he's told you about me too."

"Well, we have plenty of time to talk about friends and ex-boyfriends when we talk over the phone." Oscar looked over their heads at the TV, hearing something familiar. Then he smiled and looked at Travis. "So you guys are watching _It Happened One Night_?"

"Yeah," Travis started blushing. "I found it in a discount bin while I was getting groceries the other day and I couldn't resist getting it."

"And now he's making us watch it," Sharon added.

"Speaking of which," Randy said, "why don't we all sit down and talk. I don't much like standing at the front door like we're waiting for someone to leave."

"Good idea," Travis said. "I'll take that," Travis took Oscar's suitcase. "I have some beer in the fridge that you're welcome to, so you get yourself comfortable."

Oscar let Travis take his luggage and started talking to Sharon and Randy who were eagerly asking him questions about his business and what he thought about dating such a younger man. While Oscar laughed and answered their questions, Travis brought the suitcase to his room and rested it on the edge of his bed. As he walked out, he saw his three cats come into his bedroom and hop onto his bed. They weren't used to Oscar, so undoubtedly they were trying to get away from him. Max approached Oscar's suitcase and started sniffing it, but the contact was short lived and Max went to Travis' pillow and curled up.

"Damn it, Max," Travis mumbled through a sigh. Travis went to Max and picked him off the pillow, resting Max right next to the pillow. Travis didn't like it when Max slept on his pillow. It left a lingering smell and it made his face break out. Travis left his cats on the bed and went back to his living room where his friends were having an animated talk with Oscar. He answered all their questions with humor and straightforwardness, only lying when it was necessary. He confirmed that he was forty eight and claimed he felt there was no harm in dating a younger man.

"In fact," he went on, "I think it's better to date a younger man at this point in my life. If I dated a man my own age, we'd be at home all the time eating shit and watching crap TV and he'd make my ass fat. You're only as young as you act I say."

"Travis said you'd been in a long term relationship with a guy not long ago. He said it lasted fifteen years before he passed away."

"We're extremely sorry to hear about that by the way," Sharon added.

"Yes, very sorry. It's easy to forget that AIDS is still a deadly disease. Honestly, medicine gets so advanced, but it still makes stupid mistakes like that."

"Yeah," Oscar said without missing a beat. Travis heard that subtle dip in Oscar's voice that indicated upset, but it was barely noticeable. "His name was Richard."

"Yeah, I was getting to asking you that. Just curious, was Richard younger than you?"

"A little," Oscar lied. "We met when he was twenty six," that part was true, "he passed away when he was barely forty one."

"Wow, so this was really recent wasn't it?" Oscar smiled kindly at Randy, but Travis could tell his patience was wearing thin. "I'm sorry," Randy noticed, "I'm bringing such a thing up when I've just met you. Please forgive my being so rude, I'm just asking you questions to get to know you. Travis and I might not be dating, but we're still friends and I still want the best for him. Though from what I can tell so far, you seem like a nice, standup guy."

"I can assure you," Oscar said, beginning to have a strange droll to his voice Travis had never heard before, "I'm a standup guy." There was a moment of silence before the joke kicked in and Travis' friends were laughing.

"Well, Travis," Randy said over Oscar's shoulder, "I'm in love and I want one of my own."

"Yeah, me too," Sharon added. "Is this your first time in Port Angeles? You should totally let us treat you to a night of dinner and drinking. Port Angeles has some awesome bars, better than in Seattle if you ask me." 

"That's sweet of you, Sharon, but can we take a rain check on that offer? I've been flying for four hours and I could really use some rest." Travis smiled a little. "I'll definitely make sure Travis arranges that before I have to leave, though."

"Oh yeah, of course. Have Travis call us when you're up for it."

"We'll get going and let you, uh, rest," Randy winked knowingly.

"I'm sorry to ask you guys to leave," Oscar said halfheartedly. "It's just been a long day for me."

"No, not at all. We understand. You just get some rest and we'll see you really soon." Travis followed Sharon and Randy to the door and said goodbye to them before letting them leave. When they were gone, Travis went to Oscar and hugged him.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming? I wouldn't have invited people over. Now I feel bad for kicking them out."

"You didn't kick them out, kid, I did. So get over it and kiss me." Oscar didn't give Travis any time to argue and slammed his lips to Travis'.

Never taking his lips away, Oscar pulled Travis with him while he used his right hand to feel for the bedroom door that he remembered was at the end of the small hallway. When he found the open door to Travis' bedroom, Oscar continued to pull Travis with him, never taking his lips away. Travis didn't try to stop Oscar as he'd intended. His questions could easily wait. Oscar remembered that his suitcase was on the bed, so he felt for it, and when he found it, he took Travis with him a few feet to the right and pulled Travis down with him on the bed when he was sure it was clear. Oscar was the first to hit the bed and land on Max and Zoe and when he did, both cats hissed and meowed loudly, running off the bed. The sudden ruckus forced Oscar to elbow himself off the bed yelling in alarm. Travis jumped just as much having forgotten the cats were on the bed for a moment. Max had scratched his arm, but he didn't seem to scratch Oscar, so that made Travis a little relieved.

"God damn it!" Oscar yelled, checking his arms to ensure that he wasn't scratched.

"Sorry, I forgot they were here," Travis said as he kneeled down to look under his bed. Max, Zoe, and Ginger were all under the bed now. "Come on, guys, get out from under there," Travis pleaded with his cats.

"How many cats do you have again?"

"I have three and they're all under the bed. Could you help me get them out?"

"How would I help get the out?"

"Go to the other side of the bed and poke your head under. Maybe if they see you, they'll get out from under there." With a groan, Oscar shrugged and went to the other side and stuck his head under the bed. "Come here," Travis whistled and kissed with his hand under the bed, trying to get the cats to come to him. When Oscar poked his head under the bed, he reached towards the cats and Max hissed at him. "Okay, Oscar, don't reach for any of them. Just stay where you are."

"It doesn't look like its working. They're just staying under the bed." Travis kept reaching for his cats, but they were too far under the bed for him to get them out. At best, the tips of his fingers were touching the ends of Zoe's coat. "Look, let's just leave them under there. They'll come out when they feel like it, right?"

"I don't like it when they're under the bed. If I don't get them out now, they might not come out for the rest of the night. Since you're here, it might take longer."

"These cats just met me and they already hate me," Oscar said with a heavy and annoyed sigh.

"Oscar, you landed on them. Most cats aren't going to respond well to that." Oscar took his head and arm out from under the bed and stood up while Travis stayed down, trying to get his cats. A few moments later, Oscar had an idea and began by moving over Travis' nightstand. When that was to the side, Travis pulled his head out from under the bed soon enough to ask, "What are you," and then be interrupted by Oscar pulling the king size bed towards him to bring the cats into sight. It freaked the cats out and they ran from under the bed towards Travis' office. There was nothing they could hide under in there, so Travis let it go and stood back up. "Can we move the bed back?"

"I don't know," Oscar teased. "I think I like it being three feet to the right." Without answering, Travis took a firm hold of the bed frame and pulled it to the left until it was back where it was supposed to be. Then he walked around to the nightstand and put that back where it was supposed to be as well. "I see we have some fundamental differences in taste of Feng Shui."

"I called your phone and you didn't answer and when I talked to Olivia, she said you were busy and that you would get back to me. I didn't think she meant that you were coming over for an unexpected visit."

"Good," Oscar smirked deviously, "because I told her to keep her mouth shut."

Travis smiled, "You said you flew here. I assume you mean that you literally flew." Oscar nodded. "It's the middle of the day. How'd you make sure no one saw you?"

"I stayed in the clouds. It's not that hard. I usually see the planes before they see me so when I see them, I just fly at a higher altitude until I get passed them. I have to say, discretion was a lot easier before the Wright brothers."

Travis chuckled, "I imagine so. Aren't you exhausted?"

"I've flown longer," Oscar said bluntly. "I would much rather have sex honestly."

"Yeah," Travis said, "The whole, 'falling on the cats' thing killed it a little wouldn't you say?"

"Only if we let it." Then Oscar pushed Travis onto the bed and climbed right on top of him.

"Wait a minute," Travis said as he pushed against Oscar's chest. "Why don't you take a moment to unpack your things and get comfortable?"

"I am getting comfortable," Oscar insisted, pushing Travis' hands off his chest so he could start pulling up Travis' sweatshirt.

"But—" Travis went on until his sweatshirt forced him to silence, but he continued while Oscar started pulling up the gray t-shirt under the sweatshirt. "How long will you be staying? Did you say a week?" Oscar pulled off the gray t-shirt. "I still have to work this week. What will you do all day while I'm working?"

"Travis," Oscar said sternly. "This isn't talking time. Sex first, then we'll talk." When Oscar finally kissed Travis, the arguing finally stopped and Travis fell into the kiss with ease.

His shirts were already off, so Travis focused on Oscar and pulled off Oscar's simple t-shirt. Oscar was resting his knees on the edge of the bed, elevating himself above Travis who was laying flat on his back with his legs hanging over the edge. Oscar reached down and unbuttoned Travis' jeans and took his lips away so he could pull off Travis' socks. Then Oscar reached down and took off his own shoes and socks. With his socks and shoes discarded, Oscar came back to the bed atop Travis on his hands and knees. Travis grabbed a hold of Oscar's pants and was able to pull them down with ease. Oscar wasn't wearing underwear under his jeans, so they fell away once they were no longer held up by his hips and erection. Travis pulled Oscar down onto his back and climbed on top of him, echoing Oscar's devious smile. Oscar took the opportunity to kick his pants off his ankles once he was on his back staring up at Travis.

Travis brought his lips to Oscar's once more for a moment before he changed course and began to kiss Oscar's neck and ears. He started with the right, licking around the earlobe and then moving down his neck with light, feathery kisses and gentle licks of the tongue. Travis did the same thing to the left of Oscar's neck and ended with licking around his ear. Meanwhile, while Travis focused on Oscar's neck, Oscar grabbed a hold of Travis' erection, pushing aside his briefs and pushing down his remaining clothes. Travis gave Oscar another passionate kiss on the lips before kissing his chin and then moving down to Oscar's chest. Their last two encounters had been a little rushed and Travis has sworn they would have time to take it slow later. Later was now.

Travis kissed and licked Oscar's nipples as his first activity on Oscar's chest. Oscar wasn't ticklish there as Travis was, so Oscar remained still save the pumping motion of his hand on Travis' erection. Travis licked and nipped with his knee rubbing Oscar's groin, careful not to accidently jerk his knee forward. When he was done with Oscar's nipples, Travis started kissing between his pecks and moving down with his kisses landing aimlessly. He moved far enough away that Oscar could no longer stroke Travis' erection, so he brought his arms up and rested them behind his head, his head resting in his open hands, waiting in anticipation for what was coming. Travis kicked his pants and briefs from off his ankles before kneeling on the floor, rubbing his hands all over Oscar's thighs and lower stomach, but always avoiding Oscar's erection. He was teasing him ruthlessly and Oscar only tolerated it for so long.

"Damn it, Travis, stop teasing me!" Oscar barked at Travis, who just laughed and took Oscar's erection in his mouth at last.

Oscar let out a contented sigh followed by a pleasured groan and he kept his hands rested under his head, letting Travis do as he pleased. It was so different from what Travis had ever done before. The foreskin took some getting used to, but it wasn't as strange as he'd expected it to be. It also made everything just a little easier and, according to Oscar, a little bit better. Travis kept his left hand on Oscar's erection while his head moved up and down, and with his right hand, Travis found that small spot right under Oscar's balls and started to rub and apply pressure to that tender spot. Oscar groaned and chuckled a little in the pleasurable haze, never taking his hands from under his head.

"Does that tickle?" Travis teased, taking a moment to come up for air before returning his lips to Oscar's full shaft.

"Yes," Oscar answered with a chuckle, "keep tickling me." Travis chuckled too through the obstruction in his mouth and continued his ministration. As Travis continued, Oscar took deep, relaxed breaths to ensure this lasted longer.

Oscar eventually brought his right hand from under his head and rested his hand on Travis' head and used his fingers to rub, which helped relax Travis' breathing. When Travis came up to breath from his mouth, Oscar leaned over and grabbed Travis by his shoulders, forcing him back onto the bed. The suitcase was in the way, so Oscar reached over Travis and pushed the suitcase onto the floor. When there was more room on the bed, Oscar pulled Travis further up and topped him. Playfully, Travis pushed Oscar off him and climbed on top, staring him in the eyes with a bright smile. Oscar played along and pushed Travis onto his back. When Travis was where Oscar wanted him, he returned the favor and licked Travis' neck, chest, and stomach sprinkled with kisses all over before taking Travis' erection in his mouth. Oscar did exactly as Travis had, but Travis kept a tight hold of Oscar's shoulders while he was being serviced. When Travis felt himself getting close to finishing, he pulled away from Oscar and got to his knees on the bed, giving him more balance when he pulled Oscar over to him. When Oscar was on his knees, he grabbed a hold of Travis' legs and pulled them right out from under him and made Travis plop onto the bed, making it bounce.

"So," Oscar began when he was laying next to Travis, "top or bottom for you?"

"Considering you scared my poor cat, I think I should be top. It's only fair."

"_I_ scared your cat? Your cat fucking scared me! If you're going to play like that, then you can get on your hands and knees and take it like a man." Travis just laughed and let Oscar manhandle him, forcing him on his hands and knees so Oscar could top him. Travis was quickly growing to like being manhandled. It was a refreshing change for him.

Before entering, Oscar leaned over and licked Travis' ear. When he was in, Oscar started at a slow pace, but quickly worked up to a faster pace that Travis leaned into. Travis stayed on his knees for roughly eight minutes before he pulled away from Oscar so he could lay on his back. When Travis was comfortable, he pulled Oscar down to him and let Oscar slip back in and continue where he left off. Oscar stayed upright for a while before Travis reached up and grabbed his shoulders and pulled him down. Travis wrapped his arms around Oscar's shoulders and Oscar continued his thrusting movements while also using his right hand to stroke Travis' erection. Oscar's stroking coupled with the thrusting made Travis come undone within ten minutes and Oscar followed a few minutes afterwards. After Oscar fell over on his back next to Travis, Travis reached for tissues on his nightstand so he could clean up and he handed one to Oscar too.

"Do you feel better?" Travis teased.

"Yes, much better," Oscar answered. "I'll stay for a week. I know you have work, but it is my understanding that, because you work from home, you have a little more freedom as far as your work schedule is concerned."

"Yes and no," Travis answered truthfully. "I can go to and from my desk as I please, but that doesn't mean I'm allowed to spend a week doing minimal work."

Oscar sighed, "I tried to come in July. I really did. But there was such a rush of customers and I needed to be there in case of a problem. We've had circumstances where we have troubling costumers during the rush months and I'm the only one that has absolute authority to throw out customers if they're misbehaving in my hotel."

"Olivia seems like she can handle that just fine on her own."

"Technically she can, but it doesn't look good when she's dealing with troublesome costumers that demand to see me and I'm not there to handle them or their complaint."

"I understand," Travis said lightly. "I just would've liked to have you here when I had all that time off, that's all." Oscar nodded and wrapped his arm around Travis and pulled him to his chest.

"How about this? You can always come to see me instead of me coming here. That way, I can spend more time with you while still being at the hotel in case there's a problem."

"Oscar, I can't afford that. I make enough money to make a decent living, but I don't make enough to buy a plane ticket to Arizona every year. At least you can fly for free."

Oscar smiled in humor, "I guess that's true." Oscar kissed Travis on the head and left the bed to get his suitcase. "Is there any specific place I can put this?"

"You can put it on that chest over there." Travis pointed at the big chest off to the side of the room. Oscar looked at it curiously.

"What's in there?"

"Nothing special," Travis smiled. "It's just filled with heavy blankets in case I'm really cold. I might have really old clothes in there or something, but if I do they're at the bottom."

"If you say so," Oscar said, resting his suitcase onto the chest. When he opened his suitcase, the first thing he took out was a book that he tossed in the general direction of Travis' bed. As Oscar got out his toiletry bag, Travis looked at the book and laughed a little.

"Ann Rule? You read Ann Rule?"

"Yes, Travis, I read Ann Rule."

"What's _Small Sacrifices_ about? I know Ann Rule's a crime writer, but that's about it. My grandma used to read her according to my mom." Oscar threw a shirt at Travis for his teasing, smiling anyway.

"_Small Sacrifices_ is about Diane Downs' case."

"Who's Diane Downs?"

"She's the woman from Arizona that moved to Oregon to be closer to her parents and she shot her kids, killing one and debilitating the other two because her lover, Lew, didn't want to be a daddy."

Travis raised an eyebrow, "She murdered her children for her lover?"

"Only one of them ended up being killed. The other two lived, but the eldest daughter had a stroke that rendered her left side paralyzed and her youngest kid, Danny, became paralyzed from the waist down. And yes, she did all that for her lover, but the problem is that Lew had already gotten back together with his wife by that time and Diane couldn't get that through her head that Lew didn't want to be with her anymore."

"She sounds like a lovely lady," Travis said sarcastically.

"Believe it or not, she's not the worst I've ever read about. This book wasn't an Ann Rule book, but it's still a crime novel. It's about Judi Buenoano and that's the woman that poisoned her son, paralyzed him, and then made him drown so she could collect on his military benefits and life insurance and she got the other two kids involved in the crime. It's also heavily implied in the book that Judi and the son she didn't kill had a grossly inappropriate relationship. Possibly sexual, but the book never outright says that."

"Ew," Travis scrunched his nose. "Why do you read that stuff?"

"Because I'm a big fan of crime novels. Let it go, kid." Travis just smiled and took the book in his hand. At chapter 23, there was a collection of pictures of Diane Downs, her ex-husband, and her three kids as well as crime scene photos. Travis saw the photo of Diane showing her shot arm and the family photo of her. They looked like two completely different women. The crime photo looked like a woman possessed while the woman in the family photo looked pretty, young, and not frightening.

"I can't believe these two photos are of the same women." After putting his toiletry bag in the bathroom, Oscar came out to look at the pictures Travis was talking about.

"Yeah," Oscar nodded, "She's a pretty woman when you get her in the right angle, but at the wrong angle, she looks frightening."

"No kidding," Travis said. "How old is this book anyway?"

"The late eighties if I remember correctly," Oscar said. He took back the book and opened it to the first four pages or so. "The copyright says 1987, so yeah, this is pretty old."

"Have you read this before?"

"What if I have? Are you saying you don't re-read things you've read?"

"No," Travis said like Oscar was nuts, "Why would I re-read something I've already read?"

Oscar sighed, "Never mind. I take it the only books you've read were ones you were made to read?"

"Basically," Travis smiled. "I think I read the Harry Potter series once when I was younger, but that's really the only thing I've read willingly."

"Figures," Oscar said with a laugh.

As promised, Oscar spent the week with Travis, even through Travis' work schedule. Oscar's second night in Washington, Travis called Randy and Sharon and they all went barhopping together. The following night, Travis having told everyone that Oscar was in town, Travis brought Oscar to his parents' house for dinner so they could formally get acquainted with him. His brothers had already met Oscar and they were skeptical of him, but they remained polite throughout dinner and asked Oscar questions to try and get to know him better. Natalie came over that night with the family as well and it was nice to sit down with Oscar when there wasn't the pressure that had been in Arizona and talk to him pleasantly. Embry came too but he didn't bring Caevia to that, though. Caevia wasn't comfortable being around Oscar. She didn't know who the father was, but one thing she did know was that it was from Oscar's lineage and not Oliver's. Caevia had never found out who her father was, so it wasn't certain if she was Oscar's granddaughter or his niece, though either option was possible. It was certain in Caevia's mind, however, that Oscar was her child's grandfather and knowing that made her extremely uncomfortable with Oscar. Though Oscar wasn't going to delude himself into thinking there wasn't a possibility, he didn't much care for Caevia accusing him of anything either.


	30. Autumn Waters Part 2

Autumn Waters Part 2

At the end of Oscar's week in Washington, he stayed late into the night so he wouldn't be easily seen. He and Travis walked to first beach and went to the high bluff so Oscar could have a launch off point. Then they shared a kiss before Oscar stripped down, leaped off the bluff and fazed into a bird and came back to grab his stuff with his talons before flying away. They continued to talk over the phone almost every night, but Oscar wouldn't be coming back to Washington until the wedding in October. As the date of the wedding loomed, Gretchen did find someone to act as an understudy for Natalie while she was on her honeymoon. She would finish out the weeks of _Midsummer Night's Dream_ and part of _Hamlet_ and she'd be back for _King Lear_. It came to be a week and a half before the full moon when Suerro and Natalie's wedding day was planned.

The school had just let out on a Thursday afternoon. This year's afternoon kindergarten class was relatively small, so there were fewer kids to worry about at a time for him. Suerro was back in the classroom after taking the kids to their respective parents' cars at the end of the day and preparing to grade papers from his morning freshman and juniors. This year he would still be focusing on just Quileute, but Mrs. Kovac was planning to ask Suerro to take control of the French language classes next year too. The woman that was currently the French teacher would be retiring and Suerro, as far as Mrs. Kovac was concerned, was a natural choice. Kovac didn't know much truth about Suerro's past, but she did know that he'd spent many years in Quebec, Canada and was fluent in French. She was also impressed with Suerro's ability to handle a lot of students. Suerro was a fast reader (obviously) and hence was a fast and accurate grader, so Principle Kovac had the utmost confidence that Suerro could handle taking on the upper level French classes as well as the Upper level Quileute language classes (which were required), but that did mean he'd have to stop being the kindergarten teacher for either morning and afternoon.

Suerro had no trouble doing that. The French classes were never huge anyway. It was already a small school, it being on a small reservation, and the number of students that had the guts to take French was relatively small. As far as the Board of Education in Washington was concerned, as long as a student had one foreign language in a three year duration, they would qualify to graduate. The state of Washington considered Quileute a 'foreign' language, so it counted and that was good enough for most of the students. Suerro found that funny simply because Quileute had been in Washington long before English. If anything was foreign, it was the English language and Suerro said as much to his older students all the time. He usually got plenty of responses from his students who were more than happy to argue in English. The moment Suerro tried arguing in Quileute, however, the room went silent and he was never sure if he should laugh or be depressed. He usually chose to be depressed. Suerro continued to grade papers, correcting the most common mistakes among his students: applying English grammar to Quileute word order, conjugation, and verb/subject compliment and agreement. They were errors he saw too often and he was a few papers away from ranting to his students until they stopped getting them wrong. As he worked, there was a knock on the window of the classroom. Suerro knew who it was before he looked up, smelling Conner, one of his students, through the window. He put back on his glasses (the ones that made his eyes black though how he wasn't sure) before going to the window and opening it.

"What Conner?"

"Hey, sir," Conner said as he glanced over Suerro's shoulder at his desk. "I don't suppose I could have my phone back could I?"

"That depends: will I ever catch you texting in my class again?"

"Oh come on, Mr. Roux, I wasn't texting!"

"You took your phone out and you were about to." Suerro walked to his desk and took out the small phone and brought it back, giving it to Conner. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing when your hands are under the table and your head is down. Also, since you're here," Suerro handed Conner his paper that he'd already finished grading, "You're lucky I'm in a lenient mood, or you would've failed. You got a C-."

"You finished grading this already?"

"Yes, Conner, now listen closely. You're still applying the rules of English grammar and you need to stop doing that. Next time, I won't be so lenient."

"I can barely use English grammar, Mr. Roux. What makes you think my Quileute grammar will be any better?"

"_Because you're a grown man and I expect more out of you,"_ Suerro said in Quileute before closing the window and walking back to his desk. It took Conner a moment to translate what Suerro said exactly, but once the meaning sank in, he held his head down a moment feeling flattered before he ran off with his phone and his paper.

Suerro was finished grading all his class's papers and had the younger kids' pictures hung on the walls by five. The Roosevelt high school was going to the Red Night theatre that night for _Hamlet_, so Natalie wouldn't get back to her apartment until much later and the dog walker would take care of the dogs as far as their toilet needs were concerned, so Suerro packed up his things and drove to the Cullen house. Alice had called earlier letting him know that his tux was in and she wanted to get it fitted to him and there was still time to send it to a shop if there was anything wrong with it. When Suerro arrived, Alice wasted no time getting him into his tux. Thankfully, the tux was satisfactory and no adjustments needed to be made, so now Alice could focus on taking Caevia shopping for an appropriate dress for the wedding. The first step would be making Caevia wear a bra whether she liked it or not. Alice had bought her plenty of bras, that's for sure.

"I have to say, Suerro," Alice said as she smoothed out the shoulders of the tux, "you clean up well when you put your mind to it."

"Juliette said the same thing when she cut my hair and made me wear pants."

"Oh, don't say it like that, Suerro. You're marrying my niece; be happy!"

"I am happy, at least about marrying Natalie, the tux not so much. I haven't dressed this way since I left Canada for good."

"Well, you clearly haven't gone to any special events since then have you?"

"Of course not," Suerro said bluntly. "Can I please take this off now?"

Alice rolled her eyes, "I don't know what it is with you and the pack, but you all have an inexplicable aversion to nice clothing."

"It's not an aversion to nice clothing it's an aversion to looking stuffy." Suerro stepped into Alice and Jasper's walk-in closet and changed back into his normal clothes, hanging up the tux in its bag-like cover. When it was put away, Suerro glanced at a much bigger bag-like cover that was beige and ensured the dress wouldn't be seen. Suerro smiled and touched the bag, hoping he might be able to get one glance at it. He didn't believe seeing a little of the dress would be bad. As far as Suerro was concerned, seeing a dress didn't ruin a marriage, people in that marriage ruined a marriage. Suerro reached for the zipper, but Alice was there in the blink of an eye, grabbing his hand and stopping him.

"Don't you dare," Alice ordered.

Suerro sighed and took his hand away. "I was hoping you wouldn't notice."

"Suerro, I can see the future. Of course I'd know you were planning to look at Natalie's dress."

"I thought that didn't work anymore because of the wolves."

"Well, the pack members aren't here now are they? And you're not a member of the pack, you're a vampire and I can see your future just fine. Now get out of here and stay away from this dress." Alice pushed Suerro out of the closet and he finally left the room and started walking downstairs. Esme had everyone cleaning and making sure everything was spotless for when family came over. The Denalis were expected to arrive later in the day and Esme wanted the house clean. Caevia had insisted on helping, but by the time she'd finished cleaning the kitchen, Esme, Rosalie, Emmet, Jasper, Edward and Bella had already finished cleaning the rest of the house.

"Is there anything I should do?" Suerro asked Esme as she straightened some flowers she had in a vase.

"Oh, no, we've finished cleaning everything. I hear the tux fit well."

"As well as any tux fits," Suerro looked into the kitchen at Caevia, who was leaning against the newly cleaned countertop nibbling on a chicken salad sandwich. "How's the baby coming along? Poor Caevia looks about ready to pop."

Esme laughed, "She's doing just fine. She discovered she likes the taste of peanut butter smeared on top of Oreos, so at least she's finally getting some meat on her bones."

"She can't hear us, Esme. You can just say she's getting fat."

Esme swatted Suerro's arm, "Shame on you! She was skin and bones when we found her. She isn't getting fat, she's getting healthy. How dare you call a pregnant woman fat? Honestly, you're lucky you're dealing with me and not Embry. He'd skin you alive."

Suerro just shrugged, "Sure he would. Will she deliver in November as expected or is there a chance she'll go into labor early?"

"Carlisle doesn't see a reason to worry. She hasn't shown signs of early labor and the baby is growing normally. If the baby comes early it won't be because there's a problem, it'll be because the baby's good and ready to be born."

"As long as it's not during the wedding day," Suerro said. "There will be a lot of vampires at the wedding and I doubt the stench of wet dog will make the smell of her blood any less appealing."

"Carlisle will keep a close eye on her. And she's been in labor before and knows what to expect. If she feels herself begin to have contractions or start showing signs of labor, she'll tell Carlisle immediately and we'll get her away from everyone. But Carlisle is certain she won't go into labor at least until November. He's more concerned about this baby being late."

"Like you said, this baby will come when it's good and ready. That baby room's done, right?"

"Yes, it's done. There's a nice twin bed for Caevia and a comfy crib for the baby. It's decorated around the baby, but I suspect that won't matter too much. Caevia's really warming up to Embry and Edward says she loves him too."

"That's a plus," Suerro said.

"Suerro," Edward called from the music room where he was with Heather and Bella, "Romney's almost here."

"Already," Suerro asked. "He shouldn't be here for another week."

"Well, he's coming early." Edward returned his attention to Heather, whom Rosalie had brought over so the Denalis could meet her officially. The toddler pounded on the keys trying to mimic the complex song that Edward had been playing. Edward gently took a hold of Heather's hands and guided her tiny fingers over some of the keys to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. It was a simple song that she would recognize and Heather became eager to play the song. Suerro sat on the couch with Emmet and Jasper, who were watching _Psycho_ together, and waited the few minutes it took for Romney to get to the house.

"Are you guys watching _Psycho_?" Romney ran to the living room immediately after arriving and sat next to Suerro. "I haven't seen this movie since it came out in the sixties."

"You got here early," Suerro said. "Alice said she bought you a suit, so you'll be properly dressed that day." Romney smiled, but the smile was guilty. "What?"

"I have something I need to tell you, but you're going to be really angry with me about it."

"What do you need to tell me that's so bad?" Suerro asked, already tensing up and harshening his voice.

"Well, I was in Maine and I bumped into Juliette while I was there. She and I had some time for small talk and she asked me what was going on with me and I told her that I was going to be your best man at your wedding."

"Okay," Suerro said.

"Well, the problem comes in the form that she didn't believe me when I told her that you were getting married."

"So? Why should I care whether she believes it or not?"

Romney smiled nervously and scratched the back of his head needlessly, "Well, that's not the entirety of the problem. As I said, she didn't believe me and I kept insisting that you were actually getting married and…..well….I sort of accidentally invited her."

Now Suerro was angry and it showed in his tone, "What?"

"Yeah," Romney groaned, "I had a feeling you'd be mad."

"Of course I'm mad! Why would you invite Juliette to the wedding? I don't want her here! Next thing you know, Juliette will invite all her stupid bitch friends and you know how much I love those broads," Suerro said the last part with heavy sarcasm. "I go through all the trouble of keeping Alice from inviting too many people and now the one woman I want more than anything not to come is going to come."

"I got news for you, Suerro," Jasper chimed in, "Alice completely ignored your orders about the guest list." 

Suerro leered at Jasper, "She ignored the ninety person limit?"

"Shamelessly," Emmett said with a chuckle, completely ignoring Suerro's glaring red eyes. "Yours and Natalie's wedding is up to about one hundred fifty people last I checked. It's probably gone up since then too."

Suerro sighed heavily, "Damn it."

"I don't know when she'll be here, but when she arrives, you can always just ask her to leave. It's not like rudeness has ever been a struggle for you."

"Oh, I have every intention of telling her to leave. Don't you worry about that. I'm more concerned about who'll be my new best man. Natalie's insisting we keep things traditional, so that means I need a best man."

"Wait, what?" Romney grabbed a hold of Suerro's shoulder. "What the hell do you mean, 'new best man'? Who the hell else could possibly be your best man? You're not friends with anyone! You're a misanthropist for fuck sake! You're more of a cynic than Jonathan Swift!" Jasper and Emmett chuckled.

"I could make her brother my best man. Isn't that an option?"

"Oh no," Romney turned fully towards Suerro, "No, no, no, no, no! You are not dethroning me as your best man! I've been friends with you for over four hundred years! I have tolerated your cynicism and general assholeish behavior and have been like a brother to you for that long! I deserve to be your best man!"

"Well, after inviting Juliette of all people, I'm not sure I want you to be my best man anymore. I can't believe that you invited her. It's bad enough that Garret will be here."

"Yeah," Emmett said, "he still hates you by the way."

"Likewise," Suerro said.

"You're not making someone else your best man, Suerro. I'm the best friend you've ever had and you're not taking away the only plus to our years of friendship."

"Now you're just exaggerating."

"Alice!" Romney yelled and Alice came down.

"You don't need to yell. I can hear you from upstairs."

"Alice, get my top hat."

Alice looked at him strangely, "I didn't order you a top hat."

"Then I'll make one!" Romney stopped a moment, "Or buy one. Either way, I'll be wearing a top hat at your wedding; as your best man."

"You might want to consult my bride about that. I might not be the only one that thinks top hats are ridiculous."

"I'm wearing a top hat!" Romney left the living room and ran to the garage to borrow one of the cars so he could go to a men's warehouse and get a top hat. Suerro just rolled his eyes at the notion and watched the end of _Psycho_ with Emmett and Jasper. When he got back two and a half hours later, Romney wore the top hat proudly as he walked back into the house and Suerro just rolled his eyes at him.

"You look ridiculous, Romney."

"I'm wearing a top hat," was all Romney said in response as he went up to Alice and Jasper's room to put his top hat with the tux Alice had gotten him. Another hour later, Embry came to the Cullen house to visit Caevia and the arrival of the Denalis came shortly after that. Kate, Tanya, and Carmen all went straight to Bella who was holding Heather with Edward by her side.

"So this is Kevin's little girl?" Carmen said.

"She's so beautiful," Tanya said. "May I hold her?" Bella nodded with a smile and handed Heather over for the three Denali women to swoon and ogle over. Eleazar looked at Suerro, then looked at Garrett.

"So this is the one that called you a pea-brained Neanderthal?"

"Yes, it was this asshole." Garrett looked at Emmett, who was laughing. "My condolences for him joining the family. There's still time to knock some sense into the bride."

"We've been trying to for two and a half years and it's gotten us nowhere," Jasper said with a chuckle.

"Are Peter and Charlotte coming to the wedding? I'm sure he'd love to see Suerro again." The note of sarcasm was not lost on Suerro and he glared.

"Alice invited them," Jasper said, "so they'll be here soon enough."

Suerro groaned, "Why is ninety people such a difficult request to conform to? I let Alice take the reins on everything because that's what Natalie wanted and the one thing I ask, she ignores. It was one request. One simple fucking request. I have half a mind to take her to a courthouse and marry her in less than an hour with no family or friends around, just like Nathan and Ada did."

"Don't you dare," Alice hissed. "I haven't put in all this work to give Natalie the perfect wedding for you to drag her to a courthouse like a Vegas mistake." Suerro said nothing in response and just stayed put.

"So where is Kevin?" Tanya asked while she played with Heather.

"He had to work late," Rosalie answered. "He's handling a rape case with another lawyer and apparently two of the victims they're representing didn't even know they'd been raped until they saw the tapes or something along those lines. There are four victims total and they're suing a man called Victor Hadley. It's all over the news and Kevin is representing the victims and the state against Mr. Hadley."

"Heavy stuff," Garrett said.

"Yeah," Rosalie said. "He knew he'd be late, so Heather's spending the night with us."

Carmen smiled right at Heather and gasped an exaggerated motherese gasp. "Did you hear that? We get to have you all night and all day tomorrow." Then Carmen started tickling Heather's socked feet, making her giggle.

"So Garrett," Romney said while the ladies cooed Heather, "Did you know that Juliette's coming to this wedding?"

Garrett raised an amused eyebrow, "You don't say."

"Who's Juliette?" Eleazar asked.

"She's Suerro's ex-girlfriend," Garrett answered.

"She was never my 'girlfriend'," Suerro said defensively. "She was a woman that changed me against my will, forced me to be something I wasn't, and deluded herself into thinking our relationship was anything other than convenience."

"Does Natalie know that?" Eleazar asked innocently.

"Yes, Natalie knows that. She is fully aware that Juliette and I were together for a while and she knows anything that ever was between me and Juliette was purely superficial."

"You really are a cold-hearted asshole aren't you?" Garrett mumble. Then he looked at Romney, "Why are you friends with him again?"

Romney smiled. "I like to compare him to a coconut. He's hard to get into and not many people are willing to put in the work, but once the shell's been cracked open, there's delicious fruit and water that makes the hard work worthwhile."

"I never did like coconuts," Garrett said, walking over to Kate so he could see the baby.

"I don't like men who dress up like Indians and waste good tea," Suerro said and Eleazar laughed. Garrett just smiled defiantly before taking Heather into his arms and warning her against the dangers of the British and their overpriced tea. Heather babbled sounds and played with Garret's hair.

Suerro left after that and wasn't at the Cullen house again for the rest of the week. There were still a few days until the wedding and Gretchen finally gave Natalie her leave so she could spend time with the family and friends that had arrived for the wedding. That's the only time Suerro went back and he was also feeling a little better. He'd assumed that if Juliette were to come, she would've by now. He hadn't mentioned it to Natalie and he wanted to keep her in the dark about it, especially if Juliette didn't end up coming. But the more people that did show up, the more irritated Suerro got.

"Suerro," Charlotte smiled and held out her hand, "It's been so long."

Suerro smiled lightly, "Yes. It has been."

"Not long enough," Peter said under his breath. Charlotte swatted Peter's chest.

"Don't be rude, Peter." Charlotte smiled at Suerro again. "Congratulations on your engagement, Suerro. I never thought you'd get married to be honest."

"Neither did I," Peter shrugged.

"Trust me, I never expected to get married either, but when you've met the right person, you've met the right person." Charlotte giggled and looked at Peter with a loving smile.

"I'd certainly agree with that." Peter smiled back sincerely for the first time since they'd arrived.

To Suerro's great irritation, Alice had gone so far as to invite Amur and his coven. Suerro was convinced Amur was only invited as a big, 'fuck you, I'll invite as many people as I want,' to Suerro. At the moment, while Kevin was holding Heather, Benjamin was entertaining Heather with little tricks of weather, making her some snow and, after going outside and grabbing some dirt, growing Heather a rose from his hand. Natalie looked at the rose after Benjamin handed it to Heather.

"Wow," Natalie said, "I should make you grow my bouquet."

"He grew mine," Tia smiled and kissed Benjamin's cheek. "He grew me seven Nile Lilies and I walked down the aisle in a red dress."

"Red? Why not white?"

Tia answered, "Because I'm originally from India. White is a funeral color in India and wedding dresses are traditionally red."

"Oh," Natalie said, surprised. "I didn't know you're from India."

"Oh yeah, I was born in Calcutta. I was changed at a young age, but vampire attacks are rare in India. India's one of those lands that aren't preferred by vampires normally. It's too humid and monsoons are such a yearly thing that vampires usually run away pretty quick."

"Considering the overpopulation in India, you'd think it would be a hotspot for vampires," Suerro said.

"You'd think," Tia shrugged, "but vampires get anal about weather too and there aren't many vampires that are willing to put up with Indian weather to reap the benefits of overpopulation."

"Actually," Benjamin started, "When you really think about it, the lack of vampires is part of the reason there're so many people. There are several other reasons, but I'd say that's part of it too."

"Perhaps," Tia shrugged. "Now let me hold the baby." Tia took Heather from Kevin and cooed her. "Isn't she cute Kebi?" Kebi smiled in agreement and gently brushed Heather's cheek. Then she took off a ring on her middle finger that had been hers when she was human and put it in Heather's hand. Heather played with the ring and bit it while Tia kept her hand under Heather in case she dropped the ring and being ready to make sure she didn't accidently swallow it either. While Tia and Benjamin were occupied with Heather, Natalie took a hold of Suerro's hand and smiled at him sweetly.

"I really am sorry about this," Natalie said, referring to the influx of unwanted guests.

"It isn't your fault. It's your aunt's fault." Suerro kissed the top of Natalie's head. "I'll get over it once we're before the priest." Natalie smiled back and kissed Suerro on the lips and she heard Garrett shiver.

"I'd never believe it if I didn't see it for myself." Kate smiled and gently hit Garrett's chest. Natalie smiled and rested her head on Suerro's chest while he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

Moments later, Edward lost the smile he'd been directing at Heather and looked towards the backyard. Then he ran upstairs where Carlisle was with Alistair (again, a vampire invited only to annoy Suerro, but paradoxically, Alistair was the guest Suerro was starting to like) and when Suerro heard what they were talking about, he took a deep and forced breath that Natalie noticed.

"What's wrong."

"It's bad enough you invited her," Suerro said to Romney. "Now she's invited fucking Advent." Suerro hissed the name and everyone who knew Advent became extremely uncomfortable, though the number of vampires that actually knew Advent among the group was small.

"Advent?" Nicoleta asked Titus. "Wasn't that the vampire that drove our carriage on our wedding day?"

"Indeed," Titus answered. "He owed me a favor."

"What's the matter with him?" Amun asked.

"He's an 'aphrodisiac'," Carlisle said with heavy sarcasm when he came down with Alistair and Edward. "He's also the one that changed me." A large portion of the group was surprised by how tense Carlisle suddenly was. He usually never acted this way nor did he show any less than professional and kind hearted composure, even at times of stress and frustration. This was the first anyone in the house, except the Volturi Guards, had ever seen Carlisle look this angry.

"Grandpa," Nessie said, "Are you alright?"

"I'm sorry, Renesmee, but Advent brings back a lot of bad memories for me. When I'd first been changed and still lived in England, he tormented and accosted me. He enjoyed rubbing in my face that he'd been the one to change the 'Vampire Hunter' as he liked to call me."

"A lot of us agreed with him at the time," Gretchen admitted. "You'd forced us under the sewers in London until Advent had the courage to go up and hunt. You made a lot of enemies while you were human, Carlisle. Most of us were content to let you die, but Advent wanted to torture you and by God, he certainly did."

"Indeed," Carlisle agreed, "and I'm not the only one who's ever been offended by the man." Carlisle glanced at Alistair who held his head down and stared at his hands.

"If it's alright with you," Alistair said to Carlisle, "I think I'll remove myself to the attic and avoid our impending…..company." With that, Alistair ran right upstairs away from the hustle and bustle of all the vampires.

"What does he have against Advent?"Emmett asked Carlisle.

"Alistair never had a mate, but there was a woman that he'd been very fond of years ago. She was a Prussian woman named Helena and the two began to court. As I said, Advent is an Aphrodisiac, but he's the worst kind. I prefer to call him the embodiment of Rohypnol." Jacob gave Carlisle an odd look.

"You mean the date rape drug?"

"One in the same," Carlisle nodded. "His gift has the same effects as Rohypnol. With a touch, he has the individual completely light headed and in love with him and he's used this to his advantage over the years on several women. The fact that a woman was already mated was never any concern to him and he's broken up many couples. That's what he did to Alistair and Helena. Advent used his gift on Helena and, at the time, Alistair didn't believe Helena when she said she couldn't remember anything and that she was sorry. By the time Alistair did believe her, she'd already found another mate and she wouldn't take him back."

"No wonder he's so reclusive," Jacob said.

"That's only part of it, but yes. Alistair is just naturally a loner, but what happened with Helena didn't help in the slightest."

"Has he ever done that to you?" Kevin asked.

"No, he hasn't. I'm sure if I'd ever gotten really close to a woman, he would do so just to spite me, but in the years we were around each other, I never did." Carlisle looked at Esme. "Stay close to me while he's here and if you ever end up alone with him, I want you to leave immediately."

"Don't worry Carlisle," Esme held Carlisle's arm. "I'll stay close."

"Suerro," Natalie finally said, "What did you mean when you said, 'her'?" Suerro did not get the chance to answer Natalie as the 'her' in question came through the doors with two other women and a man.

Juliette was a blonde woman, extremely short with only high heeled tennis shoe wedges to prop her up and she was very petite with bright red eyes wearing jeans, a pink sweater atop a white laced camisole and a rabbit fur coat that went no lower than her hips. The woman to Juliette's right was a brunette woman that was much taller and had wavy hair unlike Juliette's straight hair. She was wearing a plaid skirt that looked to be from the seventies and an old beige blouse that looked to be from the thirties. She was wearing brown boots and seemed to care less about fashion than Juliette. The one to Juliette's left was also brunette, but with tones of red that was also straight. She had on jeans with fury boots, the bottom of her skinny jeans tucked into the boots, and a long sleeved turtle necked cashmere sweater. Finally, the man that walked in had very dark brown hair with a strong jaw, long nose and full lips. His eyes, like the others, were also bright red and he wore a pair of dress pants and a very light green dress shirt. He was also wearing a gold Rolex watch that he almost certainly stole from someone.

"Here comes the snake," Suerro said under his breath, "walking as if human."Juliette shot him a mean look in response.

"I certainly hope you mean Advent," Juliette said, her French accent heavy and fitting, and Advent chuckled.

"I resent that, Juliette," Advent said. "I'm not that bad."

"That depends on who you speak to," said the woman wearing the out of date clothing. When she found Suerro, she looked at the woman sitting next to him on the living room couch and looked genuinely surprised. "Wow," she said with a heavy French accent, "she's pretty." The one in the turtleneck looked where the vintage one had looked and became surprised as well.

"She is," she said in surprise, but instead not a French accent, but a light Maine accent. The one wearing the turtleneck sweater came to the couch and held out her hand to Natalie. "I'm Juniper, an old friend of Suerro's." Suerro didn't comment on their 'friendship' or lack thereof as Juniper pointed towards the vintage woman. "That's Marie, that's Juliette, and that's Advent." Natalie stood from the couch and accepted Juniper's hand and smiled graciously. Suerro stayed seated.

"It's a pleasure. I'm Natalie, Suerro's fiancée." Advent was the next to run over and he took Natalie's hand right after Juniper.

"Well, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd never believe it." Natalie continued to smile graciously.

"Well, you've seen it and I'm indeed Suerro's fiancée. I hear Suerro's not the only one that rubs people the wrong way. I've heard quite a number about you."

Advent chuckled, "Ah yes. Honestly, you sleep with a few people's mates and suddenly you're the vermin of the earth."

"I can imagine that would upset a lot of people," Natalie agreed with a raised eyebrow. She also noticed that Advent wasn't letting go of her hand.

"I suppose it does, but I can't help my gift. You see, Natalie, I don't chase tail," he referenced Natalie's wolf, "I entice it."

"Are you hitting on me?" Natalie asked, taking her hand away.

"Yes, he is," Suerro said and kicked Advent from his seat on the couch. Advent managed to maneuver around the coffee table and right himself after the kick to the shins. With Suerro continuing to glare, Advent smiled and looked at Natalie.

"My condolences to the happy bride."

"I assure you, sir, condolences are not in order," Natalie said just as politely.

"Please," he chuckled, "I am no sir. Advent is just fine." Advent glanced at Suerro who was now fiddling with a candle lighter that had been on the end table. "Am I allowed to kiss the ladies hand or does her fiancée take issue?" Suerro's answer was a simple click of the trigger that produced a small fire from the lighter as he stared Advent in the eye with a cruel smile. "I take that as a no. Your future husband is far too difficult, Natalie."

"In truth, I find that to be one of his finer traits." Suerro finally smiled genuinely, but continued to say nothing. That smile drained when Juliette finally ran over to make her own introductions.

"It's a pleasure," she said. "I assume Suerro's told you plenty of me."

"He's mentioned you briefly," Natalie answered and Juliette looked a little offended.

"Only briefly?" She looked at Suerro. "I'm offended, Suerro. And here I thought we were friends."

"More than friends as I recall," Advent chuckled to himself.

"We were barely friends let alone more," Suerro said defensively.

"So Juliette," Romney interrupted hurriedly, "what possessed you to invite the walking Rohypnol to a wedding?"

"He was in Quebec and I told him about Suerro's wedding and he was just as skeptical as myself. I already invited Juniper and Marie, so I figured what was one more invite?"

"I hadn't wanted the three of you here to begin with," Suerro barked back. "Advent is even more unwanted."

"Indeed," Carlisle agreed in an eerily soft voice. Advent turned to look at Carlisle and grinned.

"Carlisle," Advent said as he approached Carlisle and Esme. "It's been centuries since I last saw you."

"For good reason," Carlisle answered just as softly.

"Oh don't be that way, Carlisle. I changed you in 1663. I would think you'd be over that by now."

"There's more to the matter than you changing me and you damn well know it." Carlisle needlessly cleared his throat so he could keep his voice calm. "I would appreciate it, Advent, if you would leave my home and not come to my granddaughter's wedding."

"Even when angry you manage to remain polite," Advent laughed. "Speaking of which, what happened to your accent Carlisle? I loved hearing you yell at me in that heavy British."

"I'm in no mood, Advent. Either you leave willingly or I'll have you removed forcibly."

"Forcibly sounds good," Garrett said as he began to approach Advent.

"Well fuck me," Suerro said, standing from the couch, "I think I'm in agreement with the pea-brained Neanderthal."

"Now, now, that won't be necessary," Juliette said to the group ready to throw Advent out before she looked at Gretchen with a smile. "Are you Gretchen?"

"Yes, I am she."

"Advent has told me of you and I've been eager to meet you. Seeing as Advent is upsetting our hosts, why don't we all go back to your bar and have some blood?"

"I would be happy to," Gretchen answered with a smile, "Advent, while we're at the bar, you can tell me all about your exploits since we last saw each other."

Advent grinned and took a hold of Gretchen's hand. "I would be happy to. I haven't seen you since King Louis the 16th was decapitated." The two shared a good laugh and then Advent looked at Natalie. "Though I don't much understand your choice in husband, I congratulate the happy bride. I realize Carlisle and Suerro are upset now, but perhaps by the end of the week, they'll have relaxed and I can come to the wedding."

"I've made my feelings on the matter clear," Carlisle said. Everyone looked at him a little surprised. His British accent was beginning to slip in and Advent was clearly amused. "I'll not have you at my granddaughter's wedding, especially when you're not wanted by most of us."

Advent's sigh was exaggerated. "I'm wounded, Carlisle. I truly am but at least I heard that accent I love so much." Carlisle said nothing. "Now, Gretchen, I've not had a chance to see this latest establishment of yours and I'm eager to see it."

"It's a shame you didn't get here sooner. Natalie just received vacation time from performing in _Hamlet_. She played Ophelia this season." Advent looked back at Natalie impressed.

"A shame indeed," Advent said. "Perhaps I can see another play. What shall she be in next?"

"_King Lear_. She'll be playing Regan." Advent scrunched his nose in disgust.

"You're mad," he said to Gretchen. "Surely she would do well to play the lovely Cordelia: a character of youth and beauty and true daughterly obedience?"

"Oh, she's done that already. Besides, she'll be playing Abigail Williams in the spring and she needs to start preparing."

Advent shudder, "Such a vile character. You do Natalie ill justice." Advent went right back to Natalie and took her hand. "Surely such a beauty would be best as the enchanting Elizabeth Procter who was a loving wife and escaped the hangman's noose when heavy with child." Without warning, Suerro grabbed Advent's wrist and forced it back, causing a crack in his wrist that Advent was forced to release Natalie's hand to repair his own.

"You overstep," Suerro hissed. When Advent's wrist was no longer shattered, he smiled at Natalie.

"It would appear your husband-to-be is the jealous type. Pity," he sighed. "Now, Gretchen, to this fabulous bar I hear of endlessly."

Advent finally left with Gretchen, Juliette and her friends accompanying them, but no one really relaxed. Moments after Advent left, Alistair came back downstairs holding a book in his hand. He ran to Esme and handed her an old copy of _Paradise Lost_.

"I found that in the attic. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be up there." Alistair turned to leave, but Carlisle stopped him.

"You don't have to go back into the attic."

"I would prefer to remain there in the event the Frenchman invites himself back into your house."

Alistair retreated back to the attic once more and Esme rested the book on the end table that held her fresh white Gardenias. Suerro and Natalie left shortly after that and the drive back to Natalie's apartment was silent. Suerro had been expecting Juliette, but Advent's arrival had him in a really bad mood. When Suerro parked the car in the communal parking lot, he didn't get out right away. Instead he sat in the driver's seat staring out the window. Natalie stayed in the car with Suerro while he brooded. She figured he would start talking to her when he'd fully thought out what he was thinking about. So while Suerro brooded, she stared at her nails and rubbed them with her fingers. Occasionally, Natalie glanced at Suerro to check if he seemed any closer to being finished, but his face never changed. After five minutes, Natalie couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Are you mad at me or something?" Natalie finally asked.

"No," Suerro shook his head. "I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at…." Suerro sighed heavily. "I'm mad at several people, but you're not one of them."

"I assume you didn't know they would be arriving?"

"I knew about Juliette coming because Romney warned me. I didn't know about her friends coming and I certainly didn't know about Advent coming. I also didn't know that your aunt ignored a simple fucking request about keeping the wedding small." Suerro took a deep, calming, needless breath and rested his head against the steering wheel. "How about tomorrow we go to the courthouse and just get married? I'll buy us some different tickets and we'll go on our honeymoon early."

"Suerro," Natalie said with a weak smile, "we can't do that."

"Sure we can."

"Suerro, no," Natalie said sternly. "You're upset and I don't want to change our plans so you can get back at my aunt. It wouldn't be special if we did."

"Well, it's not special when Alice invited people we don't even know to the fucking wedding."

"Alice didn't invite Advent or Juliette and her friends, that was Romney. And it's not like he did it on purpose. You should know him better than that. Just because Juliette and Advent came doesn't mean we should elope and run to…..where are we even going anyway?"

"I said it was a surprise." Suerro finally smiled at Natalie. "If we get married tomorrow morning, you'll know by that afternoon."

"Suerro, I've been dreaming of this wedding for years and I want my wedding."

Suerro sighed heavily, "Fine." Suerro rubbed his face.

"Are you jealous?" Natalie teased. "You don't honestly think that I'll fall for Advent's flirting do you?" Suerro began to say no, but he growled in his throat and rested his head against the seat. Natalie lost her teasing smile suddenly. "You don't right?"

"It's not you, Natalie, it's him. I've known the man for most of the eighteenth century when he was living east and he's a complete narcissist. He has no regard for anyone's feelings but his own and when he wants something, he takes it. He's attracted to you, I know he is and he's broken up more couples than even I can count."

"So you think he's going to break us up?"

"I think he's going to try sleeping with you. He'll probably be all the more eager to since you're Carlisle's granddaughter and we're getting married. Advent and I have always rubbed each other the wrong way. But then, he rubs every man the wrong way."

"Suerro, nothing will happen between me and Advent. I don't want him, I want you. No amount of flirting on his part is going to change that."

"Did you not hear Carlisle when he told us about Advent's power? The man's a rapist. He doesn't necessarily need you to be willing to get what he wants from you."

"You asked me to never be alone with the man and I never will be." Natalie took a hold of Suerro's hand and scooted as close to him as the car's gearshift would allow. "Suerro, if it really unnerves you this much, I'll spend the rest of the week with my parents or grandparents, that way I'll always have someone around even when you're at work. Or I'll stay with Kevin and babysit with Aunt Rosalie. Whichever you want, I'll do."

Suerro began to shake his head, but then he faltered. "If your brother is alright with it," he finally said. "I know I'm being ridiculous, but I don't trust Advent and I don't trust your boss to keep him in line."

"I know, Suerro, I know. I'll call Kevin as soon as we get inside and if he's alright with me staying over for a few days. He could always use another babysitter to look after Heather." Suerro smiled, both lovingly and apologetically, at Natalie and leaned over to give her a kiss.

As soon as Natalie was in her apartment, she grabbed her cellphone from her purse and called Kevin's cellphone. He was just getting into his driveway when Natalie called him and asked about staying with him for the remainder of the week or at least until Advent had finally left. Kevin had his two cents about Suerro being paranoid and overreacting but ultimately agreed to let Natalie stay with him for a few days and babysit Heather with Rosalie whenever he was at work. Natalie took some time to pack her things into a large suitcase and an overnight bag with all her necessities and finally left with Suerro for Kevin's house about forty minutes after she'd called him. It took Suerro another half hour to drive Natalie to her brother's house in Green Lake. It took another fifteen minutes because Natalie insisted they stop somewhere so she could buy Heather a new doll, so they stopped at a strip mall that was still open. Natalie went inside and bought a stuffed plushy owl toy and then finally went to Kevin's house. Kevin answered the door with Heather wiggling in his arms. She smiled and babbled joyfully but unintelligibly when she saw Natalie at the door. Natalie presented the little plushy owl toy to Heather and covered her face with the toy so she could hoot behind it and made Heather giggle and babble more.

"Christ, Natalie, this is why you took so damn long?"

"Kevin," Natalie dropped the owl from her face and scolded. "Don't swear in front of the baby!"

"Oh, relax Natalie. She'll hear far worse once she starts going to school." Kevin took the toy from Natalie and held it close to Heather so she could coo over and admire it while Natalie took her suitcase and overnight bag to the guest bedroom. "Will you be staying as well?" Kevin asked Suerro.

"No, I won't. That wouldn't be appropriate."

"Yeah," Kevin agreed. "You've waited two years; what's another week? I can't believe you're asking her to stay with me because of that French guy."

"I know the man and I'm not taking any chances. I promise you, Carlisle would agree with my judgment. He hates Advent more than I do."

"Why?" Kevin asked. "Being the one that changed him doesn't seem like so awful a crime that it warrants that kind of anger from Carlisle of all people."

"It's so much more than that. Advent taunted and pestered Carlisle after he'd been changed. Advent even forced Carlisle through the doors of his former church, the one his father had been pastor to, and made sure everyone in that church knew their vampire hunter was now a vampire himself. Advent made Carlisle's first decade as a vampire a living nightmare and he's proud of himself for it. He bragged of it endlessly to Juliette when they'd first met at the turn of the century. She was impressed, but all I saw was a coward that was running away from a revolution by fleeing to America."

"So Carlisle hates Advent because he's a bully and you hate him because you're a misanthropist?"

"That about sums it up, yes. At least, that sums it up with regards to my feelings towards the man. I also don't respect what he does. Advent is attracted to Natalie and I'd rather she be with family that'll make sure he keeps away from her."

"I still think you're overreacting. Natalie's a big girl. She can take care of herself."

"That's not the point. If Advent is able to get his hands on her, she'll be in a daze and under his control. I just hope Gretchen doesn't mention Natalie's chastity. If she does, he'll have a field day."

"Don't worry, Suerro. With Aunt Rosalie around, no one will touch Natalie."

"I don't suppose Bella would be willing to babysit would she? She's the one that's a mental shield."

"Jesus," Kevin rolled his eyes, "If you're so damned concerned, _you_ stay here and look after her. Just tell the school you need to start your break early."

"I'll be here after work every day." Suerro looked at Heather, who was fixated on the owl, and nabbed her from Kevin. When Heather was cozy in Suerro's arms, he gently bounced her up and down.

Meanwhile back at Gretchen's bar, the group was sitting in the private VIP room in the back of the bar catching up and looking back on old times. The bulk of the conversation was between Gretchen and Advent. Advent bragged about living in the French countryside and boasted the beauties that followed a revolution and two world wars. Gretchen teased Advent, asking him how he would know whether or not the countryside looked better seeing as he was in America for most of the 19th and early 20th century to escape said wars.

Juliette wasn't contributing much to the conversation like her friends were. She was staring at the picture of Natalie that was hung in the VIP room among the pictures of all the other Red Night Theatre group members. It was a glamour shot meant for interviews should Natalie ever chose to apply for a commercial or something. As any theatre application photo was required to look, the photo focused on Natalie's face and went no lower than her shoulders. In the picture, Natalie wore a yellow sweater that cut low, showing a small hint of cleavage. Her lengthy locks of hair were tied up elegantly so that her face was clearly visible. Moments after seeing that photo, Juliette realized there were two other pictures of Natalie, one from when she was seven and another from when she was fourteen. She looked lovely in all three photos, but Juliette wasn't too impressed. Pink children, as Suerro liked to call them, never impressed her, especially not this one. She was just a child: an impudent, spoiled little brat. What Suerro saw in such a juvenile twat was beyond Juliette's understanding.

"Juliette, you've been so quiet," Advent said, interrupting her thoughts.

"Oh," she smiled, "Sorry. I was looking at the pictures on the wall."

"The ones of Natalie I noticed," Gretchen said proudly. "She's my shining star, that girl. I've had her since she was a tiny little girl. I remember when I used to make her do the splits while singing _God Save the Queen_ if she was late for rehearsal. I remember, whenever she couldn't remember the words, she'd start singing _The Star-spangled Banner_." Gretchen and the group laughed, "She's my finest girl. She sings like an angel, is a gifted dancer, and she can bring a tear to even my eye from sadness and from laughter. You should see her when she plays Puck. It's a delight!"

"Puck?" Advent said, stunned and repulsed. "Again, Gretchen, you do your actress a disservice. She should play Titania or Hermia. Such a radiant woman should be playing radiant women."

Gretchen smiled, "You speak as if I never give her those roles. She's been Titania. She played Helena before, but not Hermia. She's too tall to play Hermia. Puck just happens to be her favorite part to play. She does a magnificent job as Puck, so I certainly won't tell her 'no'. You would love her performance as Titania, though. Even at eighteen, Natalie was a stunning Fairy Queen."

Advent chuckled, "I'm sure she made sex with a donkey look irresistible." The group shared a laugh, but Juliette didn't join. "Oh Juliette, what's the matter? Don't tell me you're jealous of her." Advent continued to laugh as Juliette sneered her sweetest sneer.

"Of course not, Advent. Such a child is nothing."

"Oh, she's hardly a child," Advent mused. "She's a woman. Though, sadly, she's a woman that has made a poor choice in husband-to-be."

"Suerro isn't so awful," Juliette defended but the defense earned a sarcastic huff from Juniper.

"Please, Juliette, the man's a monster. No amount of adequacy in bed will ever change that he's a selfish, pig-headed asshole."

"He's not selfish," Juliette said with a light smile. "Suerro had it rough as a human, so a little irritability on his part is understandable."

"I lived through the first outbreak of the Black Death and found my husband had not. He had puss filled sores around his groin and his fingers were jet black when I finally found him," Gretchen threw in. "In fact, I suspect the only reason I'm a vampire today is because _I_ had caught the Black Death. My blood was too revolting to drink. Where's my gold metal and entitlement to atrocious behavior? "

"That's what I hear about Black Death," Marie added as she gulped the last of her pint of type-A blood.

"You're being facetious, Gretchen," Juliette said. "I'm not saying none of us ever went through horrible things when we were human, but none of us can say we saw our sister commit suicide."

"Nor can we say it was our fault as Suerro can," Advent chuckled. "I don't understand, Juliette. Even after our intimate encounters, you still hold feelings for that savage."

"I don't remember any of our intimate encounters," Juliette said with an ounce of venom in her voice, though the matter had long since been resolved. "So I can't say whether or not you were indeed an adequate lover."

"I can promise you I am. More than adequate in fact. Superb is the word that comes to mind."

"Regardless, I _remember _my intimate encounters with Suerro." Juliette smiled at the memories. "The man was a beast and I loved every moment of it." Advent rolled his eyes and drank more blood. "I never wished to end our arrangement. I had molded Suerro into a handsome exotic man any white colonial woman would turn green with envy for. He complained so much over me cutting his hair, but short hair becomes him. And the way he could strut in those clothes I gave him." Juliette breathed a sigh of delight. "Now that is how a man should hold himself when he walks."

"I think you may be delusional, Juliette," Marie teased. "My memory of the man doesn't quite match yours. Sure, he was handsome, but that's really all he had going for him. He wasn't charming, nor was he romantic. All he ever did was pout and brood. And it's his fault that poor Claudia was murdered by those revolting Olympic wolves." Marie looked at Gretchen. "Don't tell the bride I said such a thing."

"I shan't say a word," Gretchen assured.

"Indeed, don't say such a thing of the bride. I hear she's the white wolf with thick long locks that make her look like a prize winning show dog. I must say I'm eager to marvel at the sight of such glory."

"Suerro will kill you if you try to lay a hand on Natalie," Juniper said. "You do realize this, yes?"

"Bullocks, I'll kill you if you lay a hand on Natalie. She's a budding virgin and I won't have her virtue tarnished by the likes of you." Gretchen smiled after the lecture and Advent raised an eyebrow at her statement. "I say this in the most loving way possible of course."

"A virgin you say? And you would rather her virtue be tarnished by the likes of a savage?"

"If I'm being honest, I was hoping Caesar would be able to win her heart. You know Caesar right? He's the Spaniard that used to be a tango dancer in the forties."

"Oh!" Marie exclaimed, "You mean Caesar Ángel Franco? Oh, I loved him! He was such a superb dancer. I've always dreamed of doing a tango with him."

"You may have the opportunity to," Gretchen said with a smile. "I sent him an invitation to Natalie's wedding and he's assured me that he would be beside himself to come."

"Clearly he doesn't know the groom," Advent teased as Marie squealed with delight.

"It's not Caesar that concerns me," Gretchen smiled. "Suerro had asked that the wedding guest list stay small and so far, the number of people coming to this wedding could fill a high school. He'll be all the more irritated when he finds out I've invited someone else."

"Do you think this Spaniard will be able to knock some sense into the misled bride?"

"Oh Advent, don't be so eager. She loves the man, so don't speak that way. It's disrespectful."

"Is she left handed?" Juniper suddenly asked Gretchen. "I hear actors are always left-handed."

"She's also a twin," Gretchen said. "Yes, she's left-handed, but interestingly Nathan isn't. It has nothing to do with Natalie being an actress or even being a twin, it has to do with her being right-brained. It's common for twins and actors yes, but it's what comes with boundless creativity."

"You're exaggerating," Juliette said. "She's just a child. There's only so much one can expect from a child."

Advent chuckled, "Why Juliette, you _are _jealous! I suppose there's no account for ones taste in men."

"I don't see why," Marie said, still smiling. "Suerro is hardly a catch as far as a man is concerned."

"I never said I was jealous. I'm saying that Suerro can do better than a twelve year old."

"Natalie is hardly a twelve year old," Gretchen said. "She just turned twenty four. That's still much younger than Suerro, yes, but in a world such as ours, does age really matter?"

"Not at all," Advent answered in amusement. "I find younger women to be delightful. They're so impressionable, so sweet and innocent."

"You're a pig," Juniper teased.

"I resent that, Juniper," Advent laughed. "I simply know beauty when I see it."

"You're a pig," Juniper repeated and looked at Juliette. "And you're insane for seeing anything in Suerro."

"I believe Romney called him a coconut. Once you crack the shell, the fruit inside is sweet."

"As I recall," Marie said, "anything between you and Suerro was completely one-sided. You two went your separate ways when he refused to take your last name."

"That wasn't my choice, it was his," Juliette whined. "Suerro's a stubborn man but he has his good points. Unfortunately, his choice in wife will prove to be a poor point."

"Nonsense," Advent said. "Natalie is clearly the finest point Suerro will ever have. She's the only fine point as far as I'm concerned." Advent's voice was seductive as he spoke and Gretchen swatted his arm, but otherwise said nothing to Suerro.

"Ladies," Gretchen said, "Natalie's Bachelorette party is in two days. Why don't you girls get her something small and come to the party?"

"Will there be strippers?" Juniper asked.

"I hired one about a month ago, but Suerro found out and canceled the contract."

"For heaven's sake, why?" Marie asked.

"Because," Advent said, "some men are simply too insecure to let their fiancés play. I wouldn't mind being the stripper if you need someone last minute."

"No, Advent," Gretchen said, "we wouldn't dream of inconveniencing you." Advent chuckled at Gretchen's heavy sarcasm. "Besides, Natalie wasn't too keen on the idea of a stripper. She finds men in g-strings to be really unappealing."

"Well, I'll agree with that, but you can always request the stripper doesn't wear a thong or g-string," Juniper said. "Ask him to wear black briefs or some sexy boxers. There're no shortage of options available."

"Either way, no strippers I'm afraid. Just sex toys and other erotic paraphernalia." Marie and Juniper smiled.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with those things," Marie said. "I'm up for it."

"I think I'd like to come," Juniper agreed. "I can buy her cheap lube or something."

"I think I'll come too," Juliette said with a smile. "I've never been to a bachelorette party. Maybe it'll be fun."

"That's the spirit!" Gretchen said.

"Am I not invited?" Advent asked mournfully of Gretchen.

"Of course you're not invited. Bachelorette parties are a women only function."

Advent chuckled and leaned against the couch as they continued talking of other subjects. It was such a shame he couldn't come, but that didn't mean he couldn't offer up a gift to the happy bride. Keeping themselves concealed from sunlight, Gretchen took the group to an exotic store to buy anything that might be appropriate for the occasion. Advent accompanied them and found something quite to his liking to give to Natalie for a present. When Advent paid, he requested the teller put a special note in the box for Natalie to find when she opened her present. Gretchen agreed to take the present to Natalie, but only under the explicit promise that Advent hadn't done anything funny or inappropriate. Advent gave his word there was nothing askew about his gift.

The party would be held at the Cullen house. It's where most everyone already was and it was the only home with enough space to accommodate all the women that would be there. The men agreed to go hunting so the women could have the house to themselves for the party. Caevia's hair had grown a lot since Alice had shaved her head, but she was still extremely uncomfortable and self-conscious. She kept touching her neck or would bring the hood on the Yale sweatshirt over her head to hide that she had no hair. Caevia's hair had grown to at least three inches, so Alice called Otto's mate Maleshia and asked her to come look at Caevia's hair. By now the men were all out hunting including Edward (the only Cullen besides Nessie that spoke Quileute), so Nessie agreed to come early and help translate since Embry was at work and would need to be at the mall all night as well for his security job too. Nessie got to the Cullen house before Maleshia did, so she had an opportunity to explain to Caevia what would be happening. She also walked in on Alice and Caevia arguing over a nude colored bra that Alice had bought for Caevia (though considering Caevia's English was still pretty limited, Alice was doing most of the arguing).

"Damn it, Caevia, this is not up for discussion. You're going to learn to wear a bra in public even if I have to force you."

"No," Caevia managed to get out. "Bra is uncomfortable. I want not wear."

"Caevia, you're not buck naked in the middle of a backwards middle of nowhere desert anymore, you're in a civilized society and in civilized societies, ladies wear bras in public. You have D breasts for Christ's sake. You're NOT going braless!"

"Alice, that's a harsh thing to say," Nessie said.

"You honestly expect me to acknowledge those slave peddling baby murderers as 'civilized'? I don't think so, Nessie. Here," Alice handed Nessie the bra, "see if you can't get her to put this on. I've been arguing with her for ten minutes and I've had enough. If you get nowhere, force it on her. I have a nice outfit picked out for her to wear tonight and it REQUIRES the use of a bra."

Nessie took the bra from Alice as she left the room to get the downstairs ready for Natalie's bachelorette party. The thought made Nessie laugh a little. She couldn't believe her youngest were already twenty four. Where had the time gone? Soon, two of her kids will be married, two have given her grandkids, and now that Evalina had gotten her green card and citizenship, she would be moving to the United States for good once she sold her apartment complex in Moscow. When she and Kyle would get married was uncertain, but they were heading for marriage too. Nessie glanced at the outfit that was hung up on the closet door. It was a white long sleeve maternity shirt, some maternity dark wash jeans, and a grey maternity sweater that was knitted with long sleeves and that, were Caevia not very pregnant, would reach down to her knees.

"_Now Caevia,"_ Nessie finally said with a sigh, _"I know you don't want to, but please wear this."_ Caevia shook her head.

"_I don't like wearing that. It's uncomfortable. It feels strange on my skin."_

"_I know,"_ Nessie assured, _"Believe me I know. But if you're going to walk around in public, then you need to wear this. Not wearing this with breasts your size isn't appropriate. Please Caevia, you will get used to it. Before long, you won't even feel it anymore. And these are really well made ones that Alice gave you. These won't be uncomfortable. Please, Caevia, just for tonight and when the party is over, you can take it off, I promise."_ Caevia looked at the bra a moment and then back at Nessie. When she looked back at the bra, she sighed heavily and shook her head.

"Fine, fine, I wear the damn thing." Nessie smiled a little. Emmett was bound to teach her a few swear words that would stick. Caevia was coming a long way with her English. It wouldn't be long before she could speak entirely in English without any help.

Caevia shed her clothes without a second thought and took the bra from Nessie. That was another matter she tended to forget. When she'd been in Arizona, nudity was nothing anyone thought twice about, especially in those kinds of heat waves, but here it wasn't appropriate. She'd once walked down to the living room completely naked and was baffled when everyone seemed to be making a ruckus about it. Caevia put on the bra and the panties that matched them and Nessie helped Caevia get the other clothes on if she needed it. Since Caevia couldn't see her toes let alone reach them, Nessie had to put on Caevia's clean dress socks. They were black and had a very silky feel. When Caevia was dressed, Nessie told Caevia about Maleshia and how she would do her hair once she got here. It was all Nessie could tell her since the Quileute language had no way of translating 'hair weave' without sounding wrong. Nessie and Caevia went downstairs to wait for Maleshia to arrive. She arrived at the Cullen house by two in the afternoon, giving someone with her speed ample time to give Caevia a weave and be done before seven.

When Maleshia saw Caevia, she whistled, "Damn, girl, you look about ready to pop!" Maleshia glanced at Alice. "I assume this is Caevia?"

"Yeah, this is her. She's been really unhappy with her hair being so short. Is it long enough that you could give her a weave?"

Maleshia nodded, "Sure I can. I can have her weaved in less than two hours."

"Did you buy the longest weave extensions available?"

"I bought 35" extensions. That's just under three feet's worth of hair," Maleshia said after holding up the extensions from her beauty bag. "These were the longest extensions available and you owe me $1,385."

"$1,385?" Alice exclaimed. "There's no way those were that expensive."

"Are you kidding me? This was cheap for real human Brazilian hair! This has a similar texture to Native American hair and it's really thick and takes well to color. Once I get these sewn in, you can give her some brown highlights and it'll look beautiful. At other places, these extensions cost $140 apiece and I had to buy twenty lines of extensions so we can get the thickness she'll want. I managed to get these for $65 apiece plus tax and that's only because I know the stylist I bought them from and she gave me a deal. Jeez Alice, I never thought you'd be a tightwad with money when the contents of your closet are probably worth eight times that."

"It's not that, I just underestimated how much this would actually cost. I don't suppose these can be reused in future weaves you give her?"

"For that much money? Fuck yeah they can be. All that'll need to be redone are the braids. She knows what I'm doing right? You told me she doesn't speak much English."

"She's getting better, but she doesn't understand everything. Nessie's here if Caevia needs something translated, but she does know you'll be working on her hair."

"Okay, so she won't be freakin' out on me, right?"

"No, she won't," Nessie assured.

"Good," Maleshia said. "The last thing I need is for her to be squirmin' around like a big baby like Natalie does when I give her micro-braids. Well I've gone news for Natalie, beauty ain't easy and it sure as fuck don't feel like being a petted kitty." Maleshia ran to Caevia and led her to a chair in the kitchen. "Now then, let's get this going."

Maleshia sat Caevia down and started the braids. Caevia yelped when Maleshia started, feeling every tug and pull and tight braid of her hair against her scalp and she tried to get away, but Maleshia forced Caevia back down in the chair and told Nessie to explain that she'd get this done in at least thirty minutes and to "calm the fuck down" because when Maleshia had had her hair weaved, she "took it like a boss". In all honesty, that wasn't very reassuring considering Maleshia's last weave had been forty years ago and, being a vampire, she has a scalp like stone. Either way, Nessie assured Caevia that what she'd felt was the worst of it and that Maleshia would be finished soon. With Nessie's reassurance, Caevia took a deep breath and nodded. Maleshia continued before Caevia even finished nodding.

"So, Maleshia, when were you changed?" Esme asked, trying to pass the time.

"I couldn't give you an exact date. It was years after I was changed before I finally learned to read. We weren't permitted to learn how to read when I was human. The master wouldn't want his negroes to get too uppity," Maleshia hissed bitterly. "Maleshia is my real name. When I was a slave, my name was Joanna D."

"What did the D stand for?" Nessie asked.

"It didn't stand for anything. I wasn't the only Joanna, so my master differentiated his females by a letter of the alphabet. My older sister was Joanna C and there were two others named Joanna A and B. My master was so fucking lazy, he couldn't even give us varied names. Even the men all had the same name."

"So were you not born in the United States?"

"No, I wasn't. I was born in Africa, but I don't know where. Along the coast obviously, but that hardly narrows it down. Either way, I was a little girl when my sister and I were kidnapped and put on the boats to America. They kidnapped fifty of my people. Only twenty lived through the journey including me and my sister. I remember being chained up and sold at auction, but I can't remember for how much. It was less than my sister; I remember that much. The only good that came from being enslaved was I met Otto. That was the name all the men had: Otto. My Otto was Otto S. The master had a lot more male slaves than female slaves. He needed more field workers than house workers on a tobacco plantation in Louisiana."

"Was Otto born a slave?" Nessie asked.

"Yeah, his momma was a slave and so was his daddy. He never knew his parents of course. That's one of the ways they made an animal out of us. Whenever a slave woman had a baby, she was only allowed to keep her baby for a year or so before that kid was sold to a different plantation. It's meant to dissolve the mother-child bond I suppose. Otto had been born in New Orleans before he was moved out to the countryside. I don't know how old Otto was when we met, but he was much older than me for sure. Twenty years or so if I had to guess. He was old enough that he was married to another slave on the plantation. Joanna B to be exact. She was sold a few years after I'd gotten to the plantation and my sister had been there to console him when it had happened and they became intimate. Shortly after that, I was falling for Otto and I nabbed him for myself."

"Otto certainly got around for a man enslaved," Alice said.

"He may have been a slave, but that didn't stop him from getting his rocks off. It just happens, I was the one Otto decided to get his rocks off with in the end. He was sleeping with my sister and myself for a time, but I made him chose either her or me and he picked me."

"That's a little gross, sleeping with you and your sister at the same time," Rosalie said, scrunching her nose.

"I agree entirely," Maleshia said, "and that's why I made him choose. He's also the only one who continued to call me Maleshia even after I'd officially been renamed by the master. He didn't even do that with my sister."

"What was your sister's name?" Esme asked.

"Oronoko," Maleshia answered.

"Oronoko?" Esme asked a little surprised. "Isn't that a man's name? That's the name of the Slave Prince from Aphra Behn's novel."

"I suspect it's technically unisex, but then, Aphra thought there were tigers in South America, so as far as I'm concerned, she's not exactly the best source for African names and their gender preference. Also, her Oronoko was spelled O.R.O.O.N.O.K.O and whenever I think of my sister's name, I imagine it being spelled with only one O between R and N."

"How did you and Otto end up being changed into vampires?"

"Well, what happened was we had a new slave woman and man come onto the plantation and they were also from Africa. They spoke the same language as me, so I knew they were from the same tribe as me and that gave the three of us a great deal of comfort. My sister liked them, but she died in childbirth the spring after that couple came to the plantation. The baby was stillborn as well. Anyway, their names are Boipelo and his wife Isingoma by the way, Boipelo grew angry with being enslaved. Unbeknownst to our master, Boipelo is an educated man. He wasn't helpless like the rest of us often were. When he saw how cruelly we were treated and the injustice of our status, he decided to stand against it and attacked our master. It was the middle of the night when it happened. Boipelo snuck out of the slaves' quarters in the middle of the night and stole a pickaxe from the storage unit. He snuck into the house and murdered our master in his sleep. Boipelo dropped his weapon and ran out of the house so he could grab Isingoma and get her away. He told me that he'd come back for me when he could, but I was so sure he'd been killed. No slave got away with killing his master.

"Weeks went by without any news of Boipelo and Isingoma and whether or not they'd escaped or been captured. The master's son had a hefty reward available to anyone who could find and bring them back. The reward was higher if someone could bring them in alive. Our master's son wanted the opportunity to kill Boipelo and Isingoma himself for what Boipelo did to our master. It was the winter time before I saw Boipelo and Isingoma again, but they were different from what I'd remembered. Their eyes were red and their skin was paler. Boipelo told me he and Isingoma had just killed the rest of the plantation owners and that we were all free to go. The problem was most of us had been slaves since we were born and didn't know where to begin. Boipelo and Isingoma led us all, by night, up North where we'd have a reasonable chance at freedom and killed anyone that was hunting us down. All the Ottos and Joannas were extremely grateful, but only my Otto and I knew exactly what they were. That's the reason they changed us. They knew about the Volturi and their laws. And Boipelo, Isingoma and myself had become so close that they didn't want to risk me getting in any trouble. So they said they had to change me and Otto. Three days after we arrived in Illinois and finally felt safe, Otto and I were changed."

"Where are Boipelo and Isingoma now?"

"Last I heard from them, they were in Lesotho, South Africa. It's one of the better parts of Africa to be in these days."

"That's quite a story," Alice said.

"Indeed," Maleshia agreed. "Neither Otto or I have any idea how old we really are, but once we were vampires, it really didn't matter. People think Otto and I are one of those couples that tolerate each other more so than love each other, but that's not the case. I love Otto with all my heart. He just pisses me off most of the time." The group laughed, all except Caevia who wasn't following the story well enough to know what was funny.

"Does Otto feel the same way?"

"Yeah," Maleshia laughed. "It's the same for him. He tells me I'm pushy and loudmouthed and that I need to learn when's the appropriate time to keep my big mouth shut and blah blah blah. We argue like cats and dogs, but I wouldn't have any other man but Otto. That's mah' man," Maleshia said with pride and the women chuckled. "So Alice, wasn't Jasper a confederate soldier?"

"Yes, he was. He was changed during the war, but he's come a long way since then."

"Oh, I know, don't get so uptight. Plenty of men and women have done or been involved in things they regret. You can't hold that over someone's head when they're truly repentant. Forgiveness is the Christian thing to do." With those words, Maleshia finished up the last row of braids and Caevia's scalp finally stopped hurting. "Alright, honey, the braids are done. The worst part's over. Now we just sew in the extensions and then you can be in Alice's hands." Maleshia began working on the extensions and getting them ready for sewing as well as getting the curved needle ready.

"How do you get the braids so close to the scalp like that?" Esme asked.

"Practice," Maleshia said. "Years and years of practice. It's not so hard once you know what you're doing, it just takes a long time." Maleshia began sewing and, as Maleshia promised, it wasn't nearly as bad as the actual braiding. "You know, if I were human and this took me six hours like most other hair dressers, we'd plan a whole party around this. Some people will have barbecues while the stylist works on her client. It makes the whole thing just a little less tedious."

Maleshia kept up conversation as she sewed layer upon layer of thick black hair to the braids on Caevia's scalp. By the time she was finished, Caevia's locks were almost as long as Natalie's. When Maleshia was finished, Caevia didn't get a chance to pet her hair before Alice got a hold of it and started evening Caevia's hair out and giving her layers for a more textured, fuller look. When Caevia's hair was styled, but still extremely long, Alice took the color that Maleshia had mixed for her while she was working and began applying the dark brown highlights and the deep burgundy highlights into Caevia's hair so there was more depth. It was barely noticeable in a low light, but when she walks out into the sun, her hair will become a cornucopia of black, deep brown and deep reds that will give her hair added richness. When the color was applied, Nessie told Caevia she'd have to sit for a while until the color was set and that would take about thirty minutes. Nessie kept Caevia entertained and talked to her while the color set up. Once Alice was satisfied with the color, Alice washed Caevia's hair and styled it. She was finally allowed to touch her new long hair and when Rosalie held up a mirror for Caevia to look, she almost started crying.

"_My hair,"_ Caevia said in awe while petting her hair. It was so thick and lush and soft. She couldn't remember her hair ever feeling so wonderful or looking so beautiful. All the layers of extensions made her hair look extremely thick and full. The colors were hard to see, but they were there and made her hair look more beautiful. Alice had styled it into a wavy curl and her hair bounced with each movement.

"I think she likes it," Maleshia said with a smirk. "Now, she can wash this the way one would with normal hair, but she just has to be cautious of the braids. Black girls do to, but black women's hair is coarser and better able to hold certain shapes for longer periods. Since Caevia's hair texture falls under the category of Indian hair, she'll need to be all the more careful not to fool around with the braids."

"I'll make sure she learns the proper upkeep," Nessie assured. Caevia wasn't trying to understand any of them. She was staring at her hair and petting it the way one would pet a soft cat. Caevia couldn't wait for Embry to see her hair. He would love it for sure. Surely he would find her beautiful with her newly lengthy locks.

Natalie arrived soon after and she praised Caevia for her hair, claiming it was almost as long as hers. By seven, the house was packed with vampires, both women staying at the Cullen house for the wedding and female members of Natalie's theatre group. The only man there was Travis and that was only because he's her man of honor. Oscar wouldn't be in town until the end of the week, but Travis was looking forward to Oscar being in Washington. Oscar had told Travis he'd spend the whole week with him. Travis still had to work, but that didn't matter. He was just happy that Oscar would be visiting. The party officially started at seven but Gretchen arrived five minutes late.

"Gretchen, there you are," Esme said as she came to the patio door to greet them but she saw Juliette and her friends and was a little confused. "You brought Juliette, Juniper and Marie?"

"Yes, I did, I hope there's no problem with that. They're in town and I didn't want them to feel left out of all the fun. They brought gifts for Natalie and they're all nice."

"You brought Juliette?" Natalie said when she was closer to the patio entrance.

"Yes," Gretchen said. "Don't worry, dear, I invited them to come. I hope you're not upset," Gretchen said sincerely.

"No, I'm not upset," Natalie said, though she was just a little upset that Juliette of all people was at her bachelorette party. "They're welcome to stay if they want. The more the merrier right?"

"Indeed," Juliette said with a smirk. "So what will we be doing, kid? Are we starting with Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board or are we going right to Spin the Bottle?"

Gretchen laughed awkwardly and swatted Juliette's arm. "Now Juliette, if we're going to play, we must learn to play nicely."

"Indeed, Juliette, don't be such a wet blanket," Natalie said before walking back to the living room where all the seats were arranged. She put on her Bride crown when she got to her seat and looked back at Juliette with an air of arrogance on her face. "You wouldn't want to upset the bride now would you?" Juliette saw that look as a challenge. Gretchen saw it as a sign that Juliette should leave.

"You know what, Juliette," Gretchen said, "why don't you go back to the city and have some fun with Advent? I'm sure the poor thing's just bored out of his mind and could use some friendly company."

"No, I think I'll stay," Juliette said. "Advent can find his own entertainment in an unsuspecting woman at your bar. He doesn't need me to have fun. You don't mind do you Natalie?"

"Not at all," Natalie responded with that same arrogant look on her face.

"See," Juliette said to Gretchen. "The happy bride doesn't mind." Juliette walked towards the living room and took a seat on the couch next to Nicoleta.

"Oh bullocks," Gretchen mumbled to herself before following. If she'd known Juliette would be so immature about this, she would've never invited her. Juniper and Marie came in too. There was no longer any couch room left, so Juniper nabbed a kitchen chair near the couch and Marie stood behind Juliette. Gretchen sat on the shoulder of the chair Natalie was sitting at. "Well Caevia, look at you!" She said when she looked at Caevia. "Maleshia certainly did wonders."

"Damn straight," Maleshia said giving Caevia's hair one pet. "This is 100% real human Brazilian hair. It's the appropriate texture for Native American hair and she'll be able to use this until her hair grows back to a length she's happy with."

"I've always loved long hair," Marie said. "My hair used to be longer, but I had to cut it when my hair caught on fire." As Marie spoke, she leered at Juniper, who rolled her eyes.

"Damn it, Marie, it was an accident! And you're the one that didn't get away from the candle in time. I like to light my mother's candles from time to time so sue me!"

"Who even lights carved candles? They're supposed to be decorative! They can't very well act as decoration when they've melted."

"Marie, I've had those candles over a hundred years and my mother had them for forty years before me when she and my father still lived in Germany and they're still burning. You just have to know _how_ the burn the carved candle."

"My hair used to reach well below my shoulders," Marie pouted, now ignoring Juniper. "Now it's only shoulder length and it'll never grow back."

"My hair hasn't been short since I was little. I've always had really long hair," Natalie said.

"I suppose such a thing is natural for someone of Amazonian size," Juliette mumbled, making fun of Natalie's height.

"Well," Gretchen jumped in, "height in a woman is truly a rarity and comes with great benefits. Why, because of Natalie's height, I can put her in just about any role I want. She's so versatile and I've told you of her talent as an actress and singer."

"And when she's not doing that anymore, she can act as the family latter."

"Better than being the family stepping stool I guess," Natalie said as she grabbed the closest present to her while Juliette took a deep and unneeded breath. It was a small bag and what she pulled out was a bottle of Romance by Ralph Lauren. "Oh, Lindsey, you didn't have to get me perfume."

"My girlfriend loves how it smells," Lindsey smiled at Sarah, and then looked back at Natalie, "I also noticed that Suerro seemed to like that smell. Edward said Suerro liked it too and it's a nice subtle smell. Open the other purple bag, that's from Sarah." Natalie grabbed the purple bag and pulled out a Cargo four-pack lip gloss in pale pink, dark pink, red and brown.

"Oh, Sarah, thank you!"

"And they're non-smear, so you can kiss Suerro a million times and never get any of it on him."

"That's good news," Natalie handed the gloss to Alice. "That brown one's the same color as the other stuff, so let's use that for the wedding. It's a little shinier."

"Sounds good to me," Alice said, taking the glosses. The next several gifts were mostly lacey lingerie that were polyester free and several push-up bras. After several packages of sexy underwear, Natalie got to Juniper's bag. What she pulled out were four hardcover books: _Hot Sex: Over 200 Things You Can Try Tonight_, _The Best ORAL SEX Ever: Her Guide to Going Down_, _Tantric Orgasm for Women_, and _Tantric Sex: 7 Steps to the Best Sex of Your Life_.

"Oh my," Gretchen giggled.

"I don't know if I can read all these by my wedding night."

"I'll help you read them," Travis said, grabbing the oral sex and tantric sex guides. "You don't mind if I burrow these when you're done do you?" Everyone laughed but Bella, Kebi, and Esme held their heads down just slightly as they would if they could blush.

"Christ," Juniper said, "if you three are embarrassed by my gift, wait until you get to Marie's gift."

"I'm dreading it now," Bella said. Natalie looked at Juniper suspiciously and reached for Marie's present. Natalie opened it tentatively, not sure what to expect when she opened it. What she pulled out was a purple dildo approximately seven inches long.

"That's Mr. Dependable. I'm sure I don't need to explain the name," Marie said with a wink. Natalie also pulled out some Just Like Me lubricant that was original smelling. "Believe me, unless you use that lube, you'll never get it in even at your wettest."

"Thanks," Natalie said meekly as she stared at the dildo. "It smells like rubber."

"It's silicone actually, but yes it does smell a little rubbery," Marie agreed. "After a few uses, that smell will go away, so don't worry."

Juliette snickered, "You should use it tonight so you know what to expect for your wedding night." There were a number of ways to translate that statement's meaning, but all of them were either insulting or intimate knowledge that Natalie really wished Juliette didn't know before her, preferably not at all.

"I'll wait," Natalie finally said. "Suerro likes that I'm untouched." The tone Natalie used made sure Juliette knew exactly where she stood on that matter. "So is your gift next?"

"Yeah," Juliette said harshly. Natalie grabbed the bag with Juliette's present and pulled out a box of condoms. "Don't worry, those will fit," Juliette said with a smirk and Juniper and Marie just stared at Juliette. This wasn't normal for her and the passive aggressiveness was inappropriate.

"So, hey," Marie said, "how about we look at that blow job book. That'll be lots of fun! We can never be too good at that right ladies…and Travis."

"Shut up, I'm reading," Travis said as he continued to skim through the book.

"Wait a minute," Juliette said to Marie, "she still hasn't opened Advent's present." Juliette looked at Natalie. "He spent a lot of money on your gift."

"Good for him," Natalie said as she grabbed the last bag. There were several things in there, but the first thing she pulled out was a long flexible plastic cord with two pink balls on it. "What the hell is this?"

"It's a vaginal exerciser," Rosalie explained. "Their official name is Ben Wa Balls, but Ben Wa balls are usually two separate balls. Regardless, they're meant for strengthening your vaginal muscles to enhance feminine orgasms." Bella seemed to whine a little under her breath. "What? Just because Emmett and I are knowledgeable about sexual health and performance does not mean you have to complain, Bella."

"Who said I was complaining?" Bella said.

"Whatever, it's meant for vaginal exercise. You put lubricant on them so you can slide them in and you use your pubococcygeus muscles to hold the balls in for fifteen minutes to an hour to strengthen your vaginal muscles. It won't pop your cherry or anything, so start using them today and by next week, if you hold them in for at least an hour or so a day, you'll have a vagina of pure muscle. That's a good thing, dear. The tighter you are, the better it feels for the both of you."

"I'll keep that in mind," Natalie said, still a little baffled by the gift. Suerro wouldn't be happy if he knew Advent got her _anything_, let alone anything as intimate as vaginal Ben Wa balls. She put the balls back in the bag and reached for another gift in the bag. The next gift was a line of beads. "I'm scared to ask."

"They're anal beads," Travis answered.

"Like I said, I'm scared to ask." Natalie saw the anal specific lubricant and took them out to hand it to Travis. "Here," Natalie said, "you'd actually use this."

"Oh," Travis said, accepting the lubricant. "This is good stuff too." Natalie smiled a little before looking back into the bag. There was a hollow dildo looking thing in the bag as well. Natalie pulled that out to see what it was, but Travis answered her before she could ask.

"My ex had something like that. It's a male enhancer that's supposed to add an inch and a half or so to him and make the partner feel tighter to the one wearing the sleeve."

"Oh," Natalie said after she found a post-it note on the toy that said 'for the groom'. There was one more note in the bag that she pulled out to read.

"What is that?" Travis asked.

"It's a date, time, place and a note saying, 'Let's have fun'." Natalie sighed. "The man's creative, I'll give him that."

"I guess that's something," Travis said.

"Do you want these?" Natalie offered Travis the anal beads, but he shook his head.

"No, that's fine. I don't really like using toys. They're more trouble than they're worth most of the time. Thanks for offering, though. I'll ask Randy if he wants them. He likes toys."

"Thank you for that information I didn't want to know," Natalie teased and the two shared a laugh. "Thanks for the gifts guys; they're all a lot of fun." After all the gifts were opened, they all threw away wrapping paper and helped Natalie get her gifts to her car. "So how about that Juliette?" Natalie asked Travis as he closed her trunk and the two were alone, not that it really mattered. Anyone of the vampires could overhear them.

"I could feel the feminine snarly-ness. What the hell was that about?"

"I don't know," Natalie answered. "She started getting snippy with me, so I got snippy with her back. I think she's jealous that Suerro picked me."

"She never seemed to be bothered by it before. If she were really in love with him, wouldn't she be around Suerro more?"

"I think it's got more to do with the fact that he's unavailable. Maybe she thought there was still hope or something and now that's gone? I don't know; either way Suerro's mine and she can't have him."

Travis chuckled, "I'm not sure that warrants the two of you bickering like little girls. Seriously, Natalie, what's next? Spreading rumors Juliette's a whore? A cat-fight in the school gym?"

"Ha, ha, very funny. If she's nice to me I'll be nice to her, simple as that. But if she wants to be passive aggressive with me then I'll be passive aggressive with her." Natalie held up the box of condoms Juliette had given her. "And if she thinks this is going to scare me or hurt my feelings, she's got another thing coming. I won't be intimidated by her because she's a vampire and knew Suerro first. What matters is he loves me right now and if she's got a problem with that, she can kiss my proud pink ass."

"Jesus, Natalie, no need to get snarly," Travis said, holding up his hands. "I'm not the one trying to steal your fiancé."

Natalie took a deep breath, "Sorry. I'm just a little irritated, that's all."

"I know, and I don't blame you. Just don't bring it out on me, okay?"

"Yeah, I won't," Natalie promised. "I think I'll get going."

"Are you sure?" Travis asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I don't want to deal with Juliette anymore and it doesn't look like she's going to leave. I'd rather go back to Kevin's and play with Heather."

"Would she even be awake? It's nine thirty."

"Probably not, but that doesn't mean I can't watch her sleep for a bit. She looks so much like Kevin, especially when she's asleep." Natalie walked over to Travis and gave him a hug. "I'll see you later, okay? Oscar said he'd be here tonight right?"

"Yeah. I'll tell him you said hi when he gets here."

"You do that," Natalie said with a smile before she went into her car and drove away. It was late when she got back, so she decided to leave Heather alone. She saw the light on in Kevin's office and saw him leaning over his desk with a pen in his hand reading through some paperwork. "What are you doing still working?" Natalie asked Kevin.

"This case goes to court in a few weeks and I need to be prepared. This guy's lawyer is putting up the defense that these girls are lying about him raping them and that they took those drugs willingly. It's basically a case of his word against theirs and he's claiming they agreed to be videotaped too. This guy's a narcissist, so he'll drop dead before he ever admits he did anything wrong."

"Sounds awful," Natalie said. She walked into Kevin's office and leaned against his desk to read the case files and reports, but Kevin swatted her hip with the back of his hand to get her to stop.

"Peanut, it's illegal for you to read these. It's late, Nat, so go to bed. Heather went to sleep at seven, so I suspect she'll be waking up early."

"Alright, alright, I'll leave you alone. From all the trouble you're going through in this case, you could write a book about this case."

"That's a writer's place. In five years or so when a journalist comes to me and asks questions about the case for a book, I'll give him or her an interview and that'll be that."

"Wouldn't that be exciting: to be quoted and written about in a true crime novel as the heroic lawyer that saves the day?"

"Maybe," Kevin said. "Now go to bed. I need to get this done."

"That's not healthy you know," Natalie said, "staying up all night working. How about I make you some chamomile tea and you go to bed too?"

"Really, Natalie, that's alright. I need to get this done." Kevin looked up at Natalie and smiled. "I'll stop and go to bed in an hour alright? Deal?"

"I'll take it," Natalie responded smiling and patting Kevin's shoulder. "One more thing. Did Suerro come over at all today?"

"No, he didn't. He knew you'd be at our grandparents' house for most of the day. You can wait to talk to him until tomorrow. Just because he doesn't sleep doesn't mean you shouldn't."

"Sure, sure," Natalie said as she walked out of Kevin's office. "I just need to bring my gifts up to my room. I'll see you in the morning, Kevin."

"Night, Natalie," Kevin said and returned to his work. Natalie got all her gifts up in her room and packed away any lingerie so Suerro wouldn't end up seeing it. She also hid away the sex books and toys. The note from Advent she burned over the stove. If Suerro found out about that, he'd have a complete conniption fit. She didn't want Suerro getting upset over anything else concerning Advent. It was their week and she wanted it to be pleasant.

She woke up the next morning when she heard Kevin taking Heather downstairs for a bottle. Natalie looked at the clock and it read six in the morning. That wasn't too early for Heather, so that was good at least. Natalie heard Rosalie and Alice come in through to front door, so Natalie went to take a shower knowing that Heather was being taken care of while Kevin got ready for work. Cleaning her hair always took the longest for her to do, so Natalie was in the shower for a good thirty minutes before her hair was finally clean. She dried off and moved quickly to her room so she could get dressed with a towel wrapped around her head. She dressed in some yoga pants and a _Phantom of the Opera_ t-shirt the Red Night had sold when the play was being shown. Kevin already left for work by the time Natalie came downstairs and Rosalie was holding Heather and cooing to her.

"You left early last night," Alice said from the couch when Natalie was downstairs.

"Yeah, I know. You're not upset are you?"

"Not at all, Natalie. I overheard you talking to Travis about Juliette."

"Thanks for understanding. I didn't want to deal with her anymore." Natalie went to the kitchen and grabbed a coffee mug from the shelf above the Keurig. Then she grabbed a single serving of French Vanilla Cappuccino and got it set up.

"I assume we're to keep most of those presents from last night a secret from Suerro?" Alice asked after running into the kitchen while Natalie made her coffee.

"Yes, completely secret," Natalie said. "If Suerro found out about what Advent, Juliette and her friends gave me, let alone that they gave me gifts at all, he would go ape shit."

"Watch your language, Natalie," Alice scolded with a smile. "What about the lingerie? Would he be offended by us buying you naughty underwear," Alice teased.

"I think once we're married and he's allowed to see me in things like that, he won't care."

"So old fashioned," Alice giggled.

"I think that's romantic," Natalie said. "Don't you think so?"

"Very romantic," Alice agreed. "There's always something romantic about a gentleman. Suerro's at least a gentleman with you, so that counts for something." When Natalie's coffee was made, she took the mug out from under the Keurig and started drinking her cappuccino. "Should we be expecting him today?"

"I hope so," Natalie smiled. "I missed him yesterday."

"He has school today, right?"

"Yeah, and that gets out at three. He usually stays an hour to grade things, so maybe we can expect him by five. Maybe you can tell me what I should wear on my wedding day."

"One of the white ones naturally."

"Well yeah, but I got three different sets of white lingerie."

"I'd say go with the corset piece. It's more demure and I think it would be a nice start; more virginal if you will."

"The corset it is then. I don't suppose you know where he's taking me for our honeymoon do you?"

"Even if I did, my lips would be sealed. He wants to surprise you. All I know for sure is your flight leaves late and you'll arrive by morning."

"Well that doesn't tell me anything," Natalie pouted. After Natalie finished her coffee, she put the mug in the dishwasher and stole Heather from Rosalie. _Les Miserables_ came on a Starz channel, so Natalie stuck on that channel and hummed the songs to Heather. Heather always liked being sung to. Heather was too young to understand the concept of a woman being forced into prostitution or the plight of the poor during a ruthless revolution, but the music was something she could appreciate. During the movie's epilogue, Heather started trying to sing the ending song with Natalie. It came out in babbles, but Natalie sang the song with her as did Alice and Rosalie. If Gretchen ever got a hold of the rights to this play, Natalie wanted to be Fantine or Javert. Gretchen would give her a man's role if she begged enough.

Suerro eventually came to Kevin's house around five as Natalie predicted and Natalie refrained from telling Suerro that Juliette and her friends had attended the bachelorette party. With Suerro in the dark on the matter, the afternoon went by with no incident. Back at the Cullen house, all traces of the party from the night before were cleaned away and the house was back to normal. Caevia slept in that morning after insisting on helping with cleanup the night before. She came downstairs to have some lunch, all the while continuing to pet her hair as if she were scared it would disappear if she didn't. After eating lunch, Caevia felt some minor contractions and decided to go upstairs and rest. This happened all the time and Carlisle wasn't concerned. It was normal for a woman's body to start 'prepping' for labor by mimicking it and, according to Caevia, this had happened every time she'd been pregnant full term. When Edward had translated that last part to Carlisle, he asked Edward to consider giving Caevia treatment. Edward agreed. Caevia seemed to be adjusting well, but that didn't change that, from what Edward could tell from reading Caevia's mind, Caevia suffered from her past. PTSD, when left alone, could lead to a lot of trouble for everyone involved.

She already showed small signs here and there. She had admitted and genuinely felt love for Embry, but when he'd gone to kiss her, she'd pulled away without a second thought. She still was extremely uncomfortable when Carlisle was around her, even though she knew he wouldn't hurt her or the baby. Sudden sounds, like yelling from a movie, frightened her and she'd accidentally backhanded Emmett when he snuck up on her. It's a miracle all she got was a sprain from that. She would wake up in the middle of the night screaming sometimes too and when she would realize it was all a dream, she'd cry herself to sleep, usually with Edward being the one to comfort her. Worse yet, Embry had once caressed Caevia's cheek in an effort to comfort her after hearing Oscar laugh at something. The touch had had the opposite effect. Instead of bringing her comfort, her heart rate skyrocketed, she started trembling, and she scratched Embry's hand all out of pure reflex. When she was the one initiating a touch, she wasn't bothered it seemed. It was when Embry tried surprising her that she would start to get nervous. The best way to treat PTSD was to make her talk about it so that her past was less frightening, but when Edward tried to make Caevia talk, she refused to or claimed she didn't remember everything.

Kyle didn't like the idea of treating Caevia when he wasn't yet a licensed psychologist, but he'd taken many courses over the past several years that went into depth on how to treat an individual suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, particularly when that stress, from what both Edward and Kyle could read, started very early. How Caevia didn't suffer from onset Psychopathy was a miracle in itself as far as Kyle was concerned. Anyone else raised in the type of life Caevia had had would be in prison by the time they were twenty for drugs, robbery, assault or murder.

Caevia managed to fall asleep when she was upstairs. She was using Edward's old room. She'd never had a bed before and she could learn to love it. When she woke up and felt her hair, it was tangled and needed to be brushed. She heard Embry enter the front door as she finished brushing her hair and she got excited. She ran to the mirror and fluffed her hair the way she'd seen Alice do and went right back to sit on the edge of the bed to wait for Embry. When Embry finally made it up to the room Caevia was using, the first thing he saw was her hair and she was smiling eagerly, waiting for his opinion.

"Wow," was all he could initially muster as he walked over to Caevia to see her hair.

"Maleshia said she made weave," Caevia tried to explain and Embry smiled.

"She gave you a weave? It looks beautiful." Caevia smiled. _"You look beautiful,"_ Embry said in Quileute to ensure she understood. Caevia smiled and took a hold of Embry's hand and led it to her hair for him to feel. _"It feels so real."_

"_Maleshia said it is real hair._ 100% Brazilian hair_ is what she said."_

"_Was the party fun last night?"_

"_Juliette and her friends came. I think that upset Natalie. She and Juliette argued."_

"_Did they?"_ Embry sat down next to Caevia on the bed and rested his hand on her knee. He took it away the moment she flinched. _"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."_

"_No,"_ Caevia said before taking a deep breath and letting Embry's hand rest on her knee._ "I'm alright now."_

"_Don't force yourself to be alright with something, Caevia,"_ Embry said even while he kept his hand on Caevia's knee.

"_No,"_ Caevia said with a greater degree of harshness._ "They won't take your touch from me. I won't let them."_

Embry sensed the tension and felt her leg get stiff. He decided not to press the matter. He knew that Kyle wanted him to convince Caevia to talk about her past so she could come to terms with it, but Caevia seemed to really want to avoid her past. She would share some things with Embry, but if he asked her for greater detail, just as she did with Edward, she wouldn't talk about it. She didn't want to and Embry didn't want to force it. Embry dropped the topic and went back to praising her hair. That pleased her and got her mind off the past. Embry brought Caevia downstairs so she could watch Esme cook some food for the two of them. Much later, Caevia fell asleep against Embry's shoulder while they were watching a show Embry was trying to keep up with.

"Embry," Edward said when he knew Caevia was asleep. "We need to talk about something."

"What?"

"I know you're trying to be the good guy, but that won't help Caevia get over what happened in her life. Ignoring it is never the answer, especially in the world of the human mind. She needs to confront her past and she'll be more likely to do that if you encourage her. I know the last thing you want is for Caevia to do something to you or the girls accidently."

"She'd never hurt the girls," Embry hissed the words a little.

"Embry, she scratched you when you touched her cheek. She backhanded Embry when he accidentally snuck up on her. What if Jenna or Lauren accidentally sneak up on her? She might hit them out of reflex. If you coax her, she'll be more willing to let Kyle treat her. It doesn't just have to be Kyle either. She can talk to you. All you have to do is let her talk. The more she talks about it, the better. It'll harden her to what happened and she'll be able to live through her life normally."

"I know," Embry said and sighed heavily. "I know," he said again and looked at Caevia, still sleeping on his shoulder. "Can we at least wait until after she has the baby?"

"Sure," Edward sighed, "we'll wait until after she has the baby, but she does need to start treatment if you want there to be any hope that you two will have a normal relationship."

"Don't call it that," Embry said. "You're talking about her as if she's sick."

"She isn't sick, Embry, she's been abused. She needs proper psychological treatment to get over it." Embry was looking at Caevia while Edward spoke. He eventually nodded and kissed Caevia's forehead. His heart sank when, even in her sleep, she flinched.

The next morning back at Kevin's house, Kevin left for work after feeding Heather her bottle. Natalie went to make herself some breakfast once Rosalie arrived, but when she look in the fridge, there was no solid food. She had no intention of eating baby formula, but that was all that was in Kevin's fridge and cabinets. Natalie gave up with a heavy sigh and told Rosalie she'd be back after she did some grocery shopping. Natalie went to the closest Whole Foods near Kevin's house. The first thing she did was go to one of the little coffee shops in the store and bought herself a coffee and pastry. Natalie was almost done with her pastry when she smelled something vaguely familiar, but not familiar enough for her to care. She finished her chocolate pastry and licked the chocolate from her fingers.

"You're lucky Gretchen isn't here." Natalie jumped and looked over her shoulder at who'd spoken. It was Advent. "You know what she says about pastry treats. 'They go straight to your ass.'" Advent looked a little lower and smiled. "Your ass is lovely as is after all."

"What are you doing in a grocery store and when the sun's out?"

"Don't worry yourself over that. No one saw me in the sunlight. I saw you walk in and I thought I'd say hello." Advent leaned forward. "I also thought I'd ask how you liked my gift."

Natalie stood from her seat. "I appreciate the presents you gave me. Thank you very much."

"Did you miss the note?"

"No, I didn't miss the note; I just chose to ignore it. You can understand why I would do that right?"

"I can," Advent assured with a smile. "You crushed me, though. I was so looking forward to seeing you. I was going to ask you to sing for me. I've yet to hear it and I simply won't be happy until I do."

"Let Gretchen know that's what you'd like and she'll invite you to the next musical."

"I fear Gretchen might continue to miscast you. I would love a private showing with you as a character of my choosing."

"Maybe later. I have to buy some groceries for my brother. The man's absolutely hopeless about keeping his fridge stocked."

"That's never good when there's a baby."

"There's plenty of food for the baby, but that doesn't help me much."

"Indeed," Advent chuckled. "What do you plan to buy? I'll help you carry it."

"No, that's alright, that's what a cart is for." Natalie walked away from Advent and grabbed a cart from the front so she could start her shopping. It wasn't long before Advent was before her again in the first aisle holding a coffee cup.

"You forgot your coffee in your hast to avoid me," he teased and Natalie took the coffee back.

"Thank you for returning it to me. You didn't slip anything in there did you?"

"You insult me," Advent feigned offense. "I only meant to give back something you paid for."

"Well, thank you Advent. And I'm sorry for offending you."

"I don't suppose," Advent continued when Natalie tried to continue down the aisle, "that you would be willing to sing for me now. You're a well respected actress. I can't imagine anyone would take offense. I'm a good singer myself if I do say so myself."

"I won't sing anything in the middle of a grocery store of people that aren't here to hear me sing. If they want to hear me sing, they can pay the ticket price like everyone else. The same goes for you."

Advent chuckled, "My you're adorable when you're agitated. I can see why Suerro fell for you."

"Please, Advent. If all you plan to do is seduce me, I'd like you to leave me alone."

"Do _you_ want me to leave you alone or is that your _fiancé's _orders?"

"Both," Natalie said frankly. "Knowing what I know about you, I'd rather you kept as far away from me as possible. I don't usually take too well to registered sex offenders."

"Oh Natalie, I'm not registered," Advent chuckled. Natalie started walking away but stopped when the cart rammed into Advent. "Please accept my apologies for my forwardness but I'm compelled to pursue a woman I considered exceptionally beautiful."

"Unfortunately for you, this exceptional beauty is taken and happily so. Please leave me alone or I'll call Suerro and tell him to do something about you. You wouldn't want that now would you?"

Advent bellowed a laugh now. "You're simply a treat Natalie. I can't say I've ever had this much fun arguing with anyone."

"Well I'm not having fun." Natalie pulled out her phone. "This is your last chance to leave me alone and get away scot-free."

"I still want a private showing of your singing talents, Natalie. Let your fiancé do what he will to me when he finds out I've spoken with you. There's no harm in talking to someone." Natalie didn't answer. She instead typed a text message to Suerro, 'Advent followed me to a grocery store. He won't leave me alone.'

"You can deal with him after he reads that."

"You don't strike me as the type that would rely on her husband to defend her."

"I'm not. I can take care of myself. Suerro requested I warn him if you keep bothering me and that's what I've done. Compliance doesn't mean I'm helpless."

"Well said," Advent smiled. "I'll tell you what. After you drop off those groceries, come to the bar and we'll share that private room so you can give me a private viewing. I'll want you in full costume and everything. I'll even be in full costume myself."

"You already know who you want me to sing as?"

"I want us to sing the Finale to _Les Miserables_ together. I watched it the other day and I was reminded how much I enjoyed the play and the book. I don't suppose you know the lyrics in French do you?"

"I've never had a need to learn. I'm sorry to disappoint you."

"Oh, it's no disappointment. English is just fine too."

"Are you an idiot or just obnoxiously stubborn," Natalie asked harshly.

"When I look into your eyes, Natalie, I'd say I'm a little of both." Advent gave Natalie a seductive smile and she noticed him begin to move towards her and she stepped away.

"If you lay a hand on me, I'll make sure it's the last thing you do."

"I'd be a rich man if I had a dollar for every time someone's said that to me," Advent chuckled. "I cross my heart and hope to die, if you sing with me, I'll leave you alone." Natalie glared at Advent as his smile remained arrogantly seductive. It warranted a heavy sigh from Natalie.

"Come with me,

The chains will never bind you.

All your grief at last, at last behind you—"

"No, no, no," Advent stopped Natalie's admittedly weak and pathetic singing. "You're so much better than that. You're speed raping and I'll have none of that."

"Then you'll have nothing." Resolved, Natalie pushed her cart until Advent was out of her way.

"Would you agree if I bought your groceries for you?"

"No, Advent. That would be prostitution and I'll have none of that." Advent started laughing as Natalie walked away to do her grocery shopping. She didn't see Advent again and was certain he'd finally left and would leave her alone. Natalie paid for the groceries and kept the receipt. Kevin owed her grocery money. When she got back to the house, everything was the same as it had been when she'd left it: Rosalie was cuddling Heather who'd fallen soundly asleep again.

Rosalie put Heather in a small carrier so she could help Natalie put the groceries away. When they were all put away, Natalie ran up to Kevin's bedroom and rested the receipt on his nightstand so he'd find it later. Natalie went back to her room to drop off her purse and went back downstairs. An hour or so later, Rosalie received a text from Kevin that he'd be at work really late. Rosalie figured that since Kevin would be at work late, she would take Heather to the Cullen house and let her stay there until the next day. Rosalie sent Kevin a text letting him know that's what she'd be doing and Rosalie and Natalie left with Heather to go to the Cullen house. Worried that Suerro hadn't answered her yet, Natalie asked Rosalie to drop her off at the tribal school so she could check on Suerro. Maybe he'd not gotten the text and she'd have a chance to get rid of it so he wouldn't be upset over what was ultimately nothing. Natalie knew Suerro was on his lunch hour and that he used that time to do grading and talk to students if they needed him. Natalie walked to the window of the classroom she knew Suerro would be at and saw him at his desk talking with a student. With a smile, Natalie tapped on the window and got his attention.

"We'll talk about this later. I'll see you after I get back after my two week leave."

"Yes Mr. Roux." After that, the student walked out of the classroom and Suerro came to the window and opened it.

"What are you doing here?"

"Rosalie was taking Heather to our grandparents' house and she dropped me off here. I just wanted to come see you. I don't suppose you'd let me come in would you?" Suerro smiled and helped Natalie through the window. He didn't seem angry, so he must not have seen her text. "I don't suppose I could convince you to grab some lunch for me could I?"

"Sure, I'll get something for you." Suerro gave Natalie a kissed and walked from the classroom to grab Natalie some lunch. She knew Suerro would take a while since he had to walk at human pace. Natalie utilized that time to find Suerro's phone and delete her text. She found that and deleted it, but then she saw something else. She saw texts from Juliette on his phone. She only knew it was Juliette because the text announced as much. It only showed as a number otherwise.

_Suerro, __c'est__ Juliette. __Romney m'a donné votre numéro de téléphone et j'ai pensé vous demander comment vous allez._ (Suerro, it's Juliette. Romney gave me your phone number and I thought I'd ask how you're doing).

_Je dois dire que je vous ai manqué avoir sur la côte Est. Il était tellement plus facile de vous voir quand vous avez encore vécu en Nouvelle-Angleterre. _(I have to say I've missed having you in the east coast. It was so much easier to see you when you still lived in New England).

_J'espère que je n'ai pas perturbé votre fiancé quand je suis venu à son enterrement de vie de l'autre soir. Elle a quitté si tôt et je me sentais tellement horrible pour elle. Je suis sûre qu'elle vous a dit tout cela. _(I hope I didn't upset your fiancé when I came to her bachelorette party the other night. She left so early and I felt so awful for it. I'm sure she told you all about it).

_At-elle vous dire ce que nous, Français, lui a acheté pour son parti? Nain du sexe, des livres et d'innombrables autres choses innommables! Advent a même essayé d'inviter Natalie à une réunion de fin de nuit. Je suis sûr que vous savez quelles étaient ses intentions pour une telle rencontre en fin de soirée._ (Did she tell you what we French bought her for her party? Sex toys, books, and countless other unspeakable things! Advent even tried to invite Natalie to a late night meeting. I'm sure you know what his intentions were for such a late night encounter).

_Je crains qu'il ne soit fissuration grâce à la volonté de Natalie. Lorsque cela arrive, vous savez que je suis ici pour vous écouter._ (I fear he may be cracking at Natalie's resolve. When that happens, you know I'm here to listen).

Natalie stopped reading the texts after that one. Natalie deleted every single one before Suerro came back. She was sure he'd not read them yet. He would've spoken so by now if he had. Natalie wasn't sure whether it was important or not, but it was a good thing Juliette didn't know Natalie could read French. Her spoken French might be awful, but she could read and understand French just fine. Natalie put Suerro's phone back where she'd found it in time for Suerro not to see her doing so. He walked in with a bowl with cheesy potato soup.

"It's cheesy potato soup day?" Natalie asked gleefully. She'd not had that in years.

"I see you're one of the many students that love this soup."

"This was my favorite! This is everyone's favorite."

"I've gathered that since working here." Suerro put the bowl and spoon down on his desk for Natalie and reached for his phone. Natalie showed no sign to be concerned and when Suerro looked at his phone, he became confused. "That's strange. I could swear I heard my phone go off at least ten times."

"It could've been a student's phone."

"It was my phone. If it were a student's phone, the sound would come from in front of me instead of behind me." Suerro put his phone down and sat on his desk. "Do you want me to drive you to your grandparents' house before class starts back up?"

"You don't have to. I can run. Thank you for lunch, though. Just don't tell Gretchen I'm eating this soup. She'd kill me if she found out."

Suerro sighed heavily, "She can deal with it."

"So what were you talking to that student about?" Natalie ate her soup as he spoke.

"That student's been lagging behind and I'm trying to talk to him. I'll let his counselor know by the end of the day and she can talk to him about it."

"Are you happy you'll have some time off?"

"I should ask you the same. I'm glad we'll have some time alone." Suerro leaned down and kissed Natalie's cheek. "In fact, I'd say I'm chomping at the bit." Natalie giggled and kissed Suerro on the lips.

"I'm thrilled we'll have some time alone. At least tell me whether or not we'll be going out of the country. And Canada doesn't count."

Suerro chuckled, "Yes Natalie, we'll be going out of the country."

That was all Natalie needed to hear and she was extremely pleased. She gave Suerro a kiss and finished her soup while she and Suerro talked; she managed to avoid discussions of Advent and Juliette. When she was done, she left through the window again and ran for her grandparents' house. Everything seemed normal when she arrived. The number of vampires currently staying with the Cullens in anticipation for her wedding was overwhelming. She noticed Caevia wasn't downstairs with everyone and when she asked Rosalie about it, she told her that Caevia had a really bad case of Braxton Hicks earlier and was upstairs resting. Edward had confirmed in Carlisle's absence that she was indeed going through a false labor and that she'd be alright with some rest. Caevia claimed they were common and she wasn't too concerned about it either.

Natalie stayed near Rosalie, who was hogging Heather all to herself. Kevin had started nicknaming Rosalie Nanny Rose just to tease her. She didn't mind it though. She was all too happy to look after her niece. Since Natalie was at the Cullens' house, Suerro came right over after school let out. Today was his last day before he got vacation time for the wedding and he got everything graded before he came over. There would be a substitute teacher for the duration of his leave and it would be his responsibility to worry about the classes. Suerro had left specific instructions for the teacher and didn't want to worry about anything while he was on vacation and made it clear that he would not answer any emails until he returned.

Suerro took Heather from Rosalie and started playing with the baby. Natalie had one of Heather's toys and involved herself with the playtime. Everything was alright until much later when Heather was put to sleep in her little travel crib. Advent came to the house with Juliette and her friends close behind. Carlisle was still at the hospital, otherwise Advent would have been thrown out on sight.

"I'm surprised, Suerro. I would think you would come after me in a rage after this morning." _God damn it!_ Natalie thought to herself. Here she went through all the trouble to make sure Suerro didn't end up finding out about that and it was all for nothing.

"What are you talking about?"

"Natalie sent you a text this morning telling you I was bothering her and wouldn't leave her alone. All I wanted was for her to sing a finale with me and she simply refused."

"I deleted the text," Natalie admitted when Suerro looked at her. "I managed to take care of things so I deleted it so you wouldn't have to worry over nothing."

"Did you delete my texts too?" Juliette asked.

"Yes I did and how dare you presume to tell Suerro you'll be a shoulder to cry on when I did nothing wrong?"

"Hold on," Suerro yelled, "what the hell are we talking about? What about a shoulder to cry on?" Nessie touched Suerro's hand so he could see the Bachelorette party and, when he found out what Advent had given her, his face hardened and the lack of a pulse was all that kept his face from turning beet red.

"Now, now, Suerro, there's no need to be upset," Advent assured as Suerro walked over to him. "It was only a joke, I swear."

"Ne présumez pas que je suis un imbécile," (Do not assume I am a fool) Suerro hissed through gritted teeth.

"Ha," Advent laughed, "Je vous ai enragé en parler français?" (I've enraged you into speaking French).

"Je parle en français de sorte que même votre cerveau minuscule peut comprendre ce que je m'apprête à vous dire." (I'm speaking in French so that even your miniscule brain can understand what I'm about to tell you). Suddenly, Suerro started running and he grabbed a hold of Advent's neck and they both flew back into the back yard from the force of Suerro's attack. "Je suis dans mon droit de vous brûler en poussière et personne ne m'arrêtera." (I'm within my right to scorch you into dust and no one would stop me).

"Suerro, ce n'est pas nécessaire," (Suerro, that isn't necessary) Advent pleaded, finally beginning to get just a little uneasy by the situation. "Mes cadeaux à Natalie avait seulement pour s'amuser, je le jure. Il n'est pas nécessaire pour vous de réagir de manière excessive." (My gifts to Natalie were only in good fun, I swear. There is no need for you to overreact).

"Il est absolument nécessaire, Advent. Vous avez été la poursuite affections mon fiancé depuis votre arrivée et j'ai eu assez de lui." (It's absolutely necessary, Advent. You have been pursuing my fiancé's affections since you arrived and I've had enough of it).

"Suerro," Juliette said his name as she finally came over to the two men. Marie and Juniper followed intending to pull Suerro off Advent. "Descendez de lui, Suerro! Vous avez fait votre point!" (Get off of him, Suerro. You've made your point).

"Should we step in?" Rosalie asked of no one in particular.

"Nah," Natalie answered. "I think Suerro can handle this."

"Get your showgirl ass over here and help! This is your fault!" Juliette yelled.

"My fault?" Natalie yelled. "How is any of this my fault?" An answer didn't come in time and Suerro ripped Advent's head from his shoulders and everyone went completely silent.

"Suerro—"

"Calme," Suerro interrupted Juliette in a harsh tone. He handed Advent's to Juniper and lifted Advent's body by the collar and practically slammed it against Juliette. "Il ira bien lorsque vous rattachez la tête sur ses épaules, juste ne pas lui remettre ensemble en face de moi. Je veux Casanova et son trio des putains disparu, " Suerro said pointedly mostly at Juliette. "S'il essaie de venir au mariage, je vais lui mettre le feu la prochaine fois." (He'll be fine when you reattach his head to his shoulders, just don't put him back together in front of me. I want Casanova and his trio of whores gone. If he tries to come to the wedding, I'll set him on fire next time).

The mood in the air was horribly uncomfortable. It was as if daddy had hit mommy at the dinner table and the children were trying to ignore it. Suerro walked away from them without looking at anyone. He walked around the house so he could get to his car and drove away without a word. He didn't even look towards the house where everyone was gathered. He didn't look at Natalie. Suerro's car starting up and driving away ended up being the only sound for several unbearable seconds that felt like an eternity. Juliette and her friends stood where they'd been scolded and looked almost beaten as if their father had just scolded them.

"Anyone still want to burn Advent?" Garret finally said, looking at Alistair, who'd come down to see what all the commotion was about.

"I vote yes," Alistair said.

"I'm up for it," Austin agreed.

"I got the matches," Peter added. "Quick, before he regains consciousness."

"No, no, just let him go," Titus defended. "He's had his head ripped off. I'd say he's done for the day."

Garret argued they should still burn Advent while they had a chance, but Juliette and her friends had already run away with Advent ready to put him back together when they were far enough away. Natalie left for the garage while they argued, but then she remembered that Rosalie had driven her. Natalie helped herself to Grandpa Edward's Volvo and decided to just go back to Kevin's house. She'd seen the look on Suerro's face and she knew he was livid. She didn't know whether or not he was mad at her, but he was angry. Under the circumstances, Natalie figured she didn't have to stay at Kevin's house anymore, so she resolved to get all her things and take them back to her apartment. Kevin still wasn't home when she got back at eight, but when she entered, she smelled Suerro's scent faintly from the guest bedroom. Natalie walked up the stairs slowly and when she got to the guest bedroom, Suerro was lying on the bed holding, of all the things she got, that Mr. Dependable toy that Marie had given her.

"This thing smells like rubber," he said. He was attempting to lighten the mood, but the awkwardness was making that difficult and his joke fell flat.

"I can throw it away if you want."

"No," Suerro said, "No, I'll just give it back to Marie. And when I find her, I'll shove it up her ass," Suerro said with a harsh tone.

"Suerro, I'll just throw it away. Or I can give it to Travis and he can find someone among his circle of friends that might want it."

"Fine," Suerro answered before tossing the dildo on the floor.

"Do you want me to get rid of the books too?"

"No," he said, once again attempting humor, "no, you can keep those." This time, Natalie smiled.

"Of course you let me keep those."

"I do wish Advent were here, though. Then I could shove that sleeve down his throat and _then_ rip off his head. That was so satisfying."

"I already let Travis take that sleeve to give to one of his friends."

"Shame," Suerro said. "I was looking forward to doing that." Natalie walked over to the bed and sat down next to Suerro. She took his hand and the two clutched and un-clutched their intertwined fingers.

"I was scared you were angry with me too."

"I'm not," Suerro said and kissed the back of Natalie's hand. "The three of them were uninvited and they gave you presents that were inappropriate. You should've demanded they leave instead of arguing with Juliette though. I'd also like to say that you should know better than to go through my phone and delete my messages regardless of your intent."

"Suerro, Juliette had no business texting you. She didn't say anything important."

"I figured, but that's for me to determine. I can handle texts from Juliette regardless of their topic."

"She still had no business texting you. I don't care if you two were lovers before. You aren't anymore and she needs to back off."

"Natalie, I would hardly call us lovers. That implies the slightest emotional connection. Maybe she felt something for me but I never felt anything for her. Juliette's the woman that changed me, not just literally as a vampire but figuratively too. She spat on my culture and what I really am and changed me into an exotic white man. Juliette doesn't love me, she loves what she made of me."

"Does that bother you?" Natalie asked nervously.

"Not the latter. What bothers me is her forcing me to blend into a world I wanted nothing to do with." Suerro looked at Natalie. "You're all the good that ever came out of that." Natalie smiled and Suerro pulled Natalie gently until she fell to rest on his chest. "Now let me ask you something." Natalie nodded. "Does our previous relationship, however shallow it was, bother you?"

"A little," Natalie admitted. "I don't like that she knows you that intimately."

"Her 'intimate' knowledge of me is only skin deep. Sure, she remembers things about me but she knows little about my human life. She knows about Zurra and she knows about her death, but she knows nothing of the beliefs I grew up with, the religion I believed in," Suerro sighed heavily. "I don't even think she breathed before she began turning me Catholic. Or at least trying to make me Catholic. She just couldn't accept that I believed in spirits as opposed to a single God."

"And you still believe those things?" Natalie asked.

"Of course I do. I believe that the world around us is alive and that humans have a relationship with it. It's a system of give and take. Humans put in the work and respect the nature that provides for them from their hard work. I believe there was once an ogress that ate young children and that it was a brave Quileute girl that saved the kids from her by pushing the ogress into the fire. I believe there is a Trickster somewhere out there that found us and correct all our wrongs. I believe the Hou tribe used to walk on their hands and I believe that we were born from wolves."

"Those are the stories I was raised with. Daddy never really defined our religion though. My mother was never really specific either. I guess you could say I was raised in the church of Be a Good Person and You'll be Just Fine."

Suerro chuckled, "Cute." Suerro kissed Natalie's forehead. "Being a good person can only help right?"

"Never," Natalie added. "I can't believe you yelled at them in French. I've never heard you speak French before that."

"I hope you didn't understand all that."

"I can read French just fine, but I can't really speak it. It's been so many years since my Grandpa taught us French that the best I can do is read really closely and understand through context. I could read Juliette's texts at least."

"You should hear me speak French when I'm not angry," Suerro chuckled. Natalie looked up at Suerro with a sweet and encouraging smile and it made Suerro chuckle again. He moved a little until he was leaning on his right elbow and looking down at Natalie. "Te comparerai-je à un jour d'été?" Natalie looked at him as she thought a moment.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" Suerro nodded.

"Tu es plus aimable et plus tempéré.

Les vents violents font tomber les tendres bourgeons de mai,

Et le bail de l'été est de trop courte durée.

Tantôt l'œil du ciel brille trop ardemment,

Et tantôt son tient d'or se ternit."

"Suerro," Natalie interrupted.

"What?"

"Everyone uses Shakespeare for romance. There's nothing special about it." Suerro chuckled and kissed Natalie's nose.

"Do you want me to compose my own in French?"

"No," Natalie smiled. "Just give me a kiss." Suerro chuckled while Natalie lifted her head to Suerro's. She silenced his chuckle when their lips touched and one of the first things Suerro reached for was her hair. He loved Natalie's hair. The length of it aside, he loved the feel of it and the way is smelled, how it felt when he ran his fingers through it. There was something very sensual about running one's fingers through a woman's hair. It was such a simple and innocent touch, but that's what made it so sensual. That was what Suerro missed the most about his own longer hair. He'd been rather celibate as a human, but there had been one woman in his youth that had run her fingers through his hair and that simple touch lit his fire brighter than most other things. With his hair short, it's just not the same.

That's not to say there was no fire at all when Natalie's fingers petted his head, making his scalp tingle from the movement of his hair. And the way her nails would so gingerly run along his skin as if just a breath: even now the feeling that touch brought made him shudder. Suerro always told Natalie he desired her, but he never told her how much. Every touch, every kiss they shared that never moved past the most loving chasteness and lingering touches made him what her more. Four years now of simple, innocent touches, tame kisses, and elongated embraces had him desperate. Suerro never told Natalie of this. It would wait until their wedding night when he could finally put words into action and she was his. Natalie's independent, stubborn, free-spirited, and resilient; and she would be all his. Sure, other men would always covet her, but they would never have her. Only he would and that made him more desperate than anything else. Suerro took his lips away and began to kiss Natalie's cheek, his intention to venture down her neck, but he stopped himself in time.

"Why'd you stop?"

"Sorry, I had to. I'm getting a head of myself." Suerro chuckled, "Pun not intended." Natalie didn't initially catch what he meant, but she started smiling and even laughed a little when she realized Suerro had made a joke about having an erection. "See," Suerro said, "I can be funny."

Natalie smiled and kissed him again. "I never said you weren't."

The two smiled at each other and Suerro gave her one more kiss before helping her take her things to her car so she could go back to her apartment. When she got back, Prospero and Caliban, who'd stayed home and were cared for by a neighbor, glanced towards the door and wagged their tails, but otherwise didn't move from the couch. Though she had her stuff back at the apartment, Natalie decided to go back to Kevin's the next day and help Rosalie with Heather. She didn't really need the help per se, but Natalie enjoyed the time she got to spend with her niece. That evening, Natalie insisted that she and Travis go on a double date, so she, Travis, Suerro and Oscar all went out for dinner together. Suerro didn't eat, but he did contribute to conversation. He was fascinated with Oscar's war stories from both WWII and Vietnam. Oscar also used that time to tease Travis about being a Man of Honor for Natalie, asking if he'd be wearing a pretty green dress just like the other maids and Travis just told him to shut up while we all laughed. In truth, Travis would be wearing a tux just like all the other men. The only difference would be a matching green shirt and tie instead of the white.

Ada María would be wearing a green dress as well and was also Natalie's only female member of her bridal party. She would be holding yellow roses and Travis would have a yellow rose pinned to his lapel. Alice insisted that Natalie should've chosen a different color for her bridesmaid dress. The light green, Alice said, was too springy and that a darker color would be more appropriate for a fall month, but Natalie would not waver. Her bridesmaid would wear a light green dress, fall or not and Travis' shirt and tie would be the same color as the bridesmaid dress.

If Advent or Juliette ever came back, Natalie didn't know about it. Suerro would've told Natalie if they'd shown up because he would've been outraged. When Carlisle heard about what Suerro did to Advent….Natalie couldn't recall a time when she'd seen Grandpa Carlisle laugh so hard. It was several seconds of laughter before Carlisle asked, "Wait, is Advent dead?"

"No," Suerro told him remorsefully.

"Alright, then I don't feel bad for laughing."

Carlisle and Suerro both had a good laugh about that at Advent's expense. Alistair still stayed in the attic for most of the time he was visiting, but at least now he could brood in peace. Before Alistair retreated to the attic again, Jacob managed to ask Alistair to sing the Lumberjack Song. Alistair outright refused of course, but he did, at least, make Alistair say the name Denis. It was hardly a Monty Python joke in its entirety, but it was something. The day of the full moon fell on a Monday and the wedding would be held while the full moon rose. Suerro was prohibited from going to the Cullen house since that's where Natalie would get ready, so he stayed at Natalie's apartment with Romney.

"Are you honestly still planning to wear that God damned top hat?" Suerro asked while they waited for the time to leave for First Beach.

"I'm wearing it, Suerro and there's nothing you can do to change my mind. That's what you get for threatening to make someone else your best man."

"I should still just make Kevin my best man after you brought Advent and Juliette here."

"I said it wasn't on purpose! I told her about the wedding. How was I supposed to know she'd want to come?"

"If she shows up at the ceremony—"

"Will you relax! She won't come to the wedding. Not after that little head ripping fiasco." Romney chuckled. "That was priceless."

"I mean it. Either of them show up at the wedding, I'll light them both on fire."

"Now, Suerro, don't use your wedding pyre for murder."

"I will if I have to," Suerro growled under his breath.

"You won't have to," Romney assured. "I called Juliette to make sure she was going back to Quebec and she promised she wouldn't come to the wedding nor would Advent."

"Good," Suerro said.

"I can't promise they won't come back _ever_ but at least they won't come to the wedding."

"You let them know that if I ever see either of them again, regardless of circumstance—"

"Relax!" Romney said. "You're getting married today. Can't you just relax and enjoy the day?"

Suerro sighed heavily, "Alright, I'll drop it."

Meanwhile back at the Cullen house, Natalie got out of the shower and started towel drying her hair. Caevia had already showered and her hair was closer to being dry. It was a good thing the reception was being held at the family house. Caevia was still having some bad cases of Braxton Hicks. She could always feel better after a simple change of position, but they seemed to come back frequently throughout the day.

"How're you feeling this morning?" Natalie asked.

"Not so bad," she managed. She'd heard that questions so many times, it wasn't hard to translate it anymore. "Kicks a lot, but pain is slight."

"The baby kicks a lot? That's a good thing. Do you think it's a boy or a girl?" Natalie asked.

"I don't know," Caevia finally answered. "I find out when baby is born." Caevia started rubbing her belly trying to get the baby to kick. It always made her smile to feel it, especially knowing that she wouldn't lose this baby.

"Does it ever bother you?" Natalie asked, "The father not being involved I mean."

"No," Caevia answered coldly after translating the question in her head. _"Even if I knew exactly who the father is, I want this baby to have nothing to do with him."_

"Well," Natalie finally said, "you've got Embry now. He'll be good to you and the baby." Caevia finally smiled again, continuing to rub her belly. "So do you think you and Embry will get married?" Caevia looked confused.

"Married?"

"_Married,"_ Natalie translated for her. Caevia had heard the word wedding a million times but marriage or married weren't as commonly used or translated for her.

"Oh," Caevia said. "If he wants me."

"What about you? Do you want him?"

"Yes," Caevia answered almost immediately. She realized that was true and yet she was also dreading the idea.

"Do you love him?" Natalie pressed.

"I do," Caevia answered honestly.

"He loves you too," Natalie assured. "That's all that matters."

Eventually, Alice came back to the room after having set up the house for later that day and started getting Natalie's hair ready. Rosalie came up to help with Caevia's hair. Alice did Natalie's hair just as they discussed before. The birdcage veil went well with the style and it was easy to keep out of the way once Alice started the make-up. Rosalie stuck with a simple curly style for Caevia and managed to get a layer of powder and blush on her, but once Rosalie started with Caevia's eyes, she kept flinching away from the brushes. Rosalie lost her patience and Caevia only wore powder on her face. At least she was wearing a bra. Ada María showed up later in the afternoon, her makeup done and wearing her dress. All she needed was for Alice to do her hair. That was the beauty of only one bridesmaid: only one woman to make pretty for the photos. Travis arrived already dressed and his hair clean with Oscar by his side, telling him how pretty he looked in the spring lime green before leaving for the beach to wait for the ceremony to start. There weren't going to be many guests actually eating at the reception, but those who would be made sure to eat light through the day. Esme had a whole huge thing planned for the guests and they were all really eager for it.

When the sun began to fade, Natalie felt fine. She was in her dress, wearing her white fur shawl, and she felt more beautiful than she ever had before. When she stepped into the limo that would drive her to the beach, she still felt fine. Jacob, Nessie, Ada María and Travis were in the limo with her and they all spoke pleasantly the whole way there. When the limo stopped in front of the beach, Natalie still felt alright. She wasn't sure if it was good or bad that she wasn't trembling at the mere thought of walking down that aisle. Everyone except Natalie and Jacob went towards the aisle and got the whole thing started. While Jacob and Natalie waited behind, that's when she started to feel a little shaky.

"Are you getting nervous?" Jacob chuckled.

"Maybe a little," Natalie admitted. "It's just starting to really sink in is all."

"Yeah, I know how you feel. It was the same for me and your mother, so don't feel bad."

"I don't feel bad, I just feel really nervous. Why am I so nervous? This is a good thing."

"Sometimes honey, when you've waited long enough for something, it takes a while to sink in that it's actually happening and that puts people in fight or flight mode. It's exciting and that makes you feel nervous."

"Then let's get to the aisle and get this show on the road before I have a heart attack." Jacob chuckled and tightened his hold on her arm reassuringly while they waited for their cue to start walking.

The musical cue was _Sound of Silence_ on a single guitar. Plenty thought the song choice was really strange, but there was a good reason for the choice of wedding march both figurative and literal. Suerro and Natalie knew its significance and that's all that mattered. The bonfire had been lit a few minutes before the limo arrived so it would be blazing by the time the actual ceremony started. As Jacob led Natalie to the aisle, her hold on his hand began to tighten as her nerves escalated and she had to start breathing more frequently. The feeling was comparable to the first time she ever performed in front of a live audience. Granted, that first performance was as the little Indian child Titania had taken into her custody, but it was still nerve racking, and this was too. Some of the nerves went away slightly when she saw Romney at Suerro's side wearing a top hat. She looked at Suerro and he just shrugged ever so slightly, but kept smiling at her anyway.

By the time Jacob handed Natalie over to Suerro, she'd managed to completely forget and ignore the top hat and kept her sights on Suerro. The ceremony itself was a combination of the old and the new. The bonfire was a tradition of weddings from Suerro's youth and the licensed preacher was simple legality. The dress, the set up of maids and so on, all were the new. She barely heard the preacher speak as he began the ceremony, telling of marriage and what a Christian couple should be. Suerro was never Christian and Natalie was only Christian on her mother's side in theory, but none of that mattered. They were getting married. It was all the more either of them cared about. They'd decided they would write their own vows to be said at the ceremony and Natalie's remained very simple.

"Suerro," Natalie began, gently wiping a tear from her eye, "I was in love with you after a single glance your way. Every day that I see you, I love you more and more. We were probably the most unlikely couple imaginable, but despite all odds we fell in love. I promise I will support and love you until the end. I will be a wife that you deserve, I will be the lover you desire, and I shall love you forever." Natalie had to stop a few times to take her breath and hold back tears, but she managed to say her vows and never looked away from him. It helped that Suerro gently rubbed her hands while she recited her vows and he didn't stop even after she'd finished. The priest told Suerro to recite his vows, and he never took his eyes off Natalie, brushing away any stray tear.

"J'ai une fois que vous par rapport à un jour d'été

_(I once compared you to a summer's day)_

Pourtant, la lumière de l'été et le soleil ne peut pas comparer

_(Yet summer's light and sun cannot compare)_

Pour tout l'éclat de vos yeux ne trahissent:

_(To all the sparkle your eyes do betray:)_

Une luxure et l'amour que je suis obligé de regarder.

_(A lust and love that I am forced to stare.)_

Si gentil et merveilleux que vous êtes pour moi,

_(So kind and wonderful you are to me,)_

Donner moi plus que je ne pourrais jamais gagner.

_(Giving me more than I could ever earn.)_

La même chose J'espère que je peux revenir à toi

_(The same I hope I may return to thee)_

Et c'est vous à qui je vais toujours aspirent.

_(And it is you for whom I'll always yearn.)_

'Je veux t'épouser,' les mots les plus doux de tous.

_('I'll marry you,' the sweetest words of all.)_

Un instant, je tiendrai toujours si chère

_(A moment I shall always hold so dear)_

Et je serai toujours dans votre esclave.

_(And I shall be forever in your thrall.)_

Alors murmurer 'Je t'aime,' si gentiment ici

_(So whisper 'I love you,' so sweetly here)_

Et je vais chuchoter les mêmes dans le vôtre

_(And I shall whisper the same into yours)_

Pour nous faire lier à l'amour pour toujours.

_(To make us bound in love forever more.)_" It was Suerro's sonnet to Natalie. It wasn't written by Shakespeare, translated by Victor Hugo, it was his own proclamation of his love put in fourteen lines of iambic pentameter ending in a couplet. It certainly wasn't quite the same in French and it wasn't the perfect sonnet (far from it to be perfectly honest), but he wanted it to be more personal. Besides, she'd said she wanted to hear him speak French. She would certainly get plenty of that once they arrived at their destination.

The preacher spoke Spanish instead of French, but he could pick out the words that indicated romance. Suerro had spoken the words slowly so Natalie would be able to understand his French sonnet and his words made her heart swell and her eyes follow suit. The two of them exchanged rings at the preacher's orders and once the rings were on, they were finally allowed to kiss. It was a gentle kiss; their first kiss as husband and wife, but the kiss only lasted the briefest of moments. Suerro and Natalie could always wait to be passionate when they were alone. Suerro and Natalie walked back down the aisle together and all the guests proceeded to the Cullens' house for the reception. When Suerro and Natalie went to the backyard, the first thing they did was have their first dance. The two danced alone for the first minute of the song, and then other guests started to join in. Embry convinced Caevia to dance with him, but neither of them followed the beat. They kept it slow.

"_Did you like the ceremony?"_

"_It's too cold,"_ she answered with a smile.

"_Would you rather go inside? Are you still feeling alright?"_ Embry asked regarding the baby. Caevia nodded to the first question and the two walked back into the house together where the heater was on and it was nice and warm. Caevia was wearing a purple silk dress that reached to the floor and was covered with purple lace that also covered her neck and her arms with a ribbon tied just under her breasts, but she was still cold. She looked beautiful.

"_I haven't felt pain since this morning,"_ Caevia finally answered Embry's second question after she sat down on the comfy white couch.

"_That's good." _Embry sat down next to her._ "You were starting to scare me a little, like this kid was going to come really early."_

"_It probably will be," _Caevia said. _"Babies come when they're ready."_ Embry smiled and reached out to take Caevia's hand. The flinch was slight. He wasn't even sure if Caevia had noticed it, but Embry did.

"_Do you know what you'll name the baby?"_

"_I'll know when I see him or her."_

Embry smiled at her and continued to hold her hand. Her hands were cold, so he held both to warm them up and she gladly accepted the warmth. Back outside, dinner was served to anyone eating and Gretchen had, so generously, brought plenty of booze and blood for all the guests. Everyone at that wedding was either a vampire or an Olympic wolf, so there was no big deal. Natalie drank a "Blushing Bride" (1.5 oz-Pearl Wedding Cake Vodka, 1 oz-Cranberry juice, top with Champaign (2-3oz)) but only one. Suerro still wouldn't tell her where they were going. All she knew was they'd be on a plane for several hours and she didn't want to be drunk on the plane. She couldn't speak for her other drinking family members, but they didn't have a ten hour flight ahead of them. When the guests had, for the most part, finished dinner and before it was time to cut the cake, family members came up and made toasts to the couple. Since Suerro's only 'family' was Romney, he was the first to go. He came up to a small stand standing before the wedding cake holding a glass of Champaign (for tradition's sake) and began the toasts.

"I have to say," Romney said, "I never thought this day would come. Not just that I'm stunned that Suerro found a wife before me," Suerro chuckled a little, "but that he'd found anyone at all. When I first met Suerro, he could barely speak a word of English and he insulted me without my even realizing it." Romney snickered. "I believe you had said, 'Est-ce qu'un Américain? Je me représentais quelque chose de plus intelligent.'" All who spoke French snickered. "I'm told that means you called me stupid. Don't worry, he insulted me in English a few times too. Believe it or not, the more he insulted me, the more determined I was to make him a friend. I was determined to make this weird, mean spirited man my friend and I'm glad I did. He's like a brother to me now and I'm happy he's found someone to love him. I'm indebted to you Natalie. You made Suerro happier than I've ever seen him and that's all I could ask for." Romney lifted the glass a little, "Here's to the happy couple." Everyone took a sip, even the vampires, otherwise it would've been bad luck. Romney stepped down and Jacob came up next to make his toast.

"Well," Jacob looked at his foot and then back up, "I had a whole speech prepared for this but I forgot it at home so I'll just have to wing it." Nessie smiled and held Natalie's hand, smiling. "I can't pretend that I've always liked Suerro. All things aside, though, he's really proved himself to be a good guy. I'm glad to see that he makes my daughter so happy and I wish the two of you the best. I should remind Suerro, though, I can turn into a wolf." Light laughter ensued. "Being that I can turn into a wolf, I can do things most fathers can't do. In short, Suerro will be good to my daughter because if he isn't, I will eat him." The laughter became a little more exuberant as Jacob lifted his glass. "To the happy couple." Everyone drank again and Jacob stepped down and went back to his seat at the bridal table next to Nessie. Nathan took the next seat, seeing as he and Natalie are twins.

"I guess it's my turn." Nathan cleared his throat and smiled. "I want to start by congratulating my little sister for her marriage. She's been waiting for you a long time Suerro. I would know. I've known Natalie literally all her life. Seriously, I had to share a womb with her for nine months, so I would know. And she isn't the best at sharing her space. That's why I was born first: Natalie kicked me out. She didn't actually know that meant she'd have to leave too at the time. Did you know that Natalie got to have her own room growing up? Kevin, Kyle and I all shared one big room and Natalie had a room all to herself. She was a shark too. If she ever lent any of us money, she wouldn't let us out of her sight until we paid her back. If acting hadn't worked out, she could've been a loan shark and made millions." Nathan chuckled. "That reminds me; we still haven't built a statue in her honor for killing a bunny." Now the whole room was laughing. "We'll get right on that while you're away." Laughter ensued. "But seriously, Natalie, we're all really happy for you. The two of you had one hell of a road to getting this far. I've seen what love can do for a person," Nathan smiled at Ada in a private moment as he continued and she smiled back, "and the trials make love all the more worthwhile. Make my sister happy Suerro. I can eat you too." Nathan lifted the glass and another sip of Champaign followed. Kevin came up next holding Heather in his arms and holding his own glass of Champaign in the other.

"I didn't share a womb with her, but I can attest to her inability to share. I know we're not biologically related, but she must've gotten that from Rosalie somehow." Again, the room filled with laughter. "Anyway, congratulations to the happy couple. Say congratulations Heather." Kevin bounced Heather a little in his arms, though she didn't attempt the word.

"Daddy!" she said instead and everyone smiled.

"Close enough," Kevin laughed. "If she had to say anything I'm glad it was daddy."

"You do realize," Kyle said, "that she's only repeated syllabus that she can pronounce, right? It's part of being a baby. She's only repeating what she can manage." Kevin leered at Kyle.

"Why do you have to ruin my joy, Kyle?" The room shared another laugh. "I heard that Evalina's officially an American citizen now. Does that mean you two will get married soon?"

"We'll get married after I've obtained my PhD."

"Okay, another hundred years, dually noted."

"It won't be that long," Kyle said.

"Oh really? How long have you two been dating now? Eight years? Natalie got a ring from a misanthropist after three. Where's Evalina's ring, huh?"

"If you're offering to pay for it, Kevin, it could appear sooner than you think." Kevin chuckled.

"Sorry, kid, but you're on your own," Kevin looked at Heather, "isn't he Heather? After all, I've got to save up money for when you get married to a lawyer or maybe a doctor." Kevin glanced at Kyle with a teasing look. "A real doctor."

"Oh, go to hell, Kevin."

"Daddy!" Heather said again and Kevin chuckled.

"God you're adorable. Of course you are, I made you." The laughter continued. "I'm happy for you Natalie. The best of luck to you both." Kevin lifted his glass, "To the bride and groom." The room repeated and had a sip of Champaign. Heather reached for Kevin's glass, wanting what daddy was having, and Kevin held it away and explained it was 'adult grape juice'.

There were a few more toasts before Suerro and Natalie finally cut the cake together. Romney had put a plastic peanut on the cake just to tease her and Suerro picked it off for her, using his fingers to shoot the plastic at Romney's forehead like a bullet. The two then fed each other a piece of the wedding cake and Suerro swallowed it with a smile on his face. It was after the cutting of the cake that Suerro began getting pushy. Their flight would leave soon and if they didn't leave soon, they'd be pushing it and risk missing their flight.

"Come with me, Peanut," Alice said, leading Natalie towards the stairs. "Suerro can wait here while you slip into something more comfortable."

"Will it actually be comfortable or are you being seductive on my behalf?"

"A little of both," Alice smiled and closed her bedroom door behind them. The first thing she pulled out were the two suitcases Natalie had prepared before hand and then she pulled out a white short-sleeved sundress that was lined at the bottom with a black mosaic pattern. Alice gave Natalie a white cashmere sweater to wear over her dress, though it's what Natalie kept on underneath that was the piece of intrigue.

When Natalie was dressed, Alice walked her back downstairs and the wedding guests followed as the couple walked to the car up front. Before Natalie got into the passenger's seat, she got a good look at where Evalina was in the crowd, turned her back to them, and tossed the bouquet over her head. When the bouquet was in the air, Natalie looked over her shoulder to see who caught it and sure enough, it was Evalina. Natalie gave her a big smile before going into the car with Suerro so they could finally leave for the airport. He still refused to tell Natalie where they were going and he made her listen to her headphones the whole time they were there so she wouldn't hear it announced at the terminal and he kept their tickets out of her view. Natalie was delighted to find out that their seats were in first class.

"We'll be in the air for ten hours," Suerro had told her. "If that must be the case, then you should be comfortable."

She was definitely grateful for the comfortable chair to sleep in and the halfway decent food first class offered. But then, she slept through most of the flight. _Hot Fuzz_ was playing as the in-flight movie, but Natalie only say the beginning before she fell asleep. She woke up at one point from Suerro gently tapping her, telling her that the stewardess was serving the food, but Natalie was more interested in getting more sleep. The next time she was woken up, the sun was very nearly down and her clock read eight in the morning. Natalie looked out the window, but nothing really looked familiar to her (not that it would anyway). There were open fields as the plane slowly drove to the main building and the houses that she saw were so far away that she couldn't guess a style or location. It wasn't until they left the plane and heard the announcer over the intercom that she finally knew where they were.

"_Mesdames et Messieurs, Terminal huit est maintenant embarquement. Il est actuellement 5 :15.__"_

Natalie smiled, "We're not in Quebec right?"

"No," Suerro chuckled. "Take another guess."

"We're in France?"

"Paris to be exact," Suerro said with a smile and he received the same from Natalie.

"Really?" Suerro nodded. "I thought you didn't want to go to Europe."

"I knew you did. Besides, I hear Paris is a beautiful city at night." Natalie surprised Suerro and jumped into his arms to give him a hug.

"This was a wonderful surprise, Suerro."

"If you're this happy about Paris, wait until you see the hotel."

Natalie was excited to see this hotel Suerro seemed so eager to let her see. But as they began walking to baggage claim, she began feeling nervous. She was a little jet lagged, but she wasn't too tired at all. Tonight would really be the night and it was making her shake a little. After they claimed their luggage and went out to the front of the airport, Suerro hailed them a cab and spoke to the man in rapid French. She heard Hotel Lutetia, but she'd never heard of it, so the name didn't incite a reaction from her. What did incite a reaction, however, was the building itself when they arrived. Natalie had spent the whole car ride staring out the window taking in the sites. The hotel was hardly shadowed by the sites. It, in fact, added to that delightful taste of old Paris, though Natalie didn't know whether this hotel had been around that long or not. The building was stone and there were actually gargoyles overlooking the entrance. The inside was just as grandiose. The place was covered in marble with pillars, archways, whites, reds, golds, round tables, and etc. It was just like the city: fancy, prideful, and maybe just a little arrogant. Suerro walked to the front desk and spoke with the receptionist as Natalie looked around.

They eventually went to where the elevators were and Suerro pressed PS. When the Elevator stopped, he led her to a massive door that led into what, as Suerro told her, was called the Literary Suite. The whole suite was massive. She could see the bedroom from the entrance and its massive bed. She could see a view of the Eiffel Tower from the balcony this room had. When she went to look at the bathroom, that too was marble and was decked out with a massive bathtub and a shower. It was all so breathtaking and it was even distracting for a moment with its walls covered in artwork and a private library equipped with statues and books of all kinds (more likely just for show). She heard Suerro put their luggage off to one side, but it was when Suerro walked up behind her that her heart started racing again.

"Do you like it?" was the first thing he asked while his hands went to her own, the touch so gentle that it barely registered.

"It's gorgeous," she answered weakly. She hadn't actually read any of those books she'd gotten for her bachelorette party. She was beginning to think she should've. When Suerro brought his lips dangerously close to her neck, that's when she shivered and licked her suddenly dry lips.

"Are you nervous?" he asked her. She didn't want to say it, so instead she just nodded her head. Suerro kissed her neck suddenly and her knees went weak. "Do you want to relax for a while?"

This time, Natalie felt herself harden to her resolve and she turned around so she could wrap her arms around Suerro's neck and she just kissed him. They weren't as pliable as a human's, but Natalie could still feel give in his lips and his hold on her remained just firm enough but never too tight. With the initiation, Suerro kept their kiss slower than what Natalie had started it with. The first thing Suerro pulled off Natalie was the cashmere sweater. It forced Natalie to bring her arms down to her sides and Suerro kept her confined in that position so she wouldn't move away. Natalie let Suerro do all the work. She didn't know what to do next and he seemed to know where to go with this. She focused on following his lead and enjoying what was happening. Suerro eventually released her arms, but it was only to reach down and start bunching her dress in his hands, bringing it up and revealing her legs little by little.

Natalie's breath became more labored and she pulled her lips away so she could breathe. Suerro began to kiss her neck, feeling the pulse from her heart racing. When Suerro had pulled the hem of her dress up to her hips, he gently pushed her towards the bed and made her sit down. When she was seated, he finally took his hands off the hem of her dress. He was looking into her dark eyes now and she looked into his bright red eyes. She was so used to them and she'd come to love them in a macabre sort of way. She brought her hands up to his chest and fiddled with the buttons on his shirt. He'd only ridden himself of the tuxedo jacket and cummerbund but kept on the dress pants and white shirt for their travel. As Natalie fiddled with the buttons, Suerro's hands went to her shoulders, fingering the fabric between his thumb and forefinger.

"So what's this thing Alice was alluding to?"

Natalie managed the most seductive smile she could muster. "You'll just have to take off my dress and see."

This made Suerro chuckle a little. He gave Natalie a quick kiss before grabbing the hem again and pulling it the rest of the way off. He tossed the sundress to one side and stared at what Natalie was wearing. It was really very simple. A white bra and white panties, but the cups of the bra were mostly see-through, save for the parts covered in decorative lace that matched her panties. Her hair was still in that braid and fishtail style, sans the birdcage veil, and it was covering part of her. So Suerro gently pulled out the white ribbon that'd held her hair in place and pushed the locks behind her. The braid began to loosen, but it remained in place. He reached her braid and undid it so her hair was completely down.

"Do you like it?" Natalie asked with a bright blush on her face. Suerro gave her a devious smile and before she knew it, her bra was off and her breasts bare.

"I do now," he teased. Natalie managed to giggle, but the laugh was weak. "You seem flustered."

"No man's ever seen me naked before…..well, except my dad, but I was really little and he was changing my diaper or giving me a bath, so that hardly counts." She felt like she was babbling and she didn't like it at all. She was so nervous. She'd pictured this night a million times since she and Suerro were together and she even imagined this night before Suerro ever came along. "I'm sorry I'm babbling."

"Don't be," Suerro assured as he bent down and rested his hands on her waist while kissing her neck. "Try to relax a little, Natalie." Suerro gently pushed Natalie onto her back. She felt extremely exposed and she realized it was cold in the room. The balcony door was open and letting all the cold air in. "Just close your eyes for a while and relax."

Doing as Suerro said, Natalie took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She kept her breathing even until she felt his touch return to her waist. The chilled feel of his hands heightened her senses and the gentleness of them tickled her skin. She shivered when she felt his lips on her. He kissed her right at her hipbone first and dusted those kisses along that line until he reached the other hipbone. His hands suddenly grabbed a hold of her breasts as he kissed her hip and Natalie took in a harsh breath of surprise. She kept her eyes closed and unconsciously placed her own hands on Suerro's shoulders as he kissed her body. She felt him pull away a moment and heard the sound of fabric moving. When she felt his touch again, Suerro was right above her and was focusing his attention on her breasts. Natalie started whimpering when Suerro suckled her nipple, but she kept her eyes closed just as Suerro had told her to.

She just rested her hands on Suerro's shoulders and licked her lips until they were no longer dry. Her heart rate remained elevated, but she was beginning to feel less nervous. Not looking, only feeling; it helped her stop worrying and just enjoy what Suerro was making her feel. Suerro took his lips away only a moment before going to her other breast, giving it the same attention. This time, Natalie's response was to completely wrap her arms around Suerro's shoulders. His skin was firm and a little cold, but it was a pleasurable contrast to her more pliable hot skin. She felt Suerro pull her legs up to cradle his hips long before she really registered in her mind what he did. When it did register, Natalie locked her ankles so she was holding on tightly. Suerro used that opportunity to bring them both more comfortably onto the bed. When he rested Natalie where he wanted her, Suerro grabbed a hold of her lace panties and pulled them off. The sudden absence of her panties made her nervousness come back again. After that burst of excitement came sudden gentleness when Suerro took her hands in his, lacing their fingers together, and brought his face so close to hers that their noses touched. Natalie didn't open her eyes just yet. She wasn't sure what he would do next.

"Open your eyes, Natalie," Suerro said suddenly. Natalie had to take another deep breath before she could comply, but she opened her eyes eventually and when she did, she looked into his bright red irises. "Good. Now keep them open."

Natalie followed his instructions and looked into his eyes while he released his right hand and dragged it down her arm, to her breasts, her waist, her hip, her leg, and then between her legs. Natalie closed her eyes again when she felt his cold finger against the nub of nerves and she whimpered, more so when his lips came dangerously close to her ear.

"Keep your eyes open Natalie," Suerro instructed once again, this time more forcefully and he emphasized his command when he slipped that finger inside her. Natalie still didn't open her eyes. She was more focused on what Suerro was doing to her. "Open your eyes, Natalie," he whispered in her ear again. He licked her ear then, "Let me look into them."

Natalie took yet another deep breath to calm herself and finally opened her eyes. When she did, Suerro looked at her, their noses touching again. He smiled at her and Natalie managed to smile back. Then Suerro finally moved his finger around inside her, touching her deep inside and making her lightheaded. She fought to keep her eyes open and look at Suerro, but all she could manage was keeping them slightly lidded. She managed that for a few brief minutes as Suerro maneuvered his finger. It was when he added a second that she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore. Her head fell completely back onto the bed and she moaned as the sensations made her whole body tingle and her core radiate with excitement. Since Natalie was no longer looking at him, Suerro went back to her neck and kissed her gently. Natalie brought her legs up again to cradle his hips and to spread her legs wider, allowing him to go deeper and to move more freely.

She whimpered his name in his ear and he returned the affection, curving his fingers so he would hit that special spot inside her. Natalie rested her hands above her head, palms up, and she squirmed under Suerro with every movement of his fingers. Eventually, Natalie brought her arms back up and wrapped them around his shoulders again, but this time it felt like she wasn't doing all that she could be doing. She started by moving her hands all over his back, trying to massage his muscles as best she could. Suerro's fingers became more rigorous, so she assumed that meant he enjoyed what she was doing. It made her bolder and she reached down as far as she could until she reached the top of his dress pants. When she reached them, however, she couldn't get around Suerro's arms to undo his belt buckle so she settled for forcing her hands between the fabric of the pants so she could feel Suerro's skin. She felt Suerro's chest rumble from the slightest growl. Suerro's fingers suddenly left her and it concerned her. Natalie opened her eyes to see what was happening and when she did, she saw scarlet.

While their stared at one another, Suerro grabbed Natalie's hands and brought them around. His arms were no longer in the way, so Natalie could play around with the belt buckle and undo Suerro's pants. When she had his pants undone, he kissed her suddenly and buried his hands under her at her back. As he turned onto his back pulling Natalie with him, he kicked off his pants and shoes. He reached down to pull off his socks and his underwear as they moved and by the time Natalie was on top, he was as naked as her. Suerro rubbed Natalie's back, trailing his hands up and down so as to help her relax again. It was hard for her to relax, though. She could feel his erection and the feeling was so foreign to her. It became more foreign when Suerro's hands traveled down her back to her butt and gently forced her hips to move against his own. She couldn't breathe through the kiss anymore so she pulled away from the kiss so she could catch her breath; that didn't last. As Suerro grinded their hips together, he maneuvered his erection to her entrance and slowly began to push inside. As he started to enter her, Natalie clutched her arms around him and kept breathing in and out, anticipating some pain. Suerro continued to keep it slow and by the time he was hilted, all Natalie felt was a pinch and something comparable to a slight period cramp, but when it was done it was done and she felt no more pain.

"How does it feel?" Suerro asked Natalie regarding his entering her.

"It hurt for a bit, but it's gone now."

"Do you want me to keep a slow pace?"

"For now," Natalie answered. Suerro kissed her cheek and began to move her hips slowly on his. There was a slight uncomfortable feeling for the first few thrusts, but after that there was no longer any pain at all. "It doesn't hurt anymore, Suerro. Go faster," she told him and he increased the speed at which he moved her hips.

When Natalie was accustomed to the rhythm, she moved her hips on her own. When Natalie was accustomed, Suerro brought his hands from her hips and trailed all the way back to her face and then laced his fingers through her hair. Her hair was cascading down, covering most of her face. He pushed her hair aside with his fingers so he could get a better look at her face while she moved. The few times she ever opened her eyes while she was moving on him, he'd look right at her and admire the dark, almost black color of her pupils. Natalie had such a beautiful face he thought to himself. Everything he saw was beautiful. Everything about her made his lust for her stronger. He wanted more control, so he turned her onto her back and pulled her by her legs until she was just off the edge of the bed and continued to move inside her. She could no longer reach him with her hands, so Natalie rested them above her head, occasionally touching her hair or herself. Suerro brought his left hand to her face and neck while his right hand stayed on her hip to keep her still as he moved.

All that moved were her breasts as he continued to thrust into her over and over. Natalie whimpered and moaned from the deep sensations. Any noise coming in from the open balcony window and the loud city fell on deaf ears as they made love. When Natalie could, she pushed herself up off the bed and reached for Suerro, pulling him into a hug. He returned the hug and stood from the bed, holding her by her thighs. Natalie surprised him and began to kiss his lips, but he returned the kiss in kind. Using his grip on her thighs, Suerro moved her up and down so they wouldn't lose the rhythm they'd set. Suerro dared not put her against the wall. He didn't want to pay for any damages that might incur if he put her against the wall. The hotel had been expensive enough without any added expenses.

Natalie brought her hands to Suerro's head so her own wouldn't move away while they kissed. She felt eyes begin to water as they moved and the chill of Suerro's chest made her nipples tighten against him. The two of them pleasured one another until they both started to reach their end. The pleasure was getting to Natalie's head. She felt light as air and was getting higher as if she were really floating. Though feeling the same, Suerro stayed on his feet, upright, and held onto her tightly when Natalie began to fall back, her hair falling and nearly reaching the floor. Natalie managed to hold on while she still felt light as air. But eventually, the tightening in her core very nearly started to hurt and she climaxed. It was comparable to pulling a rubber band as tight as possible before releasing it. The snap made her airy feeling dissipate into a feeling like led. The bed was right beneath her, so she landed on something soft while Suerro held onto her hips. Suerro reached his own climax and when he did, he thrust Natalie further onto the bed and followed after her. Natalie took a hold of Suerro when he was down, holding him in her arms so he wouldn't go away.

"I love you," Natalie whispered in Suerro's ear before kissing his forehead. Suerro lifted his head and kissed Natalie back, holding her tightly.

"I love you too, Natalie," he answered after he took his lips away. This is what she'd always been waiting for, what she'd always been wanting. It had all been worth the wait. Natalie finally noticed that someone was playing music outside. It sounded like a live band of two = cellos, and a harp. She didn't know the song that was playing, but it was beautiful. "Do you want the balcony door closed? It's getting colder outside."

"No, keep them open. This is a pretty song." Suerro smiled at her and lifted her up so they were both standing.

"Puis-je avoir l'honneur de cette danse, mon amour?"

Natalie nodded and Suerro briefly left her side to bring her a robe from her suitcase. He wore the robe provided by the hotel and he walked her out to the balcony where the song was its loudest. With a smile, Natalie let Suerro lead her in a waltz that fit the cellists' song. It started simple and very slow, but from time to time Suerro would gently spin her, push her out, only to pull her back in a twirl, and he wasn't bashful about allowing his hands to wander all over her body. Natalie liked this Suerro. She liked that he was no longer reluctant to touch her in intimate and scandalous ways. He always told her the reason he wouldn't was because she wasn't his yet. Now she was and he cherished her and was firm, yet delicate with her, showing how much he prized and loved her. The song eventually ended and when it did, Suerro dipped Natalie and gave her a loving kiss.

"Suerro," Natalie said when she was upright again, "recite that sonnet again: the one you made for the wedding."

Suerro smiled and complied, "J'ai une fois que vous par rapport à un jour d'été

Pourtant, la lumière de l'été et le soleil ne peut pas comparer

Pour tout l'éclat de vos yeux ne trahissent:

Une luxure et l'amour que je suis obligé de regarder."

As Suerro recited her sonnet, Natalie rested her head on his shoulder. He led her into another dance when the cellos played again. It was the perfect end to a perfect wedding night. Sure, they'd been married for twelve hours by now, but that wasn't important. What was important was this particular night. Suerro kissed her neck when he finished reciting her sonnet and they stopped a moment when the music stop. She heard a vague message from one of the band members below that they were taking requests, so Natalie patted Suerro's back to get his attention.

"Suerro," he grunted in response, not coming up from kissing her neck, "the band below is taking requests. I have one." Natalie whispered it in his ear and it made Suerro chuckle. He pulled away and looked over the balcony down at the band.

"Monsieur, jouer _Un Jour mon Prince Viendra_!" Natalie blushed when he said the song out loud, and she blushed even more when they started dancing. "Sing it for me," Suerro told her as they spun around together. With a smile, Natalie started singing only loud enough for her and Suerro to hear it, and they danced together until the band called it quits for the night.

Back in Washington around the same time (about eight in the morning) Caevia woke up in the bed she was using to find Embry was no longer there. He'd probably had to go to work that day, but it still made her a little sad. She walked downstairs to find the house the way it had been before. The Denalis were still at the house, but all the other wedding guests had left earlier that morning to return to their own regions or homes. If she'd not been there herself, Caevia would never think there had been a wedding that night. She could smell Esme getting some scrambled eggs ready, so Caevia got down to the kitchen as fast as she could to watch. Hers and Esme's communication was still limited, especially when Edward or anyone else that spoke Quileute weren't around and couldn't help translate anything. Carlisle promised he would come home early from the hospital so he would be near just in case. It was becoming apparent that this kid wasn't going to wait until November. Either that or, more likely, Carlisle had been slightly off in how far along she actually was.

She ate the scrambled eggs when they were done and Esme sat with Caevia to talk. When Caevia was done, she insisted on doing the dishes. Esme did, however, insist that Caevia remain in the living room and sit. She was far enough along that Carlisle expressed his desire that Caevia remain either in bed or sit down on the couch. He didn't want her overexerting herself in her current condition, though he knew the insistence she remain immobile for the most part was starting to irritate Caevia. She had experiences where she'd run during her last pregnancies if she ever had to for goodness sake. Either way, she followed Carlisle's orders and never moved around too much. Bella and Edward were in the living room watching a movie with Emmet, Rosalie, Jasper, and Garrett. Heather was over while Kevin was at work, so the movie they were watching a movie that would be appropriate. Emmett, Jasper and Garrett agreed to watch _Despicable Me_ and Rosalie had given the movie her motherly stamp of approval. Caevia could understand parts of the movie, but the more technical language was lost on her.

Since she was on the couch, Rosalie made sure there was always a movie playing, but Caevia would fall asleep most of the time. She was asleep when Carlisle came back from the hospital around eight and she hadn't eaten. Carlisle gently woke Caevia so she could eat something. When Caevia asked where Embry was, Carlisle reminded her that tonight was a night he worked as a security guard but that he would call Embry if anything happened. Esme helped Caevia to the kitchen and allowed her to help chop a few vegetables while Esme handled a piece of chicken breast and got the oven ready. Caevia started feeling a little pain while she was chopping, but she ignored it, assuming it was another false alarm. It went away just as quickly as it came and she continued with what she was doing. About forty minutes later, Caevia sat down to eat and she started feeling some pain again. She ignored it initially and continued to eat her dinner. When the pain didn't go away immediately, Caevia tried changing positions. It had worked before, but this time the pain didn't recede or reduce. She continued to ignore it anyway and kept eating her dinner. When she was finished, she started doing the dishes. Esme began to help and Caevia's last bought of pain had gone away for now. But when Caevia was drying the last dish, the pain came back again and this time, Edward said something to Carlisle, who ran to the kitchen and took the plate away.

"Come on, Caevia, let's get you upstairs."

"What's wrong?" Esme asked.

"Edward says she's having pains in a more definite pattern. She's probably going into labor so I need to get her upstairs so she's ready. Edward, give Embry a call and let him know Caevia's in labor."

Edward got out his phone and dialed the number while Carlisle half carried Caevia up the stairs to his office. Alice brought in an oversized shirt for her to have on while she waited for her water to break. From what Edward could read from her mind, she had only been in labor about six to nine hours and her current pace was just a little faster than her others had been.

The first person Edward got a hold of was a late night receptionist at the hospital. He told the woman to get a hold of Embry Call. She was to let him know that his girlfriend (she might not have been able to get him away had her called her less) was in labor and that Embry needed to come to the hospital as soon as possible. The receptionist agreed that she would inform Embry and he could talk to their employer. The receptionist called the head officer first to let him know that Embry's girlfriend was en labor and a family member was ordering he come to the hospital. The head officer said he was alright with Embry leaving for the night under the circumstances, so the receptionist got a hold of Embry and told him the news. Since the head officer had given the okay, Embry changed out of his uniform in the locker room, got into civilian clothes, and ran to his car. He drove to the Cullen house from Port Angeles as fast as he could and by the time he got there, Caevia's water still hadn't broken, but she was still having contractions.

"Caevia, are you alright?" Embry asked as he walked into Carlisle's office. Caevia was wobbling around in the office and when she saw Embry, her eyes lit up and she immediately felt better.

"Embry," she began to approach him, but another contraction came on and she needed to stop. Embry came to her and started rocking her back and forth. It had helped Brie to feel better when she'd been waiting for her water to break with the twins, so he was hoping it would help Caevia now.

"Keep breathing, okay Caevia? I know it hurts, but just keep taking deep breaths." Caevia nodded her head and took deep breaths. An hour later, Carlisle came to his office with a large needle and told Embry that if Caevia wanted the spinal block to alleviate the pain. Embry tried to explain the medicine Carlisle had told him about to Caevia, but she got one look of that needle and refused. She'd given birth three times without such things; she could do it a fourth time too.

It was another thirty minutes before Caevia's water finally broke and when it did, Carlisle told her to get into the bed and wait for her contractions to get closer together. Embry stayed with her the whole time, holding her hand and encouraging her. Caevia had never experienced this before with her last pregnancies. When she'd given birth before, all she had was a mid-wife that delivered her baby before giving it to the medicine man to dispose of. It was a pleasant change to be encouraged for having her baby.

"Caevia, I can still give you some morphine if you want any," Carlisle said, but Caevia understood him and refused. That needle made her nervous and she didn't want it to puncture her.

The pain and relief lasted for another three hours before the contractions were finally right on top of each other. Carlisle checked how dilated she was and when he knew she could start pushing, he gave her the order. Rosalie and Esme were in the office getting things ready for the baby, even any documentation: social security number, birth certificates for Caevia to sign, and all other legal information. The baby was born in a push and a half and when Carlisle held up the child, it was a baby boy. Carlisle handed the baby to Esme so she could clean him up, get a print of his foot on one of the legal documents, and cleaned that off too before wrapping the boy in a little blue blanket and putting a small little blue cap on his head. Carlisle got rid of the placenta while Esme came over with the baby and handed him to Caevia. The baby was still crying a little, but he calmed some when Caevia was holding him.

"Embry," she said.

"Yeah?"

"I want to name him Embry," Caevia said. She looked at Embry and smiled lovingly. _"You're the father he should've had. I want to name him after you."_ Embry was touched. He'd been prepared to help her raise her son, but he wasn't expecting her to name her son after him. The idea made him happy. He'd always wanted a boy.

"Embry Junior," Embry said in a bit of a daze. "We'll call him EJ I guess."

Caevia looked at Embry strangely, _"You want to call the baby _Edge_?"_ Caevia pronounced EJ. It made Embry chuckle a little.

"_I wasn't thinking that, but I like it better than _EJ_ to be honest. If we call him_ Edge_, he'll love us when he gets older."_ Embry chuckled a little more. "We'll just spell it EJ and call him edge. I like it actually."

"I like it too," Caevia finally said. The nickname was growing on her. Rosalie walked over with the birth certificate and handed it to Caevia. "What is your last name?" Caevia asked Embry. Again she caught him a little by surprise.

"Call," he answered and spelled it for her. When she had that, she wrote down on the birth certificate as best she could: Embry Junior Call. Embry tried not to chuckle. He suspected that Caevia didn't realize that junior was a title as opposed to an actual name. "Junior is just a title when the father has the same name," Embry told Caevia.

"I know," she answered. She'd learned how to spell her name and just wrote down 'Caevia' where the mother's name was to be. Then she handed it to Embry and he signed it with a smile.

"Looks like we'll have an EJ after all," Rosalie mumbled to herself as she walked back to the table holding legal documents after Caevia and Embry filled out the paperwork.

"Thank you," Caevia said to Embry.

"For what?" he asked.

"_For being a father my son deserves,"_ she answered and Embry smiled.

"_I love you, Caevia,"_ he said suddenly.

"_I love you too,"_ she answered. Caevia looked at Embry for a moment before she worked up the courage to give him the briefest of moments before she turned her attention back to Ej. Embry rested his head on the headrest to look at the baby. He looked so much like Caevia, but there were small signs that this baby was definitely descended from Oscar. The boy had Oscar's ears for one.

The news got out that Caevia had had the baby and that morning while Embry was still with Caevia and the baby was in a crib sleeping, Oscar of all people came to the Cullen house with Travis holding a very large feather. Edward assured everyone that was downstairs that it was alright and Oscar went upstairs to Carlisle's office. Caevia was initially very rigid and told Embry to get Oscar away from the baby, but Travis promised Embry that Oscar didn't mean the baby any harm. While Travis was talking to Embry, Oscar went to Ej's crib where he was sleeping and placed the feather next to him. Caevia was suddenly rendered speechless and Embry noticed it. After Oscar placed the feather in Ej's crib, he picked the baby up and started cooing to him, but making sure not to wake him.

"_What is it?"_ Embry asked when he was by Caevia's side again and Oscar was looking at the baby.

"_He put a feather in his crib,"_ Caevia said weakly. _"The Tistihlal place a feather in the crib of a newborn boy as a sign of acceptance."_ Embry looked at Oscar, a little stunned himself. Oscar hadn't been too keen on this whole thing to make this an expected event. Embry gestured for Travis to come over so they could speak.

"What's all this about?" Embry asked Travis.

"I had a talk with him about being a part of this kid's life. I know it'll mean a lot to this kid in the long run to have someone from his father's side be a positive influence in his life. Oscar eventually agreed with me. This part is a surprise to me too, though. I didn't know there was an actual ritual to this whole thing."

"So Oscar's accepting him into the family?"

"Yeah, that's about it."

Caevia was still stunned. She'd never expected this from Oscar, especially since he'd previously considered himself far removed from the matter. She'd even decided long ago that she wanted nothing to do with him. But now that he'd given his acceptance to her son after so many were pushed away like trash, she was almost in tears. It was more important that her son be happy and she was admittedly happy that her son was being accepted the way she'd never been in her childhood. Ej suddenly started sobbing, so Oscar brought him over to Caevia, taking her out of her trance, and handing her the baby.

"_I bet he's hungry,"_ was all Oscar said as he handed the baby to her. She looked at him a moment, her eyes watering a little.

"Why?" she asked in English. Oscar didn't immediately answer her. He instead took two or three deep breaths and looked at the floor before he finally looked at her and smiled ever so slightly.

"Because he's my grandson." Travis smiled a little, proud of Oscar for accepting his kin. Oscar pulled out a small box from the inside of his jacket and handed it to Embry. Embry opened the box and inside was a handmade dream catcher. "That's from Olivia." Finally, Oscar walked out of Carlisle's office and Travis follows after. While they're in the car together, Travis leaned over and kissed Oscar.

"I'm proud of you," he said. "You did the right thing."

Oscar shrugged, "I have too many fucking grandkids." Travis chuckled a little.

"You'll love him, Oscar. I know you will. And he'll love you."

"Yeah," Oscar mumbled before putting the car in drive and going back to Travis' apartment.


	31. A Tale of the Miserable

A Tale of The Miserable

The room had been finished for months, but it was only now that Embry and Caevia were allowed to see it. Two days after Ej was born, Embry (who'd called off work for that day) and Caevia went to his house and officially moved Caevia and Ej into the house. Embry opened the door to the room that had been added onto his house and the inside fit a little boy perfectly. The walls were blue and the carpet white. All the furniture was a dark wood and, Embry noticed, the crib was convertible to a bed for when Ej started to outgrow the crib. There was even room for a small single bed for Caevia. Embry hadn't deluded himself into thinking Caevia and he would immediately start sharing a bed. He had a habit of tossing and turning (as Brie had often complained when they were still together) and there was no telling how Caevia would react if he accidently rolled too close to her in his sleep. Caevia stepped into the room and looked at all the baby furniture. She was elated and had been since Ej was born. She noticed something above the crib too. The feather that Oscar had given to Ej was now framed in a mahogany wood frame with a piece of sienna paper as a backdrop to the mostly black feather.

"It's so beautiful," Caevia finally said.

"Yeah," Embry agreed. "They really did a number on this room." Embry rested the suitcases of Caevia's new clothes on the floor near the closet Alice made sure was equipped for the room.

"This bed is mine?" Caevia pointed at the single bed with her left hand, keeping Ej safely secure in her right arm.

"Yeah," Embry confirmed. "You'll share a room with the baby for the time being," Embry hesitated for a moment, "at least, as long as you want to be in this room, you can be." Caevia was smiling and looking around the room more. While holding Ej in one arm, she used her free hand to fiddle with the crib door until it came down. Caevia put the baby in the crib, pulled the door back up, and kept looking at him with a smile.

"_I don't even mind that he looks like Oscar's family. He's so beautiful."_

"He is," Embry agreed. "Since you've put him down, why don't we put your clothes away?"

Embry put both suitcases on the bed, opened them, and the two began putting clothes away. They were all new, non-maternity clothes and there was an abundance of bras (regardless of Caevia's disdain for the garment).

"Kyle wants a chance to talk to you," Embry said while he folded some shirts. He noticed Caevia get a little uncomfortable.

"About?" she asked, but she had a feeling she knew exactly what about.

"About your life. I know you don't want to talk about it. Believe me, from what I know, I wouldn't want to talk about it either. But not talking about it won't make it go away. I believe the word Kyle used was 'fester'."

"_You assume I know what _fester_ means,"_ Caevia snapped, a little unintentionally.

"Literally it means, 'to decay or rot', but figuratively, it just means the problem will get worse or the feelings you have will get worse and effect your life. You can't pretend it hasn't had a negative effect on you."

"_It's in the past. What does it matter? It can't hurt me anymore."_

"You know that's not true," Embry mumbled more to himself. "At least try to talk to him," Embry said a little louder. "Maybe it'll do you some good after all."

"_How would talking about it do me any good? I don't want to talk about any of it; I want it to go away."_

"Caevia—" Embry began, but he stopped. He didn't really understand how talking would change anything either, so he wasn't one to talk. Kyle and Edward were the ones being so insistent about Caevia talking about her past and trying to 'come to terms with it'. Not that his life had been anywhere near as bad, but he'd grown up with several of his own problems: no father in his life, a mother that had to work two jobs so they wouldn't starve, alcoholism and drug use rampant (even with his mother being prone to alcoholic binges, though she would never admit to being an alcoholic; neither would Billy for that matter), and his idea of 'gourmet' being Craft mac and cheese instead of the off-brand crap and Saltine crackers from the local food-stamp grocery store. He never went to therapy and he'd turned out just fine as far as he was concerned. He'd become a functional member of society. He was a good father to his kids and planned to be the same to Ej, which was more he could say for other men who'd grown up in his position.

Ej started crying, so Caevia went right to him and started breast feeding him. Embry just looked away, but she clearly wasn't bothered by his presence while her chest was exposed. He wanted to be flattered that she was so comfortable with him, but he knew better. Embry grabbed one of the smaller blankets and handed it to Caevia when she was about to pat Ej's back. Alice would throw a fit if Caevia got her new clothes dirty. After Ej was fed and cleaned up, Caevia sat on the rocking chair and rocked him back to sleep while Embry went to the living room. He turned on the TV to see about the game, but it turned out Seattle was losing so he changed the channel to something on History Channel. When that turned out to be a documentary on The Trail of Tears, he changed the channel again to the Cooking Channel. It was old reruns of a competitive cooking show and that was good enough for him. By the end of that episode, Caevia hadn't come out so he went to check on her. Caevia was still sitting in the rocking chair moving back and forth with Ej in her arms. He was already asleep and she was looking at him with an almost teary look in her eyes.

"How long has he been asleep?" Embry asked. Caevia jumped from the sudden broken silence and the jump woke Ej, making him cry. Embry ran over to get Ej from her trembling arms. "I'm sorry, Caevia, I thought you heard me." Caevia didn't answer. She instead took some time to breathe in and out and get some control over her pounding heart. Embry put Ej in his crib so he was free to help calm Caevia down. "Calm down, Caevia, it's alright."

Embry was holding her hands and that seemed to be calming her down. When she stopped shaking and her breathing was normal, Embry smiled at her trying to be comforting. Caevia, however, wasn't smiling. Instead she looked depressed and distant; it left him really unsettled.

"I'll make you some of that Jasmine tea." Embry let go of Caevia and went to the kitchen to boil some water. By the time Embry finished making some tea, Caevia came into the kitchen with her head held down. She took the cup and went to the couch without a word. Her silence was more frightening to him than her trembling and yelps of surprise.

Much later in the afternoon, Caevia was still sitting on the couch staring at the TV without really watching it. She hadn't even touched her tea and it had gone cold hours ago. Embry went to and from the living room and the baby's room whenever he needed to. In truth, he had called Edward a few hours ago and told him what had happened. Edward said he'd call Kyle and they'd be over as soon as Kyle could get to La Push after school, so Embry was waiting for the two of them to arrive. Making sure to not startle her again, Embry walked around the couch and made sure Caevia saw him approaching her. When she didn't react, Embry took the mug of jasmine tea from her and brought it to the kitchen. He could always reheat it for her later, but right now he didn't want her to drop it or anything. He tried heating up some food for her around six, but she wouldn't eat it. Embry left the plate of food on the coffee table for her so it was at least there for her. It was eight before Edward and Kyle got to Embry's house and they saw Caevia on the couch just as stoic as she'd been since earlier that afternoon. The three met in the kitchen to talk for a moment.

"You said she's been like this since 12:00?"

"Yeah," Embry confirmed for Kyle. "I startled her while she was holding Ej and she hasn't said a word to me since then. I don't suppose either of you would tell me what's wrong would you?"

"She's not really thinking about anything," Edward said. "In fact, she's making a great effort not to think at all."

Embry took a deep breath, "I take it you two want to talk to her then?"

"We really should," Edward said. "Reheat that tea for her. She'll want it once we start getting her to talk." Kyle and Edward went to the living room while Embry heated the tea. Edward grabbed one of the kitchen chairs and placed it next to reclining chair that Kyle had taken, but Caevia didn't take any notice of either of them.

"Caevia," Kyle started, "how're you feeling?" She didn't answer. "Embry told us he startled you while you were holding Ej. He says you've been quiet since then." She stayed silent. "Why don't we talk a little bit, Caevia? Why did you get startled when Embry asked about Ej?" Caevia still said nothing. "I know you don't want to talk, but at least try to." She stayed silent. "Do you want me to repeat any of this in Quileute?"

"_I don't need you to repeat it,"_ Caevia finally mumbled.

"Would you like me to speak in Quileute too?"

"I tell you when I need you speak in Quileute," Caevia answered.

"Alright," Kyle said, leaning back a little before regaining composure. "So why were you so startled by Embry?"

"_The room was quiet and I wasn't expecting him to talk to me."_

Kyle took a deep breath. "Okay," he said. "Was there anything else that made you react that way?" Caevia didn't immediately answer, but when she did, her voice was a squeak.

"_It made me remember Kuruk,"_ Caevia said. Kyle took a deep breath, preparing to ask the next question that he already knew the uncomfortable answer to.

"Who's Kuruk?" Embry came from the kitchen and sat down next to Caevia and her already standoff demeanor on the matter worsened.

"_I don't want to talk about it,"_ Caevia said harshly. Even Embry's touch when he took a hold of her hand didn't soften her.

"Okay," Kyle said calmly. "We'll talk about something else then. How's Ej been?"

Caevia finally smiled. "He's been wonderful."

"He hasn't been colicky I assume?"

"Colicky?" Caevia asked.

"Colicky, it means the baby doesn't stop crying."

"No," Caevia answered, "he hasn't been colicky. He's been perfect."

"I'm glad to hear it," Kyle said. "Do you usually speak Quileute to him or have you spoken English?"

"I usually speak Tistihlal to him. Embry speaks English."

"Well, I have to say, your English is coming along very well. You should be proud of yourself." Caevia didn't say anything. The look she was giving him after his praising her was also very telling; she looked confused. "So does he look more like you do you think?"

"_He looks more like Oscar's side of the family. I don't know who, though."_ Caevia took another deep breath and stayed quiet.

"Why don't we talk about your own mother? What was she like?"

"_Distant,"_ Caevia said bluntly.

"In what ways?"

"_We didn't talk."_

"Ever?" Kyle asked her to elaborate.

"_I recall a conversation in particular, but I was young."_

"Do you remember what this conversation was about?" Both Kyle and Edward knew she did. It was getting her to talk about it that was the challenge. In truth, Kyle and Edward both knew everything there was that Caevia remembered of her life, but them knowing wouldn't solve anything for her. She needed to confront it for herself.

"_I asked her if she loved me."_

"What did she say?"

"_She said she wanted to."_ Caevia left her answer at that.

"So she really did love you?" The question Kyle asked made Caevia very confused. Her mother had said 'she wished'. That meant she didn't. "The way she said it," Kyle continued once the image was present in Caevia's head, "it makes me think that she really did love you, but circumstances put her in a compromising position."

"_Repeat that in Tistihlal,"_ Caevia said and Kyle did so for her. After he'd translated it and she was sure what he was asking her, she really thought about it. _"Mother and I never really spoke to each other. My false father was very strict about it."_

"Why was that do you think?"

"Because he hated me," Caevia said, now speaking English.

"Do you know why?"

"_Because I reminded him that he was powerless. I was a daily reminder that a Tistihlal had raped my mother and there was nothing he could've done to stop it."_

"So he blamed you for the sins of your real father?" Caevia nodded. "Do you know who your real father is?" Caevia shook her head with watery eyes.

"_Even if I'd known, I'd have been thrown off the tower just like the others. He would never have loved me."_

"Does that upset you?" Caevia just nodded. "Maybe we should talk about your false father. You said he was very strict and expressed a harsh demeanor with you. Can you tell me more about that?"

Caevia took a deep breath._ "He wouldn't allow mother and I to talk much. He insisted that I receive the bare minimum. If I was hungry, I had to get my own food. If I needed new clothes, I needed to find or make them myself. My half brother was usually the one that enforced those rules whenever my false father wasn't near home."_

"I see," Kyle said, "so I assume that, regarding the talk you had with your mother, it was a time when both your stepfather and half-brother weren't in or around the home?" It took a moment for Caevia to connect stepfather as meaning false father, but eventually she nodded. "Let's talk a little more about that then. The word your mother used was 'wanted'. So really, it was outside forces forcing her coldness."

Caevia shook her head. _"If that were the case, she would have loved me anyway."_

"I think she did," Edward chimed in. "All your memories of your mother are of her being distant, yes, but she seemed unwilling or forced into that state."

"She really loved you, Caevia." She was dumbfounded. She couldn't even picture it. "Perhaps she should've put your before her husband, but you remember the culture: the husband is head. If your stepfather ordered your mother to be cold to you, it was her responsibility to oblige to his will. That doesn't mean she didn't love you at all." Caevia stayed quiet. "Do you love Ej?" The sudden change in subject surprised Caevia and it surprised Embry too.

"Of course she does."

"Embry," Kyle said, "she needs to answer this. It might be best for you not to be present. Unless, Caevia, you would rather he stay? We can always ask him to go to another room or go out on patrol if we touch on something you don't want him to hear." Kyle gave Caevia a knowing look regarding Kuruk and she ended up trembling before looking up at Embry. She took a few deep breaths, closed her eyes, and shook her head.

"_I want him here."_

"Alright," Kyle said. "Are you willing to talk about that?"

"No," Caevia said.

"Why don't you want to talk about Kuruk?" Embry suddenly asked. "Who is that anyway?"

"Embry, she needs to answer you and only if she wants to," Kyle said, noticing Embry was getting annoyed with him.

"At least answer me one thing: is he Ej's father or not?"

"No," Caevia said, "he's not."

Embry took a deep breath, "Alright then."

"So," Kyle changed the subject, "approximately how old were you when your parents passed away?"

"_I know I was young. It was before I'd reached any sort of feminine maturity. My mother passed away first. My false father wouldn't allow me near her and neither would my half brother."_

"Your stepfather passed away shortly thereafter?"

"Yes," Caevia answered.

"Now, when your parents were gone, what role did your half brother play in your life?"

"_He was never around. I saw him before he left and he wouldn't take me with him. I don't know what's happened to him since."_

"Do you ever wish that you did?" Caevia looked thoughtful for a while.

"_I don't know,"_ she answered honestly. She really wasn't sure how she felt in that regard. There was no love she held for her half brother, but sometimes that alone made her feel bad.

"So after your brother was gone, how did you survive on your own?"

"_I did what I had to,"_ Caevia answered.

"What do you mean by that?" Kyle asked calmly. Caevia looked at Kyle with a strange, blank look on her face. She knew he was listening to her thoughts. _You know what_, she thought for Kyle and Edward to hear. Otherwise, she said nothing. Embry's own mind was going rampant with possibilities. There was so much implication from that statement 'had to'. Was she saying she'd stooped to prostitution? Was that even really an option for her considering the Tistihlal didn't really have a currency system to speak of or did she implement a bartering system? If you give me food, I'll give you sex. Were men even willing to make equal exchanges? From what he'd seen and heard, there really wasn't any equal exchanges. If the men wanted sex, they took it. "I take it this is an uncomfortable topic for you?"

"_I need to see to Ej,"_ Caevia said suddenly and moved from the couch to make her way to the room she shared with the baby.

"What is she not willing to talk about besides Kuruk?"

"Embry, it's not my place to tell you that. It's bad enough that I can read her mind. She doesn't want to talk about it with you in the room."

"I thought she was alright with me being here."

"She wants you here because she doesn't want to talk about Kuruk."

"Well who the hell is he?!"

"_He's no one,"_ Caevia said from her room. She walked back out, holding Ej in her arms, and sat back on the couch. _"He's no one," _Caevia repeated.

"Clearly he's not," Embry mumbled. Caevia looked at him strangely. It looked as if she felt she was being challenged.

"Embry, why don't you go out on patrol," Kyle said. Embry was beginning to get agitated and that wouldn't make Caevia more likely to talk. She needed to feel relaxed before she could ever touch on one of her more painful set of memories.

"_He doesn't need to leave."_ Caevia's tone was nervous and abrasive.

"Caevia, there are things you don't want to talk about in front of Embry so we'll talk while he's not around."

"_I said he doesn't need to leave."_ Caevia took a hold of Embry suddenly as if he were her safety blanket. The jerk she produced by grabbing Embry shook Ej and he started crying again. She turned her attention to Ej and tried cooing him, but her tone was panicked and hardly soothing. Kyle looked at Edward and the two shared a silent, psychic conversation before Kyle went to Caevia to take the baby.

"Give him to me. I'll keep an eye on him for you," Kyle told Caevia so she would calm down. She eventually handed Ej to Kyle, but it was at least five minutes before she was calm enough to. When Ej was in Kyle's arms, he took the baby to his room rocked the baby back and forth in his arms while in the rocking chair. Caevia was staring at her hands and she seemed to be getting teary eyed again. Embry brought his hand to her back to comfort her, but all it did was make her shiver.

"Caevia," Edward said calmly, "why are you so unwilling for Embry to leave?" Edward waited for an answer he already knew, but she needed to say it. She wouldn't benefit from mind readers telling her what she was really thinking. She needed to come to that conclusion herself. That's what is needed for individuals with several problems that are haunting the now.

"_I don't want to talk about any of this,"_ Caevia finally answered.

"I know," Edward said. "You said to Embry that you just want it all to go away." Caevia nodded. "Well, it won't go away if you tuck it all between your toes. When you do that, it comes out at bad times like what happened when Embry startled you and when you got volatile about keeping Embry here. You've been prone to violent reactions of defensiveness for a long time and this new environment won't change that. It'll probably make things worse because you don't know this place as well. More than ever, you need to feel confident in your environment and that won't happen if you never harden yourself to what happened to you over the years. That's why it's important for people with Post-Traumatic Stress to talk about their trauma. The more you talk about it, the less frightening it becomes and you're able to really put it in the past. I know we can't make you do any of this, but for Ej's sake, we're begging you. If not for Ej, do it for yourself."

Caevia contemplated Edward's point. She felt like he and Kyle were asking far too much of her. She didn't want to think about any of it, but she couldn't pretend anymore that her nerves didn't stir incidents like the ones from today and so many others, mostly involving Embry. She loved Embry, truly she did. He'd been so good to her and he was so understanding and he never forced anything on her. He was so selfless and it was a trait she'd never seen directed towards her before. And yet, despite loving him, she knew if Embry were to want her hand in marriage that would mean sex. The thought repulsed her. The thought of any man touching her like that, even Embry, left her with a bad taste in her mouth and she wanted none of it. She'd had her fair share of sex in her lifetime and she was damned tired of it. Embry would of course be far kinder and gentler, but it was still sex. It would still hurt, she would still feel only a pain from penetration, and she'd cry until it was over.

"Caevia," Embry said, waking her from her deep thoughts. Embry's hand gently brushed a tear from her face that she'd not noticed was coming down. What she did notice, as did Embry and Edward, was that she didn't flinch from him. She looked at Embry and it made her come to a quick decision. Embry looked so concerned for her and that touched her. He deserved for her to come to a resolution whether she liked it or not. For her future, for Ej, for Embry, she was willing to talk.

"Alright, Caevia," Edward said, having read her mind the whole time, "let's pick up where we left off. Kyle asked you how you lasted after your parents had died. You said, 'what I had to,'. Would you mind being more elaborate?" Caevia took a deep breath and took a firm hold of Embry's hand unexpectedly.

"_After my parents died and my brother left, I had that little hut all to myself. Aside from the loneliness, it was actually nice. It was quiet and I was able to be alone. I found that I liked being alone. As far as food and clothes, I did what I'd been doing: I stole it or scavenged for it. This was the way of things for me for a few summers and it went unchanged until I began reaching feminine maturity. At the time, no one paid me any thought except…."_ Caevia stopped a moment to take a deep breath again. _"Except Kuruk."_ Embry paid very close attention upon the mentioning of this man Caevia had been so eager not to speak of.

"And Kuruk is?" Edward asked.

"_He was a man that lived in my line of the village I think. I never really noticed him before until he noticed me. He approached me when I was about to enter my little hut after I'd gathered myself some scraps. He'd told me I shouldn't eat that stuff and he gave me some real food. That was the first time I'd ever spoken to him and from that day, he was always a part of my life. He would give me food, he would give me nicer clothes, and he would tell me how beautiful I was."_ Embry felt himself turning green. From all the true crime movies Brie had loved watching, he knew exactly what was coming after she described the beginnings of her relationship with this man.

"So this man started taking care of you?" Caevia nodded. "You said he would compliment you as well. At the time, how did you feel about that?"

"_I felt happy. It was nice for someone to pay attention to me. He always kept me to himself, though. He always came to my hut, at least in the beginning. The first time I ever went to his hut was the first time it happened."_

"Before I ask for details, how long did he pay attention to you before this happened?"

"_I can't say for sure. I do know that it was chillier than normal when it started."_

"I see," Edward said. "So after the first time you went to his place of residence," Caevia looked at him strangely, "where he lived," Caevia nodded, "what exactly happened?" Caevia, who'd been tensing already, began going rigid and she held Embry's hand tightly.

"_He…."_ Caevia took several deep breaths. _"Nothing really happened initially. He gave me a new dress and some really good meat that usually only the Tistihlal would get a hold of. He made me feel like I was important. He'd made sure no one saw us when we went to his home too, but I didn't really care. I just assumed he knew better."_

"So he brought you to his home, gave you some food and new clothes. What happened after that?"

"_He was extremely careful,"_ Caevia began. _"In fact, he made me enter through the back through a window he had. He made me put on the dress he'd given me and he didn't leave the room when I started changing. He ended up eating with me and he insisted that I feed him. He even told me to put a piece of meat in my mouth and feed it to him that way. When I tried to pull away, he grabbed my chin and held me there so he could kiss me."_ Caevia stopped talking.

"When he kissed you, how did it make you feel?"

Caevia shed a tear, holding many more back and she brushed the one away. _"I don't know what I was thinking. It seemed strange, but he told me it was normal. He told me how pretty I was and how sweet I looked in my new dress. He told me he wanted to take care of me and that he'd do anything for me and he…..he said that he'd make me a woman."_ Embry was trying not to react. He suspected it was his reaction that Caevia was so concerned about. But his blood was boiling and he felt crushed for her. He knew exactly what was coming and he could taste blood coming from his lip from him biting onto his lip so hard. But no matter what, he made sure the hand she held was calm and unchanged.

"And by, 'make me a woman', you mean?" Edward asked despite the tears Caevia couldn't hold back anymore. She glanced at Embry, who was looking away. If he looked at her, he'd react and that wouldn't help her. Caevia was terrified that Embry was angry at her. "Caevia," Edward said, making her look at him. "Embry isn't angry with you. Please, don't be afraid to tell him the whole truth." Caevia nodded, but she wasn't fully convinced. Regardless, she continued.

"_He,"_ Caevia needed to breathe again. _"After we finished eating, I stood up to leave. That's when he told me he'd make me a woman. He grabbed my arm and said I needed to stay with him a little longer. Kuruk guided me to his bed and sat me down. When I was seated, he pulled off my dress so I was naked. I didn't know what he was doing and I was scared but he told me not to be scared. He told me that this was normal and this was how I would become a woman. I barely had breasts then, but he touched them anyway and he kept kissing me. I couldn't think what to do so I stayed so still. He told me that it was okay and that I'd learn eventually. Then he started touching me between my legs. He kept saying it was normal and that he was taking care of me."_ Caevia was crying now. She felt so guilty. _"I thought it was normal. It felt nice, so I thought it was okay. I thought he really loved me."_ She couldn't talk anymore. She was crying too hard. Embry finally looked at her and started rubbing her back, but she flinched away more violently than she'd done before.

"Caevia, none of it was your fault," Edward reassured. "Your body was reacting naturally. You have nothing to be ashamed of. You were taken advantage of by an adult figure." Caevia was still crying and didn't say anything. "Did he make you sleep with him or was it just touching?"

"_He just,"_ Caevia stopped a moment so she could stop herself from crying. She rubbed her cheeks and her eyes, but it took a while for her to get control of herself. It wasn't just that she was crying. She was hiccupping and taking sudden intakes of breath and she couldn't control her words when she spoke. _"It was only touching that day,"_ Caevia finally managed.

"Am I to assume that means he did eventually sleep with you?" Caevia just nodded.

"_He was forceful. It hurt really bad. He told me that after the first time, it would be okay. It usually wasn't though. If he did touch me, it was shortly and it was usually about him. He would make me put his…"_ she couldn't stand to say it, so she didn't. _"He would make me put that in my mouth, make me touch it. He never allowed me to say no. He would tell me that if I didn't do it, he'd be upset with me. That's all he would ever tell me. 'If you don't do it, then I'll be upset with you'. I felt so guilty the one time I insisted on not doing it. I felt so bad about saying no, so next time he came to my hut, I initiated it without a second thought. I remember him being very pleased for it. I felt like I was obligated to do these things because he was so supportive of me. He always told me not to tell anyone that we were doing these things. He told me that these were private and that I shouldn't tell anyone because it would hurt his wife's feelings."_

Edward found that particularly interesting. In short, this man had managed to brainwash her. There were four criteria required for brainwashing to work. Firstly, the victim must have suffered a profound mental/emotional shock. In Caevia's case, she'd had her whole life to that point of feeling hated and useless to the people that were supposed to love her. So when Kuruk came along and told her the things she wanted, no, needed, to hear, it was like a breath of fresh air and she needed it. Secondly, the victim must be removed from safety. In Caevia's case, she was alone without a safety net of any kind. She was on her own and she didn't know what to do. Once again, Kuruk flew in and saved her. He kept telling her that she needed to keep their relationship a secret and Kuruk always used a tone that frightened her when he explained that. It put fear in her and Kuruk was her only savior. Thirdly, the victim is 'programmed' by the victimizer. Kuruk was telling her that what was going on was right. He told her that he was making her a woman and that this was all normal. He made sure that she really believed that he was the master of her life and for a time, she readily accepted that notion. Finally, the victim is promised a reward, often times that reward was the victim's life. Kuruk was her life source, so if he went away or anything happened, she would lose her safety net and source of stability. She needed him, or thought she did, and Kuruk made sure that she felt that way.

He'd made himself a very prominent part of her life and made sure that Caevia felt helpless without him. He provided for her and told her things she wanted to hear while making sure she was under his thumb. It was a very sad story, made all the more sad because, since it was a successful brainwashing, she was completely dependent on him and she thought she needed him. The fact that Caevia was so guilty over the matter and it was so painful was, oddly, a good thing. It meant that she realized this is what he was doing. She realized that she was only his tool, his puppet, and his toy. Realizing that's what was happening is the first step to breaking away from that control. Thankfully, Caevia broke away from his power long ago, though how it happened was hardly pleasant.

"I know you can't give an exact number, but how long did this arrangement last?"

"_I don't know exactly."_ Edward nodded, already knowing that was her answer.

"Alright, Caevia, I'm going to ask you an uncomfortable question, but we need to discuss it." Caevia nodded, trying to prep herself for the question. "Kuruk's wife eventually caught the two of you, correct?" Caevia nodded. "Tell me about that."

"_It took a while,"_ Caevia began._ "Our intimate relationship lasted for a long time. Eventually, though, I think his wife was beginning to catch on that Kuruk was involved with another woman, though whether or not she knew it was me I don't know. She came home unexpectedly and caught us having sex. She yelled at me a little, but most of all she yelled at Kuruk. She pulled me away from him and threw me out of the hut without giving me back my clothes. I was naked in the middle of the line and everyone was staring at me. I heard Kuruk's wife yell at him some more. He claimed I'd seduced him and that I was at fault and I think she believed him. I went back to my hut and I didn't see him again for a while. I became very sick in the following time. I thought I was dying because I was getting so sick and there was something growing inside me and I didn't know what it was. I didn't understand that I was pregnant. I didn't know what was happening to me."_

"What happened to this baby?" Edward asked. Caevia started shaking.

"_Kuruk found out about me being pregnant. He'd heard I was getting sick and he knew why. He came to me after so long a period of not talking to me and made me take off my clothes. He examined me while telling me he was sorry. He told me that he only told his wife I'd seduced him because that's what she'd want to hear. I don't remember, but he made me believe that he was really sorry. He never really told me what was wrong with me. I asked him what was happening, but he wouldn't tell me. He made me stand up and he was touching my face so gently. The punch came as a shock."_

"The punch?" Edward asked her to elaborate.

"_While he would caressing my face, he punched me suddenly in the abdomen two times. It hurt so bad, but he told me it was okay. He told me he was doing it for me. I didn't stop bleeding for many hours. A midwife finally came to my aid by nightfall, but it wasn't by Kuruk's hand that she came. Someone had heard me cry out and had retrieved her. By the time I finally stopped bleeding, the midwife told me that she was sorry and that I'd lost my baby. It was the first I'd ever even heard that I was pregnant."_ Caevia chocked on her words and started crying again.

"After that, did your relationship with Kuruk end?"

Caevia shook her head, _"Not for long. After I recovered, he came to me and apologized. He told me he had to, but that he didn't want to harm me or my baby. He said that he cared for me and that he wished he could keep me and my baby save."_

Her baby, Edward thought. Never 'our' baby or 'our' child. He was basically insinuating that the baby wasn't his. Perhaps he'd convinced his wife of such and hence had convinced himself the same. Caevia didn't seem to realize that though. He also never seemed to say 'love'. In Caevia's mind, there wasn't a single circumstance where Kuruk ever told her, 'I love you'. It was always how beautiful she was or how aroused she made him or how much he cared, but never love.

"You forgave him?"

Caevia nodded with her head held down. _"I did. I believed him and I wanted things to go back to the way they were. From then on, he always came to my hut. Whenever he wanted sex, he came to my hut and would tell me he wanted to do things. He would bring me gifts too. He even gave me a woven wedding wristband, but he forbid me from ever wearing it outside my hut. He told me that people wouldn't understand and that what we had was special. I remember wearing that band every moment I was in my hut. I forgot to take it off a few times and whenever I did, he would get mad at me. It wasn't long before I was pregnant again. This time I realized what was happening to me, so I made sure to hide it. When he came over, I would insist on touching him and putting my mouth on his thing so he wouldn't make me get naked. He didn't say anything for a while, but I think he realized my abdomen was getting bigger."_

"When he realized you were pregnant, what did he do?"

"_He came over and brought me food and a new dress."_ A pattern, Edward thought. Bring her things she needs and wants so she'll think he still loves her. _"He talked to me like nothing was off. Eventually, he told me he wanted me to stand up, but this time I knew better. I told him that I was more comfortable sitting down. Then he said, "It would really upset me if you didn't'. I refused to stand up. I told him that I wanted to stay where I was. The more I said no, the angrier he got."_

"And after you continuously denied him, what did he do?" Caevia took yet another deep breath.

"_He started beating me. He grabbed me by my hair and started beating my stomach first. He didn't stop until I was vomiting and bleeding a lot between my legs. When he was sure he'd killed the baby, he started beating my face, my arms, my legs, anything his fists could hit. He punched my mouth so many times that I lost a few teeth. He didn't stop until all I could taste was blood. He kicked my face one more time before walking out of my hut. No one came to help me. I couldn't move for a long time from being in so much pain. I had so many bruises that most parts of my body were purple."_ Embry's hand that was held by Caevia stayed calm, but the other half of his body was shaking. All he could see was red.

"Did he leave you alone after that?" Caevia cried.

"_No,"_ she answered with a tear._ "I had managed to hear a little before he came back. I was still bruised and swollen, but I could move around. I knew I'd lost my second child and I was so depressed. He came to my hut and tried to apologize. He told me he'd overreacted and that he promised it would never happen again. That time, I didn't believe him. He couldn't sway me this time. I screamed that he'd murdered our baby and he said he was sorry for harming my child."_ Caevia stopped a moment and Edward's heart sank a little. It finally dawned on her that he never really accepted their children and that, in a way, he was calling her a slut by claiming he wasn't the father. That realization hurt even more. "That bastard," Caevia mumbled in English.

"What happened after that?"

"_He…..he told me that he cared for me and that he was sorry, but I refused to forgive him. I told him to leave me alone and that I wanted him to never see me again. He told me that I was hurting him and that if I really loved him, then I would forgive him. I told him that I didn't love him and that I wanted him to leave me alone. He got angrier and angrier. Eventually, he backhanded me and when I fell to the floor, he forced himself on me. I tried to get away, but he pinned me down and was pulling my hair and it hurt so much. When he was done, he kicked me and said I'd do what he wanted when he wanted it. Then he left. He didn't come back after that."_ Embry had thought he'd relax once she spoke of him leaving her alone, but it didn't. He was still angry.

"So he never bothered you again after that?"

"_Not directly," _Caevia said.

"What do you mean by 'not directly'?"

"_There was another man I liked. It wasn't immediately. I can't think of how long it was, but it was long enough that I was starting to feel better. There was a man that I really liked. He was tall, handsome, and he was so nice. He never laid a hand on me either. He told me I was pretty and he said he wanted to marry me. He said he loved me."_

"How does this relate to Kuruk?"

Caevia brushed away a tear._ "Tamah, that was his name, knew nothing of my involvement with Kuruk. I didn't want him to know because I didn't want him to think less of me. Kuruk found out that Tamah was planning to marry me. He saw me walking around with a new woven wedding band and he became enraged. He told Tamah all about our previous relationship and Tamah had been repulsed. He told me I was a whore and that he no longer wanted to marry me. He didn't take the wedding band he'd given me. Kuruk came to my hut and ripped it off me and told me I wouldn't get a good man." _ Embry felt his heart sink. This is why she didn't want Embry to hear any of this: she thought he'd think less of her if he knew just how hard her life had been.

"Did you and Tamah ever reconcile?"

"_No,"_ Caevia answered. _"He never came near me again. He married another woman before too long and they had their own children. It made me sad to see him. I was so jealous of the woman he'd married."_

"Was there another man you ever took notice of that Kuruk interfered with?"

"_It only happened with Tamah. I never approached another man after that. I was so heartbroken that I didn't want anything to do with men anymore. I just wanted to be left alone."_

"Were you left alone?" Edward asked, despite knowing the obvious answer. The point was to make her talk about it all, even though he knew the answers.

"_No,"_ Caevia answered. _"As I got older, I suppose I became more appealing. Either that or I was an easy target. Regardless, the Tistihlal boys would come down from time to time looking for sex. They'd never bothered me before until I was older. I don't know any of their names, but I know they'd been from both Oscar's and Oliver's lines. The first time it happened, it was only one of them. He took me by surprise, threw me into the first hut he found and ordered the family to leave so we could be alone. It was over before long, but it felt like an eternity. I screamed and I cried, but no came to help me. When he was finished with me, the family pushed me out of the hut and didn't help. I got pregnant again after that, but I lost that baby."_

"How'd you lose the baby?" Edward asked.

"_I don't know actually. At first, everything was fine. I was actually happy because now I could have someone to love me. But after a few months, I started feeling pain and I miscarried. I don't know if it was because I'd been raped by that man a few times when I was pregnant or not, but I miscarried. I was heartbroken when I lost that baby."_

"Was that the last baby that you lost before it was born?"

Caevia shook her head. _"There was one more. The last baby that I miscarried was before I was pregnant with Ej. I gave birth three times before that. My first baby was a little girl."_ Caevia brushed away another tear. _"She looked so much like me. That's what hurt the most. She looked like me. She was the first baby I ever got to give birth to and I didn't even get to hold her. Everyone knew I'd been raped by the Tistihlal and they knew about the pregnancy so their Medicine Man delivered my baby and took her away before I could even hold her. I didn't even get to name her."_ Caevia began choking up again and was crying. _"They took my baby girl away from me."_

Edward gave Caevia some time to cry. The image of her little girl was clear in her mind and she was right: that baby had looked just like her. That wasn't surprising considering the incestuous nature of the child's conception, but it had still been special to Caevia. Edward didn't need to imagine how this must've felt for her. Her pain was literally radiating off her. If Jasper were present, he may well have started crying himself from all that heartache. Edward contemplated calling Jasper to keep Caevia calm, but he decided not to. Caevia needed to sort through her feelings and Jasper would make that difficult to accomplish.

"What about the other two you delivered?"

"_Another girl my second time and a boy the third. I think they had the same father. There was a Tistihlal man that took a liking to me and would come to 'see' me whenever he wanted sexual company."_ Caevia sniffed and rubbed her eyes. _"They would never leave me alone. They just wouldn't leave me alone."_

"What about Ej? Was the same man that fathered the other two among the men that got you pregnant with Ej?"

"_No, he wasn't. They were different looking. I knew the other father had been one of Oliver's kids, so these men were Oscar's. At least two of them were anyway. They looked so similar. I think they may have been twins even. I don't know. All I know for sure is that Ej belongs to Oscar's line. Ej looks so much like Oscar sometimes."_

"Does it make you happy that Oscar accepted him?" Caevia looked thoughtful before answering.

"_I'm happy for Ej. He deserves for someone in the family to love and accept him. I want Ej to have everything I didn't get to have when I was little. I was so determined to keep him that I sold myself to some men from the village to blame the pregnancy on. I didn't care if it meant they thought I was a whore. If it meant I could keep my baby, I didn't care."_

"What about your feelings? How do you stand with regards to Oscar?"

"_His grandsons raped me,"_ Caevia said bitterly._ "He may have accepted Ej, but I will never really trust him I think. If he ever hurts Ej, I'll kill him with my bare hands. As long as he's good to my son and is the grandfather Ej deserves, then I'll tolerate him."_

"I'd say that's a start," Edward said. "You did a great job, Caevia. I know this was hard on you but it'll get easier." Caevia nodded.

"Can I hold Ej now?" Caevia asked, finally comfortable enough to speak English. Edward nodded and Caevia left the couch for hers and the baby's room. Kyle handed Ej to her and she looked at Ej with her eyes teary._ "I love you so much, Ej,"_ she whispered to him as she rocked him in her arms. Embry, on the other hand, stayed on the couch staring at the wall. He was still shaking.

"Try not to react in front of her. She's still nervous that you're angry at her over this."

"I'm not angry at her," Embry growled a little. "I'm going to go out on patrol now. If I don't, I might break something."

Embry ran out of the house and didn't bother taking off his clothes before he fazed. Some members of the pack were out and they knew from Embry's thoughts to leave him the hell alone. He ran around for several hours until he was so tired that he could barely walk anymore. When he finally came home, it was roughly three in the morning. He'd regret staying up this late without any naps in between when he had to wake up for work, but he was too tired to even care about that. He walked back into his house naked and on his way to his room, he noticed Caevia's door was open. She was in bed and Ej was in his crib. He noticed her eyes still looked tearstained, but she seemed to be sleeping soundly now. Embry went to his room and plopped right into bed and managed to fall asleep.

His alarm woke him up early in the morning and he managed to wobble his way to his shower and got ready for work. He was very seriously considering quitting his night job at the hospital. Part of the reason he'd taken the job was because of Brie. Since he and Brie had gotten divorced, he had fewer expenses oddly enough. All he needed to worry about was the girls and he and Brie both contributed to that fund. If he quit the security job, he'd have more time to spend with Caevia and the baby. The girls would like it better too he knew. His weekends would be completely open. He wasn't opposed to that idea either. Caevia and the baby were still asleep when he passed their room and he didn't want to scare her so he just left for work. He'd go to the hospital and give his two week's notice. After work, he went straight to the hospital to give his notice. He'd do two more weeks worth of work until they could find a replacement and they'd give him his last paycheck at that time. When he finally got back home, Caevia was in the living room holding Ej. He walked around so she would see him coming and when she saw him, she appeared nervous.

"You left suddenly," she said.

"Yeah," Embry said. "I needed to run around and cool my head. You were asleep by the time I got home and I didn't want to bother you." Caevia averted her eyes and looked at Ej instead. "Put Ej down for a moment, Caevia." She looked up at him strangely and even suspiciously. That's what hurt the most.

"Why?"

"Please, Caevia, just put him down for a moment." They shared a look and eventually, Caevia complied. She rested Ej in a little carrier that was next to her on the couch and when he was snuggled in, she looked at Embry. Instead of grabbing her, Embry held out his hand to her and let her give her own. When she did, he pulled her up to him and hugged her. She seemed startled at first and she didn't embrace him initially. _"Don't think that way of me,"_ he said. _"I don't blame you for anything. I left last night because it was too much. I felt so much rage for what you'd been through and I was angry because there was nothing I could've done to help you. I felt guilty. I still do. But I love you and I won't turn from you. I am what you need me to be Caevia. Tell me what you need me to be."_ Finally, Caevia returned the hug and she shoved her face into his shoulder.

"I just want a normal life," Caevia finally answered with tears in her eyes. "I don't want to hurt anymore."

"You won't, I promise," Embry said, kissing her forehead. "No one will ever hurt you again, not while I'm around. I won't make you love me, Caevia, but I will be here for you no matter what." Caevia lifted her head from Embry's shoulder and looked him in the eye.

"You won't?" Embry nodded. A crushing pain fell on his chest, but he still nodded. If she didn't want him, then he wouldn't stop her, but that didn't mean it wouldn't hurt. "I owe you much," she murmured.

"You don't owe me anything, Caevia. I just want you to be happy and I mean that."

"You just want me to be happy," Caevia repeated in a mumble while still looking at him. He really was so selfless. He really did love her more than himself. The fact that he wasn't going to make her marry him or have any romantic attachment to him was the proof to her. And yet, what she thought she wanted was suddenly making her feel hollow. "You really mean that?" she asked one last time.

"Yes," he answered, and the way he answered was all the more proof she needed. It hurt him to promise such a thing, but he was promising it to her all the same. She kissed him long before it registered that she'd wanted to but when she did, everything felt okay. Embry was caught off guard and he waited a moment before he contributed to the kiss.

He held her so gently and his embrace was so warm, hot even. He tasted like nothing she'd tasted before. He tasted clean his hands made her tremble in a way she never had before. She never wanted another man to touch her ever again…except Embry. He wasn't like anyone else. He loved her, really loved her, and he was willing to put her and her well being before his. She realized she was willing to do the same and she realized it made her happy. She felt safe with him and that was so strange. His touch wasn't repulsing her; quite the contrary, it was actually exciting her and she wanted more. She had her arms fully wrapped around his waist and his were doing the same. Their breathing accelerated, but neither of them broke away. They both feared it would all go away if they did. She didn't know how long they stayed like that, but it was the most warming moment of her life. Embry broke away from her only long enough to pick her up in his arms and wisp her off her feet. He kissed her again as soon as she was in his arms and he began walking unconsciously. When they reached his room, he rested her on the bed and began kissing her neck. The kisses were so gentle and it made her tingle. She couldn't believe it, she was actually excited. Everything just melted away and it was the happiest she'd ever been in her life.

"Embry," she murmured his name and it nearly brought a tear to his eye. Though, her saying his name did bring him back a little and he realized something: she was in no condition for any of this. She'd just had a baby and she was still bleeding. She needed to recover before he could even think of doing this. When he pulled away, Caevia looked up at him nervously. _"What's wrong?"_

"You had a baby a few days ago. We should wait until you've had time to recover." Embry looked at her for a moment, "Unless you don't want to do this. If you don't, please tell me and I'll leave you alone." Caevia shook her head and grabbed a hold of him, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him to her.

"No," she whispered in his ear. "I thought that what I want, but no. You are different. You are so patient, so understanding. I want someone to love me and now I have you." Embry looked at her with their foreheads touching and he smiled at her.

"_I really do love you, Caevia. I mean that."_

"_I know that now more than ever."_ She kissed Embry again. _"May I sleep in your bed tonight?"_

"On one condition," Embry smiled. "Tell me you love me."

"_I love you."_ She said it without hesitation and he couldn't bare not to kiss her.

"I love you too."


	32. Closure

**Closure**

Despite Caevia's previous eagerness, after a few months when she was healed, she and Embry tried initiating intimacy, it took no time for her to become extremely uncomfortable. The kissing didn't bother her. The way Embry kissed her was different than anything she'd had with any other man (at least, those that actually kissed her). She began to feel uncomfortable when Embry started touching her intimately. His hands had gone no further than her breasts and she couldn't continue after that. Kyle wasn't surprised about this new development. Women that came from that kind of abuse came out, often times, either being sexually promiscuous and manipulative or they're repulsed by sex because any intimacy (even desired intimacy) reminds them of the previous abuse. There's always room for error and differences in the world of the human mind, but Caevia certainly fell into the latter category. Caevia went to Kyle asking if there was any way she could recover and for her and Embry to have a healthy intimate relationship. Unfortunately, the only answer was to harden her; make her talk about why sex was bothering her and essentially get over it the best she could. That's easier said than done to be blunt.

Edward and Kyle, from then on, would both make a point to sit down with Caevia at least once a week so she could talk and vent about her past atrocities. It was hard for her initially of course. The thought of Kuruk made her sob, as did talking about Tamah and his betrayal of her. Eventually, though, (albeit after several long months) Caevia began to feel less depressed about her past. Discussing Kuruk and Tamah was still upsetting, but it no longer rendered her incapable of speech due to crying. She was able to talk about the many Tistihlal men that had raped her and talk away how much she'd hated them. That's not to say the rage was no longer there, but she was beginning to be able to talk about it rationally. Kyle really wanted Caevia to be able to forgive what had happened and that was substantially harder. Being able to forgive and forget would be the key to making it possible for Caevia and Embry to have a healthy and loving relationship but, understandably, Caevia wasn't as willing to forgive. She had every reason to feel hatred towards those that had harmed her, but if she wanted to make any progress, she would need to learn to be the bigger person.

Tamah was the easiest one for her to forgive. She knew full well that the society in which she'd been born put certain expectations even on the lowest of that society. When Tamah found out that Caevia wasn't a virgin, her virtue, namely the only gift she really had to give in a marriage arrangement, was tarnished and she had no value in that sense. Besides that, she had loved Tamah. Despite his repulsion towards her lack of virtue, he'd been a good man and, had he never found out about her lost virginity, he would've been a good husband. Kuruk and her nameless abusers were the ones that took more for her to forgive. It really was a shame their world and its mysticism needed to stay secret. Caevia would've made an excellent subject for a dissertation. She could be the subject that earned Kyle his PhD at long last, but alas it couldn't be so. He'd have to settle with studying kids from orphanages and the adverse affects that came from their childhood experiences. At least, that had been his first choice when considering his topic for a dissertation.

Again, it took months, many more months than being able to talk about it was, for her to forgive, but she came closer and closer to it and, the more so she did that the more intimacy she was able to allow between her and Embry. Amazingly, though, it was after Caevia finally met Brie (completely upon Brie's unforgiving insistence) that Caevia really started to have some real progress. What little Brie knew about Caevia made her extremely nervous about her being around the girls. Lauren and Jenna were adamant that they loved Caevia and they really did, but that didn't necessarily mean she was a good influence as far as Brie was concerned. Shortly after Caevia had Ej, Embry went to Brie's house to pick up the girls and he'd told her the news.

"Ej?" she'd asked skeptically. "She named her son Ej?"

"Well, she named him Embry. I'd made the—"

"Wait a minute," Brie interrupted. "You're telling me this isn't your kid, but she named the kid after you?"

"Yes, Brie, she named her son after me. I'd joked that he'd be Embry Junior and she put it on his birth certificate, so now we call him Ej as a nickname." The look Brie was giving him was extremely odd and, frankly, a little condescending.

"Was she high on the epidural when she agreed to that?"

"She didn't use the epidural. The needle made her uncomfortable."

"Me too, but I took it like a big girl."

"I'd argue that it takes a big girl to take childbirth without any drugs at all."

"You would know wouldn't you?" Brie said sarcastically. Embry sighed heavily but otherwise said nothing. "So when do I get to meet this woman that's around my kids every weekend?"

"Damn it, Brie, she's not a bad person. How about me? When do I get to meet this asshole that spends the night at your house from time to time while the girls are here? When do I get to meet him?"

"I thought you said you didn't care about meeting him."

"I don't Brie; that's the point. Lauren and Jenna haven't given me a reason to think poorly of him so I really don't think I have anything to worry about and, frankly, I just don't want to meet him. If the two of you get engaged or something, then I'll consider meeting him officially."

"Well excuse me for caring about the people that my daughters are around."

"Don't even start, Brie," Embry said. "Don't make it sound like I don't care at all. I do care. I just know when and when not to over think things." Jenna and Lauren finally came downstairs and Embry turned his attention entirely on them. "There're my girls." Embry bent down so they could all hug. "How was school this week?"

"I got an A on my math test!" Jenna announced proudly. "Mommy taped it to the fridge! Come see, come see!" Jenna pulled Embry with her into the house and brought him to the kitchen so he could see her addition and subtraction math test that she'd done so well on.

"That's great, sweetheart," Embry enthused.

"My class didn't have a math test this week, but we had a spelling test," Lauren said.

"Indeed," Brie smiled. "Tell daddy about that spelling test honey."

"I got in trouble because I misspelled shirt," Lauren said.

"Oh no," Embry said, fighting a laugh. "Did she forget the r or something?"

"She forgot the r," Brie confirmed. "Her teacher was most displeased with that."

"She thought you were being a smart ass did she?" Embry teased Lauren. Brie came over and swatted Embry.

"Don't talk that way. Lauren did it on accident. You have no excuse. Also," Brie said suddenly, "I heard you're quitting your security job."

"Yeah, I turned in my letter of resignation. I want to be home more now that Caevia had the baby. I took that job to keep up with bills and now I have fewer expenses so I don't need to keep that job."

"Is Caevia going to get a job then? Baby's aren't cheap, Embry."

"I'm going to hound my boss for a raise, but I'll make sure to do it in the most professional way possible. I've worked for the man long enough. I'd say I deserve a little extra pay."

"And is she getting a job?" Brie asked again.

"Someday maybe, but not right now. She isn't in a position to get a job right now. She's spent her life in a closed off village that isn't really legally recognized by the state of Arizona. Getting her prepped for any type of job will take a while."

"And you're choosing now when you've just adopted another woman's child to quit a source of extra income?"

"Girls, why don't you go to the car? I'll be there in a minute." Jenna and Lauren walked out of the kitchen and left him and Brie alone to talk. "Brie, please stop criticizing me for this. I get it: you don't like Caevia and you don't like that I adopted her son, I get it. But please respect that I'm a grown man and it's not your place to tell me what and what not to do."

"Embry, I can't claim to dislike Caevia; I don't even know the woman. That's why I'm so damned concerned about meeting her. I want to be able to form an opinion of the woman my husband's shacked up with."

"Ex-husband, Brie," Embry corrected with a touch of bitterness.

Brie sighed heavily. "Is it so wrong that I still love you and care about you?"

"This isn't about you still caring, Brie, it's about you getting so damned upset over me finally being happy. Why do you hate seeing me happy, Brie; why don't you answer me that?"

"How dare you," Brie said. "Don't you dare tell me that I just don't want you do be happy. I do want you to be happy, but not at our daughters' expense."

"That's it," Embry said, "this conversation's over. I'll drop the girls off at school Monday morning." Embry left Brie's house and went straight to his car after that. He made sure not to let the girls know they'd argued. Instead, he just told them they needed to talk about something and left it at that. When they got back to Embry's house, Caevia was in her room breast feeding Ej. "I'm back," Embry said to Caevia while the girls went to their room to drop off their things.

"You took a while," Caevia said. _"Is everything okay?"_ she asked in Tistihlal.

"Everything's fine. The girls hadn't packed all their things, so I needed to wait for them."

"You look upset," Caevia said. She noticed that Embry didn't look happy. "Did you argue with Brie?"

"You could say that," Embry confided. "She's getting upset with me because I haven't allowed her to meet you. She's paranoid about you being around the girls and we started arguing over it." He left out the rest of the argument, but he didn't really want to talk about it.

"_Why are you reluctant for us to meet?"_

"It's not that I'm reluctant for you two to meet. I don't like her tone towards you and you have enough to deal with without Brie getting on your case over nothing." Embry sighed heavily. "She can meet you when you're more comfortable."

"_She thinks I'm bad for the girls,"_ Caevia said more than asked. Embry walked over to her and went to his knees before her and rested his hand on her arm.

"Don't worry about it," Embry said. "I know that's not the case and so do you." The girls both ran into the room then to meet the baby. With Caevia's help, each little girl got to hold their new, adopted, brother and asked to play with him. Again, Caevia stayed close and Embry did too as Caevia rested Ej on a blanket she placed on the floor and let Lauren and Jenna play with the baby.

The girls played with Ej until he started to get fussy and Caevia decided he needed some time to sleep and be left alone. The girls went to the living room and brought on a cartoon while they played with pink and purple legos and their Barbie Dolls. Caevia joined them after she got Ej settled back into his crib and they all played for the rest of the afternoon until it was approaching dinner time. Caevia had gotten used to Embry's kitchen and was learning how to cook rather quickly after watching Esme do it so much during her pregnancy. While she was chopping some vegetables, Ej started crying so she asked Embry to continue chopping while she went to check on him. Ej stopped crying a few long minutes later, but Caevia stayed in the room with him to play a little. As Embry finished the last of the vegetables, there came a knock at his door and Lauren went ahead and answered it.

"Mommy? What are you and Mitch doing here?" Embry stood still a minute thinking he must have misheard Lauren.

"We missed you and Jenna. Mitch suggested that we all have dinner together and I thought that was a wonderful idea."

"I did?" One thing was for sure: Brie still had a habit of spontaneity.

"Yeah," Brie said. "It's a perfect opportunity for the four of us to sit down and get to know each other. We're all raising two girls together after all."

"I still think we should've called first," Mitch thought out loud. Embry finally came to the entrance from the kitchen and remained as polite as his irritation would allow.

"Brie, we're already making dinner. I don't know if we'll have enough."

"We could always go out to dinner, right Mitch?"

"Sure," Mitch said, a little exasperated.

"So you're Mitch?" Embry finally said, ignoring the comment of going out.

"So you're the ex-husband?" Mitch returned. "Look, I'm sorry if we're intruding. We can always leave and have dinner another night."

"No, no," Brie said, "I think we should stay a little bit." Brie looked around the living room and into the kitchen, failing to find what she was looking for. "So where's Caevia?"

"Is she foreign?" Mitch asked suddenly. "It's an interesting name."

"She's from a closed off tribe in Arizona. And she's with Ej right now." Mitch chuckled.

"The kid's name is actually Ej? I thought Brie was kidding." Embry shook his head.

"No," he said, "Ej is his nickname." Mitch chuckled again.

"That kid'll be popular once he's a teenager," he joked. Embry smiled a little and shrugged.

"So anyway, where's Caevia?" Brie asked again.

"She's with the baby," Lauren answered. "Ej is adorable mommy!"

"Well babies usually are, honey," Brie teased and she gently touched Lauren's cheek. "Where's your sister?"

"She's over there," Lauren pointed towards the couch. "She's trying to make the legos do something."

"Let's take a look at that then," Mitch said before walking over behind the couch where Jenna was concentrating on trying to build a pretty, though far too small, Barbie house. Brie walked past Embry towards the new room seeing as her boyfriend and daughters were currently occupied with something else. Embry followed and when Brie was before the opened door, she saw Ej on the blanket placed on the floor with Caevia nuzzling and cooing him while holding his hands.

"Caevia," Brie said to get her attention and the screech that followed startled Brie and made her scream too. "Jesus, calm down!" While Ej cried, Caevia, who'd practically launched up in a sitting position and fell flat on her butt, tried to breathe in and out so she could get back control over her heart rate. Embry entered the room and picked up Ej so he could try and calm him down.

"You can't sneak up on her, Brie. She gets easily startled."

"I can see that," Brie said harshly. "Damn woman almost scared me half to death!"

"Likewise, you bitch," Caevia panted back, her accent heavier than normal.

"She speaks English?" Brie asked. "You said she didn't speak English."

"I said her English wasn't great and that was five months ago. Her English improved since then."

"Enough to swear at least," Brie said.

"You're Brie?" Caevia asked when she was calmed down and Brie nodded. Caevia stood from the floor and took one more calming breath before walking over to her. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm sorry for screaming. You took me by surprise is all."

"Yeah," Brie finally said, "It's nice to meet you too." She was still a little standoffish considering the rude awakening she'd gotten upon meeting the woman. "You're my ex-husband's new girlfriend?" Caevia looked confused. She'd never been referred to with that word and she wasn't certain what it meant. Embry translated the word as best he could and the language barrier made Brie a little uncomfortable.

"Yes," Caevia finally answered with a kind smile. That smile pleased Embry a lot. It was a move in the right direction for the two of them, the fact that she was comfortable accepting him as being her 'boyfriend'. He considered himself a little old to be referred to as such considering he was over fifty, but he didn't say anything. Brie didn't know Embry's real age. She thought he was in his mid to late thirties at best. "I'm sure there's plenty of food. Why don't you stay for dinner?"

Though that had been the intent, Brie was suddenly a lot less eager. Last she'd seen Caevia, the woman looked battered and like a rat pulled from the gutter. The woman cleaned up well and that made Brie feel a little self-conscience.

"No, Mitch and I wouldn't want to impose."

"No, please stay," Embry said and the look Brie gave him was priceless. "You came to have dinner, so stay for dinner." Caevia walked over to Embry to take Ej from him. He'd stopped crying, but he still wasn't happy either.

"You don't mind if I keep Ej with me in the kitchen do you?" Caevia directed her question towards Brie.

"No," she finally answered. "I don't mind. I love babies." Caevia smiled first at Brie, and then at Ej and gave him a kiss on his head before walking to the kitchen. Embry and Brie stayed behind a moment. "She's something," Brie finally said.

"She recovered really quick from that. I'm proud of her," Embry said with a smile. "Try not to sneak up on her. She's still sensitive to that."

"I think she's full of crap to be honest. There's no way she'd be comfortable with dating after what she's been through."

"Look, Brie, she's getting help and just because she and I are in a relationship doesn't mean we're sleeping together. Nothing will happen until she's comfortable."

"But she's comfortable living with you," Brie said skeptically.

"Just go to the damn kitchen and be nice to her," Embry said, walking away from the baby's room. Intimacy or not, Caevia had taken to sharing a bed with Embry and the single bed could either leave the room or be saved for Ej when he got older. Caevia felt comforted being with Embry. In recent weeks since she first confided her story, any time she had to repeat it, she would snuggle close to Embry at night to help herself feel better. Brie followed to the kitchen; Mitch was still playing with the girls, so the three of them were occupied with each other and it made Brie smile a little.

"So what's for dinner?" Brie asked when she got to the kitchen.

"Something Esme showed me how to do," Caevia answered enthusiastically. "I can't remember what it called." There it was, Brie thought. Her English really did still need work. Either that or she would forget how to speak when she got nervous or eager.

As Caevia cooked dinner with Embry holding the baby for her, Brie felt a twinge of jealousy. Even when they'd been really happy and in love, she couldn't remember a time when Embry had ever looked at her like that. It was so loving and he seemed so genuinely happy when he was around her. She saw the same in Caevia when she was near Embry. She looked so comfortable and happy compared to what she would expect of an individual who'd been rapped. It made her all the more skeptical about the woman. If she'd been rapped so recently, she certainly wouldn't be this comfortable with Embry's hands on her from time to time. She also definitely wouldn't be so cheerful. Sure she'd screeched when they first met, but that didn't mean anything. Plenty of women screamed when they were startled and Caevia had clearly not heard Brie coming. When dinner was ready, it ended up being spread thinner among everyone than was originally intended. Caevia hadn't planned on cooking for six people.

"Thanks for accommodating us last minute," Mitch offered. "I know we kind of surprised you. This is really good."

"Thank you," Caevia smiled.

"So how old is your son now?" Mitch asked. Unsure, Caevia looked at Embry.

"Not quite a month yet?"

"He'll be a month old this Monday."

"He's a big baby then," Mitch commented with a laugh. Caevia sighed a little, remembering just how big Ej had been. She could feel it but when he'd been weighed, he was a whopping twelve pounds and thirty inches long. Yes, Ej was definitely a big baby but Caevia was proud of it. Her son was born healthy.

"So Embry tells me you're from Arizona," Brie mentioned.

"Yes," Caevia confirmed. "I was born in the Tistihlal tribe."

"I can't say I've heard of them, but honestly, the only Indians I know about are the Quileute, Spokane, Cheyenne, and Sioux. Oh, I've heard of Navaho too," Mitch said before taking another bite of food.

"I imagine the tribe isn't well known. It's very secluded."

"How did you and Embry meet?" Brie asked, but this time Embry spoke.

"Let's not talk about that right now," he said. "How long have you two been seeing each other Mitch?"

"A year?" Mitch looked at Brie. "Has it been a year?"

"It's been a year and a half," Brie corrected.

"I noticed Lauren and Jenna like you," Embry said.

"He helps us build stuff," Lauren announced.

"I noticed," Embry laughed, remembering the Barbie house made with legos.

Mitch and Embry were the ones that did most of the talking while Brie stayed rather quiet and Caevia wasn't completely following the conversation so her attention was focused mostly on Ej who was near the table in a little baby appropriate highchair. Brie didn't get to know Caevia the way she'd been hoping. Embry wouldn't let her ask anything and she didn't understand why. Her past experiences couldn't be _that_ bad. By the end of dinner, Embry and Mitch found out they actually liked each other and Mitch insisted that they go out for drinks next time there was a game on. Brie and Caevia on the other hand didn't leave each other friends. Caevia didn't know there was anything wrong, but Brie didn't get to know her and she left that night convinced this supposedly abused girl was full of shit.

"She seems nice," Caevia said after Brie and Mitch left, completely oblivious to Brie's disappointment.

"Yeah, she is. I'm surprised I like her boyfriend. I didn't think I'd like him."

"He was nice too," Caevia smiled before turning her attention to Ej.

As it turns out, there was a game playing that weekend and Mitch invited Embry to join him and a few of his co-workers to a sports bar. Caevia affirmed that she was fine with it and Embry promised he wouldn't be home any later than shortly after the end of the game. So about nine thirty. Embry left after eating dinner with Caevia and the girls, giving Caevia a quick kiss. She was alone with the twins and Ej after that. The girls watched a Disney movie while coloring in their Princess coloring books and Caevia stayed in the living room with them keeping most of her attention on Ej. He was sleeping in her arms and every time she looked at him, she felt a lifting in her heart. It was approaching seven o'clock when a knock came at the front door rather unexpectedly. Caevia went to the door with Ej still in her arms and opened the door to Brie.

"Brie? What brings you here? Did the girls forget something?"

"Yeah," Brie said, holding up some pairs of clean underwear. "I don't think Jenna or Lauren packed clean underwear so I brought some over."

"Alright," Caevia said kindly, taking the panties. "Would you like to come in for a bit?" Brie eventually smiled and nodded awkwardly, walking into the house. "Do you want some tea or coffee?"

"No, I'm alright." Brie remembered that Embry and Mitch were hanging out that night and decided now was as good a time as any to grill this woman. "Now that it's just the two of us, why don't we talk? There's beer in the fridge right?"

"I think so," Caevia confirmed. Brie took a moment to say hello to the girls before joining Caevia in the kitchen who was drinking a milk and honey tea mixture while rocking Ej back and forth in his little rocker on the table. Brie grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat down with Caevia across the table. "What did you want to talk about?" Caevia asked when Brie sat down.

"I didn't really get to know you last time we met. You said you're a Tistihlal Indian right? From Arizona?"

"I'm only half Tistihlal," Caevia answered. "There's a disconnect between the Tistihlals and the slave population and—"

"Hold on a minute. Slaves? You're telling me you were a slave or something?"

"My people were at the disposal of whatever the Tistihlal wanted and we received no compensation from them for whatever they demanded. I do know that the Tistihlal enslaved tribes as they moved south. My father was Tistihlal and my mother wasn't. I'm lucky to be alive actually."

"Why do you say that?"

"Tistihlal believe in racial and fam…fami…" she was blanking on the word. "Family…"

"Familial?"

"Yes," Caevia said, "that's the right word. The Tistihlal believe in racial and familial purity and don't allow mix breeding. My mother was married and able to blame him for the pregnancy, but my step-father never accepted me into the family."

"Wow," Brie said a little awkwardly. "That's horrible."

"He never let mother and I be close either. They both died when I was young and my brother ran away shortly after. I've been alone since then, at least until Embry came and brought me here."

"So how did you and Embry meet exactly?"

"He found me in the streets when he and his pack came to my tribe to help with a problem."

"His pack?" Brie asked, a little befuddled. "Cute," Brie said, thinking it was something else. Caevia said nothing, realizing she said more than she should have. "So he found you in the streets and brought you home? You make it sound like you're a stray dog he brought home." Brie giggled a little, but Caevia looked extremely uncomfortable suddenly and like her feelings were hurt. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude."

"No, it's alright. That's pretty much how it was, but I'm grateful all the same."

"So he took you away from your home on a whim?"

"It was hardly my home," Caevia said. "I haven't had a home my whole life really. My father never allowed me to be a part of the family and when they were gone, I was all alone until Kuruk." Caevia shuttered a little.

"Who's Kuruk? An ex-boyfriend or something?"

"I guess you could say that, but he never loved me. He used me for sex and beat me when I got pregnant or wouldn't do what he told me to. I was young when it started and a little older when it finally ended."

"How young were you?" Brie asked.

"I think twelve," Caevia finally said. At least, that's what Edward estimated based on her sense of timeline. "I think it ended at about seventeen," again assuming that Edward's estimations were correct.

"Jesus," Brie said, "Why didn't you go to the police or something?"

"Police?" Caevia asked. "What are the police?"

"You don't know what police are? They're people you go to when there's a problem."

"Oh," Caevia said. "No, I couldn't go to police. We don't have any police in tribe and even if we had police, they do nothing to help me. I was part of slave class, so I not worth considering." There it was again: that uncomfortable state where he English became near in distinguishable. Brie listened and deciphered as best she could.

"Why isn't the state government involved in this tribe?"

"I don't know," Caevia said, giving the best answer she was allowed to give, "they just aren't."

"I'll be frank with you, that's total bullshit. There's no way the state government doesn't have any involvement in the reservation. You could've just gone to the police and told them about all this. You'll forgive me if I find this to be a little unbelievable."

Caevia only answered after she, seemingly, took a moment to make herself more comfortable. "The tribe is a three hour drive away from Phoenix and I wouldn't know how to get to the closest town. We're stuck in the middle of nowhere and the outside world seemed like a distant dream. Until recently, I didn't speak a word of English and I couldn't read or write. No one would've been able to understand me if I'd run away. Whether you believe me or not, I was stuck there with no way out until Embry found me and took me here with him." Brie and Caevia stared at each other for a while without saying anything. She'd originally thought Caevia was lying or exaggerating, but the sincerity and fear in her voice was palpable and it made Brie feel like a bitch.

"Embry told me he adopted your son," Brie finally said.

"He did," Caevia answered. "I know he'll be the father my son deserves."

"You don't know who his real father is?"

"No, and I don't want to. I've been forced upon by so many of them that it wouldn't even matter." Caevia brushed away a tear after her voice got shaky.

"Well, your son is a beautiful little boy," Brie finally said, trying to change the subject. "Let's talk about something else. Anything else really. Your English has improved a lot I see. Exposure will do that to a person."

"Yes," Caevia smiled weakly, still a little upset. "The Cullens have been so kind to me and they've helped me so much. I don't know what I'd do without their generosity."

"Yeah, they're pretty nice. So hey, I know it's a little soon at the moment, but are you planning to get a job when you can?"

"A job? What are you talking about?"

"A job. You know, find a place or company to work for so you can make money." Caevia looked really confused and it took Brie a moment to remember the girl had essentially grown up under a rock. "I take it there's no currency on your reservation?" When Caevia still looked confused, Brie took out her wallet and showed her some dollar bills. "Do you have anything like this? Money?"

"No," Caevia finally answered, understanding now what she was talking about. "We….." she suddenly couldn't remember the English word for bartering. "The thing of giving something for a service."

"Bartering?"

"Yeah, bartering," Caevia nodded. "That's what we do. Women stay home and take care of the children and anything else was done by men."

"So you're not planning to get a job?"

"Of course not. It's not my place." Brie was taken aback by the comment. Every bone in her body wanted to slap her across the face for saying that. She was hardly worthy of calling herself a feminist, but she believed in women getting off their butts and getting a job at least.

"It most certainly is your place," Brie said rather loudly. "If you want to go out there and make some money, no one has a right to tell you that you can't do that. We're women, Caevia. We dominate the domestic space _and_ the work place. You don't have to be a stay at home mom just because you're a woman. A woman only rises as high as she allows herself to."

"But what if I want to be a stay at home mom?"

"If that's what you really want, that's another matter, but don't limit yourself just because you're a woman." Caevia smiled at Brie and Brie couldn't help but laugh. "You really did grow up in a completely different world didn't you?"

"Pretty much," Caevia agreed. Ej began to mumble sounds, so Caevia turned her attention to him to see what was wrong.

"So how are you and Embry getting along? You seem pretty enamored with one another."

"Enamored?"

"In love," Brie clarified.

"Oh," Caevia seemed to blush through her tan skin. "Yes, I love him."

"I don't wonder why. I still find myself enchanted by him from time to time," Brie admitted.

"He said you loved another man," Caevia said.

"Oh," Brie said when she realized Caevia was talking about the affair. "I hardly loved the guy. I thought Embry was having an affair behind my back. When I met you, I thought it confirmed my suspicions because you were pregnant. I assumed he was lying to me about it not being his and so on. I'd had an affair to get back at him. Sometimes I still wonder. He refuses to tell me what he was doing those nights. I don't believe for a minute that he's spending every other night with Jacob Black. I get it, they're friends, but they're not joined at the hip." Caevia kept silent. "Either way, Embry's a good guy. If there's anything I do know about him, he'll go above and beyond for you so keep him around." Caevia smiled.

"I planned to." The two shared a laugh together and their air was lightened from what it had been.

"Hey, Caevia, why don't you and I take the girls shopping next weekend? We can get some baby clothes while we're out."

"Really?" Caevia asked, a little surprised. "I would love to."

Hours later at around nine thirty, just as Embry promised, he drove up to his house and came to the door hearing women's voices on the other side. He let himself into the house and saw Caevia and Brie talking on the couch, the twins playing with their Barbies and Ej being rocked by Caevia in his crib, talking effortlessly as if they'd been friends all their lives. They got together that weekend as promised and the two seemed to grow rather close. It was the first time Caevia had anyone that she could call her friend and that brought more comfort to her than just about anything else.

Upon their return from Paris, Natalie was exuberant. She and Suerro had had the time of their lives. It was a shame to have to leave, but they came back happy. Natalie finished off the rest of the Shakespeare season with a spring in her step, though she contained that step just a little when she played Gertrude. For weeks upon returning, when Natalie came home from the theatre, the two would stay in bed together until Natalie couldn't stay awake any longer. After a few weeks when Natalie could finally stand to be from Suerro, she and Travis went out to dinner together to catch up.

"Did you hear Brie and Caevia are friends now?"

"No way," Natalie said after finishing her sip of wine. "When did that happen?"

"Not long after you fell off the face of the earth," Travis teased. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever come up for air."

"Oh, aren't we being cute," Natalie said with a smile. "How does Embry feel about the two being friends?"

"He says its fine, but he's a little irritated about it. Brie comes to his house a lot now and it's more than he wants her to be. He and Mitch are friends now at least."

"Who's Mitch?"

"Brie's boyfriend," Travis clarified.

"Oh," Natalie nodded, "Interesting. So if he's friends with Mitch anyway, what's the matter?"

"It's the principle of the matter," Travis said, trying to articulate Embry's thoughts as best he could. "Brie's been a little overzealous in trying to meet Caevia and had gone so far as to call her a liar and a whore and now suddenly they're best friends. You can imagine that's just a tad annoying."

"I'm not arguing that point. So are they going to start going on double dates now?"

Travis huffed a sarcastic laugh, "Oh yeah, definitely."

After some moments of laughing together, Natalie decided to address something Travis had been avoiding all night. "So what's really on your mind? You've seemed bummed all night."

"It's nothing," Travis insisted. "I just haven't seen Oscar in a while and I miss him."

"Well that's hardly nothing, Travis. Why haven't you seen him? Is there a rush at the hotel back home or something? That might be it; it is Christmas time after all. You know how people like to travel south or go see relatives."

"I'm assuming that's part of it, but there's something else."

"And what's that?"

Travis took a deep breath. "There are these calls he's getting and whenever he takes them, he always takes them outside. He won't talk on the phone in front of me most of the time and I don't know what he's up to. I asked him who he's talking to and he keeps telling me it's just a client."

"You think he's cheating on you? I can't believe he'd do that. Sure he's a little vulgar and he's been around the block a few times; but then at his age and his sexual tenacity, who wouldn't be? That doesn't mean he's cheating on you. Maybe it really is just a client that he needs to speak to privately."

"Who could he possibly be talking to where I wouldn't be able to just stay quiet and let him have his conversation? I'm not stupid, Natalie. I know when I'm being two-timed." Travis waved down the waiter and asked him for Maker's Mark in Coke.

"Travis, I'm sure you're overreacting. No one's imprint has ever cheated before…..well, except maybe Ada María, but she doesn't count. One can't expect miracles right off that bat with a woman like that."

"Ouch," Travis chuckled. "Will you ever like that woman?"

"Just because Nathan likes her doesn't mean I have to. I tolerate her, she tolerates me, and we get along just fine and talk about each other's backs like normal people."

"That's not normal, Natalie," Travis said while the waiter came over with his drink before walking away, "that's passive aggressive." Travis stopped a moment. "Damn it, Natalie, don't change the subject! I'm really concerned about this."

"I know you are and you know perfectly well I'm on your side 110%, but I really think you have nothing to worry about. That man adores you. You might not be some Frenchman that'll put out for bread, but damn it, you're the best he'll ever get!" Natalie managed to hold a straight face while Travis stared at her. Eventually, Natalie cracked and began to laugh, forcing Travis to laugh too.

"How am I supposed to worry about this when you're making me laugh?"

"You're not. That's the idea. So guess what Suerro and I did while we were in Paris."

"You fucked like rabbits?"

"Besides that!" The two laughed a little and it took a moment for Natalie to recover. "We went to the theatre and I got to see Les Miserables in its original French format. It was so much fun listening to it in an authentic language."

"I bet," Travis said. "So did you want me to say I'm jealous?"

"That would be nice." Natalie and Travis shared another laugh while their dinner finally came.

The weeks continued to go by without incident at all for everyone. Caevia was coming along great with her progress and the more progress she made, the more comfortable she was becoming with Embry. A few weeks after Natalie and Travis had dinner together, Oscar still hadn't come to Port Angeles to see him. He'd called, but they were such brief calls before Oscar would tell Travis he needed to take a call on another line. After the third week, Travis just stopped calling wondering how long it would be before Oscar raised hell about it. When another five weeks went by, Travis was red in the face about Oscar still not calling him at the very least. Travis finally decided, after that time, to call Oscar's cellphone, but Oscar didn't answer, so he called the front desk and, thankfully, got Olivia.

"_Phoenix Rochester Hotel and Spa, you're speaking with Olivia Barker. How may I help you?"_

"Hey, Olivia, it's Travis."

"_Uh, hey. Why are you calling the hotel line? Call grandpa, he's got his phone."_

"I did call his phone and he didn't answer me. I haven't spoken to him in weeks and I don't know what he's up to." Travis sighed, "Look Olivia, he hasn't called me in weeks and I'm starting to get suspicious."

"_Suspicious of what?"_

"Olivia, I'm not stupid. I've been two-timed before and I know what to look for. If Oscar's seeing someone else, just tell me."

"_Travis, my grandpa isn't cheating on you. I'll tell you what: I'll call my grandpa and ask him what's up so calm down. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for my grandpa not calling you back. I'll call him right now and get back to you. Is that good with you?"_

"Yeah," Travis said after taking a deep breath. "Yeah, give him a call for me. Thanks for your help Olivia."

"_Yeah, sure. I'll call you right back."_ Olivia hung up the phone and Travis tossed the phone on his couch. To calm his nerves, Travis started bugging his cats and waited for them to purr. Neither Max or Ginger were in the mood, but Zoe seemed open for petting and when she started purring, it made Travis feel a little better.

Thirty minutes went by without a follow-up call from Olivia. Travis tried calling Olivia back, but this time she didn't answer. Travis called one more time five minutes later and when there was still no answer, Travis took a deep breath before going to his room to hook up his phone to the charger. He'd try calling Oscar again later that night, but until then he had every intention of cooking himself some dinner and brooding. Before starting dinner, Travis grabbed a paper plate and emptied a can of tuna for the cats. He separated them into three portions and put them on the floor with a ring of meows following. While his cats were distracted, Travis looked through his fridge to see what he had. He didn't want to eat out and he wasn't in the mood for anything deliverable either. He looked through his fridge and then freezer finding nothing he could make this instant, so he settled for a bowl of cereal. He sat down on the couch watching the news for about twenty minutes while he ate his cereal. When the cats, having finished eating their tuna, came over to mooch off him, the smell was so overbearing that he couldn't finish his food. He spooned the cereal out of the bowl before putting it down on the floor for the cats to lap at. At about that time, Travis heard something that startled him. He heard his front door open.

"Travis," he heard Oscar call to him once he opened the door. He pulled his key from the door before closing it and shoved it in his back pocket. He was sparsely dressed in jeans and a military tank; an indicator that he'd been flying. He didn't have any suitcases with him, though, and that bothered Travis.

"I'm in the kitchen," he finally answered back to Oscar. Travis waited in the kitchen while Oscar walked from the front door to the archway of the tiny space. He noticed that Oscar looked minorly amused and that annoyed Travis more.

"I heard through the grapevine that you're mad at me." Travis leaned down to pick up the paper plate that had held the tuna and threw it out, not answering. "I suppose you want to know why I haven't called you or talked to you in such a long time."

"It'd be nice to know," Travis mumbled. Oscar smiled a little and walked over to Travis, taking him into a hug even though Travis wasn't really facing him.

"Olivia said that you assumed I was seeing someone else. I'll tell you right now that's not the case. I've been in the middle of a big project and I can't seem to keep a secret from you to save my life. I figured if I was going to surprise you, I'd have to avoid you for a while so you would be surprised." Travis turned in Oscar's arms so he was facing him now, looking suspicious.

"Okay," Travis said. "So what's this surprise you've been avoiding me for?"

"Something very special," Oscar said with a big grin. "I'm only going to tell you to get into the car and put on a blind fold."

"Oscar, I can't drive with a blindfold on and you know you can't drive my car. It's against company policy."

"I don't mean your car, I mean mine."

"Your car?" Travis asked, confused. "You didn't fly here?"

"Of course I flew here. I just had one of my cars brought her. I'm not going to say anything else. Just put your shoes on and come with me. I'll put you in a blindfold once you're in the car."

Oscar pulled Travis along for a bit before Travis finally left Oscar's arms to put on his shoes. Travis went to get his phone and wallet before finally leaving with Oscar. When they got down to the parking lot, Travis was surprised to see Oscar's baby: the bright red Tucker. He was shocked. Oscar would flip out at him if he so much as stared at the car wrong and now he'd be allowed to sit in the front passenger's seat? Today truly was a strange day indeed.

"You brought your Tucker?" Travis asked as they approached the car.

"Of course I brought my Tucker. You think I would leave this car alone at the hotel for Olivia to try and drive?" Oscar suddenly stopped, seeming to realize he was talking too much. "I think we've been together long enough that I can trust you near the Tucker."

"Can I drive it?" Travis asked, finally smiling.

"No," Oscar started chuckling, shaking his head, and almost seeming to be near having a panic attack. "No, no, no, not in a million years."

"Are you saying you don't trust me?" Travis managed to tease.

"Not with the Tucker. Now get in the car." Travis finally chuckled and got into the car with Oscar. Oscar reached over to tie a blindfold around Travis' eyes once he was inside and he noticed he was finally starting to get enjoyment out of this whole thing. Seeing as it was easier to just go along with it, Travis sat back with the blindfold on and waited for them to arrive where Oscar wanted. He'd expected this trip to only last about twenty minutes tops, but it wound up taking two hours. At the forty five minutes of driving, Travis tried to take off the blindfold, but Oscar was faster and made sure it stayed on.

"Where are we going?" Travis asked when he couldn't take off the blindfold.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?"

"Still, why is this taking so long? Are we going to Canada or something?"

"I would've told you to bring a passport if we were going to Canada. Don't worry about where we're going. You'll know when I want you to know."

"Will you at least tell me how long we'll be driving?"

"Barring incident, I'd say we should be on the road no longer than one more hour. I promise."

Travis sighed heavily and leaned his head against the leather seat. Travis noticed that Oscar was making a point to not talk through most of the car ride. He only had on the radio for the sake of having noise in the car, but that was about it. It was a relief when the car finally came to a stop and Oscar told him that he could take off the blindfold. The first thing Travis saw when the blindfold was off was a busy city street in downtown Seattle. Then he looked to his right and saw the entrance to a building under construction. Travis stepped out of the car and looked up at what he could've sworn had been an office building the last time he'd seen it. People were coming in and out, all wearing construction hats, and Oscar walked over to a man that was in a hardhat and a business suit and started talking to him. He stayed by the car while Oscar spoke to the foreman and when he eventually came back, Oscar had a big, proud grin on his face.

"So?" Oscar asked when he was standing before Travis. "What do you think?"

"It looks a little under construction," Travis said and Oscar chuckled. "So what is this? It was an office building last I'd seen it."

"Well, it's not an office building anymore. The business that was being run from this building got foreclosed on and I bought it out for a really good price. Now it's being converted into a hotel. You're looking at the future Rochester Hotel and Spa Seattle and that," Oscar pointed to the top floor, "is our new condo."

"Our?" Travis asked, his face straightening from surprise.

"Damn straight ours. This is why I haven't been calling: I've been on the phone constantly with the former owners, the contractors, so on and so forth and I wanted to surprise you with a new place to live. I'm handing the reigns to the hotel in Phoenix to Olivia, but I'll still be full owner and I'll need to make trips there a lot, but I'll be officially moving here. I've had these guys working overtime since I bought this place four months ago and the top floor is done. The rest of the building should be up and running by this upcoming winter. I've already got reservations lined up for this place. It'll have a spa, a massive fitness center, plenty of high class suits and I'm interviewing chefs in the next couple of weeks and I'm making a point to hire someone as good as our chef back in Phoenix."

"Oscar," Travis interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"You said the top floor is finished?"

"Yes, kid, it is. All that's left is to buy furniture and move in."

"I'll have to call my company and let them know I'm moving. Hopefully they'll let me transfer."

"I'm sure they will," Oscar reassured. "Did you want to see it?"

"I was waiting for you to bring that up."

Oscar and Travis smiled at each other before going through the construction zone to the one fully operational elevator. All fifteen other elevators throughout the floor were being worked on, but Oscar had made a point to have this one finished immediately, same thing with the penthouse on the top floor. It was this main elevator that the construction team used to build on other floors, but Oscar, and now Travis, were the only ones with the key cards that accessed the top penthouse floor now that it was completed. Oscar led the way to the special elevator and when they finally reached the top floor, the doors slid open to reveal an empty condo, but a beautiful framework. It looked similar to the condo Oscar had in Arizona, but there were more light fixtures and the kitchen wasn't as closed off. The kitchen was completely visible from the elevator entrance and it was decked with marble countertops, up to date stainless steel appliances and an island countertop for extra work space. The oven was even one of those double ovens, five burner ovens that were so expensive. Even Oscar's Arizona penthouse didn't have one of those. There was plenty of space near the kitchen for a lounge area and a dining table too and the whole floor was covered with a beautiful wood floor. Near the kitchen was a wall of glass with a door that opened up to a patio space overlooking the city aimed towards the water and when he entered further, he spotted a slightly closed off room that looked like it could be an office space with a guest bath nearby.

"Oscar, it's beautiful," Travis finally said.

"This isn't even the best of it." Oscar took a hold of Travis' hand and led him to where there was a staircase near the elevator doors. There were two rooms on the second floor. There was a guest bedroom and a guest bathroom, but what Oscar wanted to show Travis was the master bedroom they'd be sharing and the master bath that would accompany it. The room closed off by dark wood French doors and Oscar opened them wide to reveal a massive bedroom, bare as it was. There was even a fireplace with white marble designed around it. Oscar allowed Travis to take the site of the room in before leading him to the master bath which was a replica of the one in Arizona: same tile color, same double sinks, same shower and Jacuzzi tub set up. "Do you like it?" Oscar finally asked.

"I love it," Travis answered. "When can we move in?" Oscar chuckled and turned Travis around to face him so he could kiss him.

"I'd say we should pick out some furniture first before we think about moving in." Travis smiled at Oscar's comment and even blushed a little. They would be picking out furniture together. "I was thinking we could have dinner together tonight and talk about what kind of style you would prefer."

"I'd have to see what's available," Travis said. "But I'm sure I could give you an idea of what I think would be suitable."

"Good," Oscar smiled. "We'd better get going. It's getting late and I'm sure you're starving. I know I am." Travis just nodded and followed Oscar's lead to the elevator doors in silence. While they waited for the elevator to get back to their level, Travis rested his head against Oscar's shoulder.

"I'm sorry I accused you of cheating on me. After so long without speaking to you, I was fearing the worst."

"I know," Oscar kissed Travis' head, "that was my fault. I never used to be so bad at keeping secrets, but you've gained a talent for milking me of information among other things." While Oscar chuckled, Travis smiled and gently punched Oscar's shoulder.

"You're a pig," Travis teased.

After dinner, Oscar drove Travis back to his house and spent the night. Oscar had to return to Arizona the next day, but he promised he'd keep in touch and be back soon so they could start getting the new penthouse ready. After work the next day, Travis decided to drive to the theatre and steal Natalie away for a bit. When he arrived, she was in the middle of doing a scene when he arrived and Travis walked closer to the stage and allowed the scene to finish before he interrupted practice. Gretchen agreed to pause practice for an hour and Natalie took Travis with her to the green room so they could talk alone.

"I was wrong about Oscar it turns out," Travis said when they were alone.

"Well I could've told you that. What turned out to be the rational explanation?" She saw the grin on Travis' face and grinned herself. "I take it you were greatly mistaken as to his true actions?"

"It turns out Oscar bought that office building that was foreclosed on. He's turning it into another Rochester hotel and he's already finished the penthouse on the top floor. He didn't want to ruin the surprise, so that's why he'd been so distant lately."

Natalie smiled brightly and closed the distance between them with a tight hug and excited giggles. "Oh Travis, I'm so happy for you!"

"We were talking about picking furniture together," Travis said after she released him from the hug. "It was so romantic."

Natalie laughed, "Picking out furniture is a romantic venture. So when are you two moving in together?"

"As soon as the two of us are able to relocate. I need to call the company and let them know I'm planning to move so they can adjust my work appropriately. Since I'm making such a drastic move, they'll need to adjust my range of service for clients and all. Oscar needs to get Olivia ready to take over the hotel in Phoenix."

"Is he handing the place over to her?"

"No, not really, she'll just be a co-president essentially the way Oscar described it for me. She's getting a huge raise obviously, but he'll still be the official owner. He said he'll need to make frequent visits to Arizona to make sure everything's running smoothly, but he's officially moving here to be with me."

"This is so exciting," Natalie said exuberantly. "So does that mean you two are getting married? Oh! Do you think he'll be open to children? I'm sure you could find a surrogate willing to carry a baby for you guys."

"Whoa, Natalie, you're getting a little ahead." The truth was, Travis wasn't getting his hopes up about marriage or kids, especially not kids. Oscar had made it clear from the beginning that he was done having kids. He'd had a daughter, contributing to his society as was expected of him, and to him that was more than enough. As far as marriage, Travis knew the subject made Oscar extremely uncomfortable.

"Oh, yeah," Natalie said, remembering just that. "I guess he did say he doesn't want kids."

"He did subtly make that clear," Travis joked.

"Are you alright with that?"

"I am," Travis said. "I've pretty much known from the start that I'll almost certainly never have kids."

"And getting married?"

"I don't care whether or not we get married. The two of us being together is enough for me. If he wants to marry me, then I'll gladly marry him, but until then, I'm content with just being with him."

"I know, and I'm happy for you," Natalie said with a smile. "So did you take pictures of the penthouse?"

"Shit!" Travis said, "I knew I forgot something. Don't worry, I'll take pictures next time. I'll have to anyway so I can pick some good furniture."

"And I'm here to offer advice."

"Oh I know you will be." Natalie and Travis shared a laugh and Natalie demanded that, better yet, Travis take her to see the penthouse after rehearsal. So after rehearsal, Travis and Natalie walked to what would soon be the Rochester Hotel and Spa Seattle and, using Travis' special keycard that only he and Oscar had, went up to the top floor of the new hotel. Natalie exclaimed how beautiful it was even without any furniture and teased that she would demand Suerro make a replica for the two of them to live in. Suerro ended up being home long before Natalie and upon her arrival home, she told Suerro all about the new penthouse and how Oscar would be moving to Seattle soon to be with Travis.

"It's so romantic, isn't it?"

"I would say so," Suerro smiled and kissed Natalie. "How was rehearsal?"

"Great," Natalie said. "I'm playing Florence Unger." Suerro could not help but laugh.

"You've played her before right?"

"Oh yeah, I've played her plenty of times. I love playing Florence Unger. I can be over the top anally clean as I want and it's perfectly believable. I've had plenty of practice making Florence funny. I'm told I make her funnier every time I play her."

"I look forward to it. I used to love the show if you can believe it."

"You used to watch the TV show? I never thought you would be one for TV."

"Not normally, but if I were ever in someone's house or a hotel and I had the chance to watch _Odd Couple_, I took advantage of it. Romney and I used to do that all the time. I remember when _Game of Thrones_ was on the air. Romney insisted we always be near a TV when a new episode came on and for a change I was more than willing to comply."

"I've never actually watched Game of Thrones. I've heard, though, that Tyrian Lanister is the sexiest little person to ever exist."

"Again, I'm forced to agree. So when shall Oscar officially move to Seattle?"

"As soon as everything's arranged and in order. I think Travis said the Hotel would be up and running near the end of the year."

"We shall definitely pay them a visit once it's completed."

"You're coming home right after school tomorrow right?"

"Yes, I am. That conference I told you about won't be until Wednesday of next week and that'll only make me two hours late coming home at best."

"Just thought I'd double check." Natalie hugged Suerro and rested her head against his shoulder. "You know," she said after a few moments, "I'm not tired." Suerro chuckled and looked down at Natalie.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, that's so." Earning a giggle from Natalie, Suerro lifted Natalie up into his arms, cradling her.

"Good," he said as he walked towards the bedroom and gently tossing Natalie onto the bed.

Across the country in Ottawa, Canada, there was a young man exiting the bar with a group his friends and his girlfriend. His friends were at varying levels of drunk while he remained relatively lucid despite drinking three beers. They all lived near the bar, so they went their separate ways towards their apartments. The man and his girlfriend walked together hand in hand as they made their way to his apartment a few blocks away. They talked of shows and songs, paying no attention to the emptiness of the streets in the wee hours of the morning. It was a weekend the next day, so they had no worries about sleeping in and resting away a hand over together. It remained so until they began to hear singing. It sounded ethereal and yet very sweet and beautiful.

"Is that _Castle on a Cloud_?" the girlfriend asked after they heard the first verse of humming.

"I think so," he answered. "Let's just keep walking. It's probably a drunk or something."

"That's a little too perfect to be coming from a drunk." The first verse, which had been hummed loudly and most likely open mouthed, ended. As the two began to continue, the song continued, this time with lyrics.

"There is a castle on a cloud," the lovely soprano voice sang with a hint of a French accent.

"I like to go there in my sleep.

Aren't any floors for me to sweep,

Not in my castle on a cloud." As the voice continued, the couple went the opposite direction of the voice, taking a short cut down a path between two homes.

"There is a room that's full of toys.

There are a hundred girls and boys.

Nobody shouts or talks too loud,

Not in my castle on a cloud."

"Where is that coming from?" the girlfriend asked.

"Just ignore it. Let's keep going." They continued down the small road onto the main street, but the voice continued to follow them.

"There is a lady all in white,

Holds me and sings a lullaby.

She's nice to see and she's soft to touch," suddenly, the owner of the voice stopped the couple in their tracks as she continued to sing.

"She says, 'Cosette, I love you very much.'" The couple backed away to run, but the blonde woman continued to follow them until she backed them into a corner, never ceasing to sing.

"Who the hell are you?!" the boyfriend asked, but the blonde ignored him.

"I know a place where no one's lost," she continued.

"I know a place where no one cries," then she suddenly grabbed both by the jugular, making it impossible for either of them to yell for help.

"Crying at all is not allowed,

Not in my castle on a cloud." With that the song ended, as did the lives of these two people. Juliette crushed their necks, killing them both instantly, and drained them both of their blood.

"You really shouldn't play with your food," came the voice of a younger female vampire: a black haired, pale woman with freshly red eyes and a pleasant white sundress. "My mother used to tell me that was bad manners. In this case, I'd say it's in bad taste."

"It's more fun to play with your food, Elinor. So tell me, how've you been?"

"Pleasant," Elinor smiled. "Better than you in any case." Juliette lost her smile. "I heard about what happened, you know with what's his name. Suerro was it?"

"Yes, Suerro," Juliette confirmed.

"So much trouble to go through for a man," Elinor said offhandedly. "He must be handsome if he's worth this much heartache."

"Many wouldn't agree, but I know the man. I loved him first, but some childish little showgirl stole him right out from under me."

"Oh, Natalie Black right?" Elinor began, rather excited. "I saw that Las Vegas commercial she was in last year. You know, the Cosmopolitan hotel commercial with all the crazy people? She was dressed like a guy and dancing with the old lady in a Chanel suit. Oh, and remember I went to see her in Hamlet and The Crucible? I just about died when Ophelia did, and her Abigail was a villainous cunt! Oh, she was great."

"You do realize the hotel is recycling their old commercials right? And she's hardly the first actress to give a 'moving' performance."

"Are they recycling material? I wouldn't know; I'm only twenty six after all."

"You didn't age, you're still twenty five and you'll be twenty five forever and ever," Juliette teased, though rather harshly. She was no longer in a teasing mood.

"If you're so upset about losing Suerro to Natalie Black, why don't you just steal him back? Maybe he just needs a gentle reminder that you love him, that's all."

"I've tried, but he won't listen. He's infatuated with a child and there seems to be nothing I can do about it."

"That sucks," Elinor said. "By the way, how are Juniper and Marie? I feel like I haven't seen them in months."

"Because you haven't seen them in months."

Elinor smiled, "You really are of a poor mood aren't you? I clearly misinterpreted your singing to your food meaning you're in a good mood."

"I'm in no mood for your childish antics," Juliette sighed.

"Who's being childish? I'm certainly not. I'm not the one having a pity party over dinner." Elinor ran over to Juliette and started slapping her.

"What are you doing?"Juliette yelled.

"I'm your life and I'm slapping you. Fight back your shitty life! I'm Suerro and I've just left you for a twenty year old! Come on, Juliette, fight me back!" Juliette finally backhanded Elinor away from her and the two were twenty feet from each other in a matter of seconds.

"Are you insane?"

"No, I'm trying to make you take charge. You want Suerro back? Then you need to put in the work to get him back. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Juliette, but it will never start raining men and if you're waiting for that, you'll be waiting a long time."

"Did your mother drop you on your head as a child or are you just naturally an idiot?"

Elinor sighed heavily and began to walk away. "You can't say I never tried to be helpful. But can I make one last attempt at giving you advice?"

"A child four hundred years my junior and she wants to give me advice," Juliette mumbled more to herself than to Elinor.

"Better someone four hundred years your junior than no one at all. And certainly better than Advent," Elinor said with a shudder. "I spent some time with him alone once and I remember dozing off for some reason and when I realized I was back in control, I was naked and he'd already run away. If I ever see him again, I'm giving him a swift kick in the balls."

"Yes, Advent tends to be rather good and making it sound like what he did to you wasn't wrong."

"Well that won't fly with me, I can tell you that much."

"I don't want to talk about Advent."

"Didn't he try that shit with Natalie? What a dick."

"If you're going to hold up a conversation with me, please speak respectably."

"I am speaking respectably."

"No, you're speaking like a child. Your new Canadian accent offends me."

"This coming from the French woman who's daughter to a tavern wench and a beaver chaser." Elinor giggled. "Forgive the duo meaning."

"My father was a fur trapper," Juliette hissed.

"Same thing. My point is you were born in a pretty low place in society. If anyone has a 'poor' accent, it's you."

"Perhaps, but it would seem that the longer I'm undead, the higher bred my accent seems to sound."

"Maybe," Elinor said. She saw Juliette continue to pout, so she ran over to her side and patted her back. "Hey, cheer up. If you really miss Suerro this much, then I say we go to Oregon—"

"Washington," Juliette corrected.

"Sorry, Washington, my bad. Anyway, we go to Washington and I'll help you win Suerro back!"

"You really are so childish," Juliette said, smiling despite herself.

"There's the smile I wanted to see."

"You know what," Juliette said, her smile brightening, "you're right! I had Suerro first! I changed him, I made him into the man he is today, I put in the work, he's mine."

"Well don't say it like that," Elinor laughed nervously. "You're making him sound like a couture dress or something. He's a man, not an object."

"I'm the one that changed him," Juliette continued. "I saved him from drowning in the ocean! I took him from being a savage to a man of culture and civility!"

"Juliette," Elinor mumbled, realizing she may have made a grave error.

"I earned his love, I earned it! That child did nothing to earn his love but persistence and her 'purity'." Juliette seemed to be growling. "A woman like that is no virgin indeed. She must have lied to him." Juliette suddenly looked hopeful. "He knows by now that wasn't the case."

"Did she admit to you that she wasn't a virgin or something?"

"Of course not! Had she admitted such a thing to me, she knew I would surely tell Suerro and betray her secret."

"You know what, Juliette, scratch going to Washington. Let's go to the waterfall and swim around to cool our heads."

"I don't need to cool my head. Suerro's mine and she nabbed him right out from under me and I won't tolerate it. Elinor," Juliette suddenly grabbed her wrist, "come on. The sooner we start running, the sooner we'll get there."

"Wait, why am I going?"

"I need some moral support and Marie and Juniper said they weren't going to help me. Come on, Elinor, I need the support."

"Is that all you made me for?" Elinor asked.

"Not all," Juliette said. "I was mostly just bored if you want the truth."

"Lucky me," Elinor said as she reluctantly followed after Juliette. Sure, she wanted Juliette to steal back her man and all, but she wasn't sure how she was supposed to fit into that.

The next day at rehearsal, Natalie and Sarah were going over the scene with Rick and Tim where they, playing the brothers that lived upstairs, had come to their apartment for a dinner prepared by Florence. Olive was trying desperately to get the Costazuela brothers to like them while Florence, angry over the burnt roast she'd worked so hard on, cared nothing about the brothers. Ironically, the brothers became infatuated with the strange Florence Unger and specifically asked for her to join them upstairs, leading into the argument between Florence and Olive. By the end of the scene, Gretchen was grinning eagerly, excited for opening night. This would be another hit for sure.

"That was excellent everyone," Gretchen said when they'd completed the scene. "You'll have the audience grabbing their sides from laughter." Gretchen took a moment to check her watch and clapped her hands to recapture everyone's attention. "Alright everyone, it's late. We'll pick this up in the morning. If you're thirsty for blood, help yourself to some at the bar. Otherwise, to your night jobs."

Natalie had her moment to say goodbye to everyone before she walked out of the theatre and made her way to the entrance. She said hellos and goodbyes and she went along until she reached the street and made her way towards her condo. She walked a little ways down the street and stopped when, to her surprise, Juliette turned the corner onto the street with a pale black haired woman she'd never seen before seeming to make their way to the Red Night. Never stopping or changing her face, Natalie took a deep breath and kept walking on as if she'd not seen them. Juliette and the black haired woman had, however, seen her and the black haired woman's eyes lit up and she ran to Natalie in as slow a human pace as possible.

"Oh, Natalie Black! I can't believe I'm meeting you! I saw your Cosmopolitan commercial and when Advent told me you worked here at the theatre, I simply had to see you perform out of sheer curiosity! Your Ophelia had me crying like a baby. I was so crushed when your character threw herself off a cliff."

"I'm flattered to hear you say so," Natalie said kindly.

"I also got to see you play Abigail Williams when your theatre did The Crucible. I wanted to rip out your throat."

Natalie smiled again, "Thank you."

"Oh, no thanks needed! You're brilliant at what you do."

"Elinor," Juliette called to the woman as she approached, "stop crowding the poor thing. She's no doubt exhausted from practice today."

"I am," Natalie agreed politely. "Elinor was it?" Natalie asked the black haired woman, who nodded her head enthusiastically. "Tell me, how do you and Juliette know each other?"

"Oh, she changed me just over a year ago. She teases that she did it because she was bored. Really, I think she just wanted another friend. Her and I came here together. I'm originally from Ottawa."

"Really? That's nice. So what brings you two to Seattle?"

"Why to see you in a play of course," Juliette answered. Natalie noticed Elinor give Juliette a quick, almost confused glance, before she returned her attention to Natalie and completely changed the subject.

"I hear you got married last year. That's wonderful to know! I've heard nothing but good things about Suerro." Elinor paused a moment. "I've heard nothing but good things from Juliette at least. Everyone else seems to hate him."

"Yeah," Natalie nodded, smiling (mostly at the way Juliette was pretending she wasn't bothered by Elinor's mentioning of Suerro being married to _Natalie_), "He's a bit of a misanthropist, so he's bound to upset most."

"Basically, Elinor, all that means is the man doesn't love, he only tolerates," Juliette said, earning another confused look from Elinor and a hateful sneer from Natalie.

"Perhaps he tolerates some, Juliette, but me he loves. _Me_," Natalie emphasized. "It was a pleasure to meet you Elinor. I'm playing Florence Unger in our upcoming play, so I look forward to having you come."

"I wouldn't miss you as Florence Unger for the world!" Natalie smiled and said her goodbyes to Elinor and Juliette before leaving their company and walking down the street. When they were alone, Elinor looked at Juliette with a straight face.

"I get the feeling there's something I don't know."

"There's plenty you don't know, Elinor, just like everyone else." Juliette continued down the street and Elinor followed, choosing to drop the matter from here on.

When Natalie got home, Suerro was sitting on the couch fooling around with the dogs. He looked up at her with a smile, but lost it when he realized Natalie was in an otherwise unpleasant mood.

"What's the matter?"

"Oh, nothing," Natalie said with a heavy sigh. "I ran into Juliette and her friend Elinor on my way home."

"Did you?" Suerro said, not commenting on Juliette. "Did something happen?"

"No, we just talked casually for a bit. As it turns out, Elinor was changed not long ago by Juliette and Elinor is a big fan of me. She said she'd seen me in _Hamlet _and _The Crucible_." Suerro chuckled.

"Well, your Abigail was rather loathsome."

Natalie smiled, "Thank you."

"I don't even think Winona Ryder made me despise her so much."

"Now you're just trying to flatter me," Natalie said, though she was blushing now.

"You know me, Natalie. I only offer what I really think. And as far as Juliette is concerned, don't let her bother you. Just ignore her and don't antagonize her. If she tries to start something, just walk away. That's all you can really do."

"I plan on it," Natalie said. "I'm going to take a shower. Do you want to join me?"

Suerro smiled and followed after her, "I don't see why not."

Hours later, Elinor and Juliette left the bar (they made sure not to mention Elinor was under seven years as a vampire and she stayed on her best behavior) and the streets were rather sparse in the wee hours of the morning. Both of their eyes were freshly bright red, so any humans that were out and about at this hour that weren't drunk or high or too tired to notice were avoided eye contact. They found an ally way and went in so they could discreetly climb up to the rooftops and when they did, they spotted several of Gretchen's many scouters monitoring the city.

"So much trouble to go through for a bar," Elinor said when they spotted the fifth scouter all night.

"It was one of the conditions of Gretchen being allowed to own this place, or at least that's what she told me. The Quileutes are a bit micromanaging from what I can tell."

"Hm," Elinor hummed. "At least it's profitable. How many of these are there all over the world?"

"Gretchen owns several, but I don't know exactly where. I remember there's one in Paris, there's one in Tokyo I think, the first one she ever owned was in New York, and I think she said there's one in Vegas too. I'm sure there's several more than that though."

"She should put one in Ottawa," Elinor smiled. "It would certainly make life a little easier than running all the way to New York City don't you think? I assume, at least, but New York, you mean the city specifically."

"Yes, I do. Putting one in the Hamptons or something wouldn't be likely to profit, at least not from the blood market stand point."

"I guess not. How many vampires are there in the world that can afford lavish homes anyway, right?" Elinor giggled but Juliette shrugged.

"You'd be surprised how many have passed their way or stolen their way to riches. That's what Suerro did: he stole his way to being a multi-billionaire, him and his business partner."

"Wow," Elinor said, "That's quite a treasury. Who's his business partner? Anyone I know?"

"No, you've not met him. His name is Romney."

"Romney? That name sounds so familiar," Elinor thought a moment and remembered something from her human life. "Oh! He was a president right?"

"He ran for president in 2012, yes, but he lost to Obama."

"Oh," Elinor said, "I was never one to follow American politics, but I did follow American memes," Elinor laughed.

"I bet you did," Juliette mumbled.

"So what's his first name? It can't be Romney; that's a surname."

"Some people have surnames for first names and vice versa. It's not so strange."

"I guess. Well then what's his last name?"

"Romney," Juliette answered. Elinor stopped a minute a little confused.

"His name's Romney Romney? That's certainly strange."

"His last name is Romney. As to his first name, he doesn't like it so not many people know it. If he tells you his first name, then you know he's fond of you as a person."

"Fine," Elinor sighed, "I'll only call him Romney should I ever meet the man."

"I suspect you will. Romney comes here a lot to visit Suerro, so maybe he'll be here about now."

"That sounds like fun. So what's your plan for winning Suerro back? Oh! I have an idea. Maybe you should send him a text message telling him that you miss him and that you still have feelings for him. That'll get the ball rolling at least."

"That wouldn't work," Juliette said. She'd know; she already tried that. "Suerro's much too bullheaded for something like that."

"Well, convince him that you love him more than Natalie does. Find a way to be alone with him and talk."

"I think I might do that," Juliette agreed. "I'll want to be alone for that. Since you've never met the Cullens, now's as good a time as ever."

"Who're the Cullens?"

"They're the ones that brought down the Volturi and freed the vampire world from their world."

"Saved from the who?" Juliette rubbed her face.

"Never mind," she groaned. "I'll show you where they live. Just go visit them while I go to the Tribal school to talk to Suerro."

"Suerro's a teacher?"

"Yes, he's a teacher."

"I thought you said he's a misanthropist. How's a misanthropist the type to become a teacher?"

"I don't know Elinor! His father-in-law got him the job and that's really all I know. Just stay with the Cullens and play nice while I talk to Suerro. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes, Juliette, I can do that. You don't need to get mean with me."

After their conversation, Juliette led the way to the Cullen house and got the two of them there in an hour and a half from running. About five miles from the house, Juliette stopped, pointed the direction for the rest of the way, and left so she could get ready for talking to Suerro. She wanted time to think and she also wanted time to look her best. She hadn't seen Suerro since he'd ripped off Advent's head and she knew he'd be less inclined to be angry with her if she were looking especially pretty. Elinor was really nervous to meet the Cullens by herself. She could unwind when she was around people she was used to but when it came to meeting new people, she was really introverted and shy. Her nervousness grew when she saw a woman with brown hair and a heart shaped face waiting for her at the back entrance.

"Hello," she said when Elinor was in the garden of the backyard. "Edward told us you were coming. Please, come in." The woman led Elinor through the door and she saw the coven mates (a large coven she noticed) either reading or watching the news. A blonde man came down the stairs shortly after Elinor walked in and the women went to his side. "I'm Esme, and this is my husband, Carlisle."

"Hi," Elinor said. "How did you know I was coming?"

"Edward told us," Esme said, pointing to Edward, who smiled kindly and waved his hand, as did the brunette woman sitting next to him. "That's his wife Bella. Edward's a mind reader, so he knew you were coming."

"Oh," Elinor said. "He reads minds?" Elinor asked and she heard Edward chuckle a little at her train of thought.

"It's worse than you would imagine," Edward said, answering her mental question of, 'doesn't that get really annoying?'

"He does that," a larger, brown haired man chuckled. "None of us can have a moment of privacy."

"It hurts me more than it hurts you," Edward said to the man. "That's Emmett by the way. The blonde is his wife Rosalie," Edward pointed at another, darker blonde haired man, "That's Jasper, and the woman with short hair is his wife Alice." Alice came to Elinor with a smile that made her feel more welcome.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I promise your association with Juliette doesn't hinder our opinion of you. Edward has already told us you're a sweet woman."

"Juliette's not so bad," Elinor said, not sure what else to say.

"Elinor," Edward said, walking over to her and smiling kindly. "You play the piano?" he asked suddenly.

"Yeah, I played when I was human," Elinor answered, confused.

"Why don't we go to the cottage a mile down? It's mine and my wife's home and there's a piano there. You and I should talk privately a moment."

"About what?" Elinor asked, getting extremely nervous.

"You have nothing to worry about, Elinor. I just want to talk to you about Juliette." Still nervous, Elinor agreed and followed Edward to the cottage. He led her to the piano and asked her to play a song that she remembered. It took her a moment and testing the notes on the piano, but she eventually remembered how to play a song from a game she'd played when she was a kid: _Jesters of the Moon_. Edward chuckled. "Seth loves this song. He's a big fan of the old Final Fantasy games."

"My mom and dad were too, but I've never actually played the games. Mom just insisted I learn to play the piano and this is a song I learned to play. I really like it and it's making me less nervous."

"It's alright. Elinor, what I wanted to talk to you about was the situation with Suerro and Juliette. I know she hasn't exactly told you the whole story. She's also doesn't want to believe that Suerro never loved her." Elinor stopped playing suddenly, so Edward took over, knowing how to play the song from Elinor's mind.

"She said that Suerro and her were still in a relationship and he left her for Natalie. So he was stringing her along?"

"No," Edward assured, "Suerro doesn't do things like that. You've heard about Suerro, but you've never really met him. Believe me, the man isn't one to pretend anything. If he doesn't like you, he makes it clear. That's why so many of our kind don't like him. He's a Native American version of Jonathan Swift without the productiveness to write a satire and _A Modest Proposal_. He's also the one that wrote _Gulliver's Travels_," Edward clarified.

"Is that the story of a man that gets tied to the beach?"

"Yeah, that's _Gulliver's Travels_. It's worth a read if you ever want a good laugh, though I'd buy a version that has plenty of footnotes. The extensive satirical value would go over the head of most individuals these days."

"I imagine so. Isn't _Alice in Wonderland_ a satire?"

"Yeah, that's another one. My point is Suerro isn't good and pretending to like someone. If he doesn't like you, you'll know soon enough."

"Juliette loves him?" Elinor said, a little baffled now that she had this new information.

"It's a shallow love, but she doesn't seem to understand that. She feels like she loves him because she put so much work into making him the man of her dreams. She took Suerro from his culture and forced her own onto him and fashioned him to be her perception of the perfect man. Suerro resents Juliette for what she did and he never loved her. As Suerro's said himself many times, his relationship, sexual or otherwise, was completely superficial as far as he was concerned."

"Oh," Elinor said. "What about Natalie?"

"He loves Natalie, but it wasn't without a great deal of persistence on her part. And Natalie imprinted on Suerro, so their love was bound to flourish into something special. I see Juliette never mentioned that part, though she may very well have not fully understood exactly what imprinting means."

"What does it mean exactly?"

"To put it as simply as possible, it's basically love at first sight. It's more complicated than that as a whole, but that's the simplest way to put it. Natalie always loved Suerro and he came to love her. She also never tried to make Suerro into something he's not. Juliette did and he'll certainly never forgive her for that. Juliette doesn't really want to understand that. Her feeling is that she put in the work, so she should have him to herself if she wants him. Interestingly, this really only became a huge problem when she found out another woman had won his affections. It was okay as long as she was the only woman that had any emotional claim to him. When Natalie came along and won his affections, that was more than Juliette could tolerate."

"Wow," Elinor mumbled. "I feel awful."

"Don't feel awful Elinor. You did what any friend would do for a friend; you offered her advice to ensure her happiness under the circumstances you were led to believe were the case. I realize you feel bad, but don't worry about it. Just let Juliette do what she feels she needs to do and remain a bystander."

"She was just so adamant that she loved Suerro. I figured she had to be after what happened with Advent." Edward chuckled a little, but was also angry on Elinor's behalf.

"Advent received his just desserts in my opinion. The man is an aphrodisiac and he uses his gift to take advantage of women he finds attractive. He did as much to you and for that I'm sorry."

Elinor sighed heavily, "So he did rape me. I was hoping I could've been mistaken, but thank you for clearing that up. Now I know for sure to have a few choice words with him when I see him again."

"Just don't let him touch you. That's when things will go south." Elinor finally smiled and rejoined Edward in playing the song in a slightly higher key.

"I don't really appreciate being lied to," Elinor finally said.

"Few do," Edward said. "But being confrontational won't solve anything either. I have a feeling things will work themselves out eventually be it civilly or violently."

"Preferably civilly."

Edward smiled, "Indeed." Elinor was finally beginning to relax and after the chat regarding Juliette, Elinor changed to other topics like who were the Volturi, are the Cullens the new rulers, and several other questions which Edward answered quickly. Edward hadn't told the family about Juliette or what she seemed to be planning and he promised Elinor that he would keep it to himself. She was so embarrassed about suggesting winning Suerro back that she didn't want him bringing it up.

Suerro arrived at the tribal school early in the morning the next day. He always did just in case a student wanted to come to talk to him about anything. This morning no came to see him, so he finished grading the midterm tests making sure they were ready to hand back today. He could've had them all graded two weeks ago, but every time he gave them back really quickly, students that got bad or less than perfect grades would come to him and try to argue their grade and he simply had no patience for that. This way, less students would come to him to argue their grade. His first class of the morning was a French 1 class with Freshmen and Sophomores. The first thing he did was hand back the midterms and looked over the class for students that were pleased and displeased with the grades they received. He'd promised that he'd show his students a movie in French for a few days, so after he'd given them back their tests, he put in _Beauty and the Beast_ (it's story was based in France evidently, so why not) had the movie changed to French, and sat back watching the movie with his students.

They got about thirty minutes into the movie before the bell rang to signal a passing period. He had two Quileute classes and one more French 1 class before lunch period came around. The rest of his afternoon would be devoted to an advanced Quileute class, a French 4 class, and an AP French class which consisted of six students. Suerro planned to use his lunch period grading homework and got through half the pile before he heard a tapping on his classroom window. The smell was faintly familiar in a way that left him unsettled and when he looked up at the window, the discomfort increased tenfold. Juliette was standing outside holding an umbrella over her head to protect her freshly styled hair. Normally, Juliette's hair was either straight (forcefully) or kept wavy. Today, she had it in tight curls weighed down tastefully by her naturally mid-back length hair. It looked brighter than usual too, meaning she'd dyed it to a brighter blonde color. Suerro could smell the hair products through the window. It's the smell that had thrown off her scent. She was wearing an admittedly tasteful amount of makeup to draw most focus to her bright red eyes and a light pink lip gloss meant to border on looking natural. She was wearing a see-through raincoat so she could show off her white cotton dress. Suerro initially ignored her and continued to when she tapped the glass two more times. Finally, she opened the window and let herself in.

"It's awful out there," Juliette said after she put down her umbrella, closed the window, and walked across the room to hang her raincoat. "Why didn't you let me in?"

"Because I didn't want you in here," Suerro said bluntly, continuing to grade homework.

"You're always so mean, you know that?" Juliette kept a smile and walked over to Suerro's desk and sat down near where his hands rested on the desk. "I ran into Natalie last night."

"She told me," Suerro answered.

"Did she? Elinor certainly praised her enough, so I can't imagine she's upset."

"She's pleased with Elinor's compliments. What she wasn't pleased with was having to bump into you."

"Suerro," Juliette turned just enough so that her knee touched his left and she rested her own left hand on the papers he was focused on. "Please look at me. We're having a conversation after all."

"Juliette, I'm in the middle of grading homework and I'm not interested in having a conversation." Suerro pushed Juliette's knee away so he could get back to work. It wouldn't really take him long, but it was the principle of the matter.

"Okay," Juliette said, then remained silent. Several moments later of silence, Suerro ended up completing everything. "Are you done?" she asked.

"Yes, but we're still not having a conversation. I have a class to prepare for."

"What class?"

"Quileute language and History," Suerro answered.

"How do you enjoy being a teacher? It's not a profession I ever pictured you undertaking."

"I enjoy it well enough. It keeps me occupied during the day."

"I heard around the school that you also teach French," Juliette said with excitement in her voice. "Or is there another Mr. Roux that works here?"

"Yes, Juliette, I also teach French." Juliette smiled and moved back to her former position with her knee close to his hand.

"I remember when you were learning French," she said, smiling at her memory of their initial relationship. "All things considered, it really didn't take you long to figure it out."

"It's French, not open heart surgery," Suerro said. "Is there a reason you came here?"

"I just wanted to see you. I miss you so much since you left the East coast. I miss being able to see you on a whim."

"This seems to be the first in a while that you've desired to," Suerro said slightly under his breath.

"I've always desired to see you whenever I could. You and I should go hunting together, just like we used to. We can run all the way up to Canada and go hog wild without the dogs breathing down our necks."

"I detest hogs," was all he said in response. It was not meant to make Juliette laugh, but that's what it did.

"I know you do, Suerro. I remember the first time you saw a pig like it was yesterday."

"As can I and I don't need you to describe it to me. Juliette, my next class starts in ten minutes. I would really prefer that you left right now."

"Of course," she said as she stood from the desk and began to retrieve her things, getting ready to leave. "I can always call on you again when you're not working."

"I never said I wanted to see you later."

"Maybe, but I would like to see you. I don't know why you're being so mean to me, Suerro. I'm only catching up with an old friend."

"Is that all?" Suerro asked, extremely doubtful, not that it mattered whether he believed her or not. He wasn't interested in being friends with her either.

"Of course that's all. Before I go, tell me: how's married life treating you?"

"Very well," Suerro said. "In fact, it's the best I've ever been treated." Suerro noticed Juliette's head fall just a little and hoped that he'd gotten his point across.

"That's good to hear, Suerro." Juliette said her goodbyes and finally left after that. Suerro was glad to be rid of her and he'd never been so eager to have his class with students that didn't have as firm a grasp on the Quileute language as he did. Even they were better than talking to Juliette.

He'd thought the matter resolved and wasn't concerned when he left school that day. He went right home, a drive he managed to condense into forty five minutes barring incident (such as cops or traffic jams). When he arrived back at the condo he shared with Natalie, nothing was amiss and there was a note from the dog walker confirming that the dogs had been taken care of earlier. Suerro went ahead and made them their dinner before going to the couch with a laptop and typing out an assignment sheet for each of his classes. As he worked, he smelled that familiar scent again and he became very agitated. He closed the laptop and tossed it to the other side of the couch before going right to the front door. He heard and smelled her coming and when she was before the door, he opened it without giving her a chance to knock, making a great effort to block her way from getting into the condo.

"What?" he asked with a stone like tone.

"I'm just visiting," Juliette said. "May I come in?"

"I'd prefer you didn't. If you have no specific business with me, I'd rather you just left and let me work."

"I do have something specific to discuss with you," Juliette finally said. "I was hoping to work up to it, but I suppose that's a difficult feet with regards to you." Juliette smiled, hoping to keep the mood lighthearted. She also hoped he would let her in, but he didn't.

"Alright, what is it?"

Juliette took a deep breath and kept a kind smile. "As I've said, I miss you."

"So?"

Juliette laughed a little, though not necessarily from humor. "You can be so cruel sometimes."

"Indeed I can be. Now get to the point."

"Fine," Juliette took a deep breath, "I still love you Suerro. I don't believe that you never loved or cared for me. After everything I've done—"

"That," Suerro interrupted, "is exactly why. You never loved me, you only loved what you were making me. I'm not a real man to you, I'm an illusion and that's all I've ever been to you." 

"That's not true," Juliette pleaded. "I helped you learn how to live in a different world. I never wanted to change you."

"Are you done?" Suerro asked bluntly.

"Obviously not," she sighed. "May I come inside?"

"No, Juliette, you can't." Suerro's cellphone started ringing. "If that's all, I think you'd better leave." Suerro closed the door on her, locked it, and went right to his phone. Sure, she could break the door, but she knew better. Suerro saw the caller ID before answering; it was Romney on the phone. "Hey," was all he said.

"_Oh wow,"_ Romney said, catching Suerro's less than pleasing tone. _"Is this a bad time?"_

"No, this is a perfect time. Are you in town?"

"_I will be soon. I was going to ask if you wanted to meet up at Red Night for some blood, but you seem like you're in a bad mood."_

"I'll meet you there," Suerro said. "I'm in a bit of a bad mood, so I could use some blood."

"_Alright,"_ Romney said. _"I'm about forty minutes away by foot. I'll meet you there."_

Suerro agreed to meet Romney at the bar before hanging up his phone. That's when he also finally heard Juliette leave. "Shit," he mumbled to himself. He went to the bedroom and found a change of clothes: dark wash blue jeans (he'd been wearing khakis) and a black plain black t-shirt (he'd been wearing a white dress shirt). After he was dressed, he waited a good thirty minutes before leaving the building and went straight to the bar. Natalie wasn't out of rehearsal yet, he knew, but she would be out early when she found out he was there. When he arrived, Suerro went straight to the bar and ordered a pint of blood. Romney arrived five minutes later and the two went up to the second floor where the larger seating areas were. They sat at one that was partially occupied by a human couple drinking heavy cocktails. The glasses blood was served in were, of course, a darker tint so it could be hidden, so there was no concern.

"So," Romney said when they were seated, ignoring the couple talking near them, "what happened?"

"I got a visit from Juliette twice today. First at school during lunch hour and again after I got home."

"No wonder you're so mad," Romney smiled a little. "What did she do?"

"She said that she missed me and loved me."

"What did you say?"

"I told I don't care," Suerro said with a shrug. "What have I done to delude her into thinking I feel anything for her?"

"I sure as hell don't know," Romney chuckled a little. "As far as I can remember, you've been nothing if not nasty to her the whole time you were together. I'm not sure if she just likes being abused or if she only wants you because she can't have you."

"She never cared that she couldn't have me before."

"I think when Natalie wasn't around there was still hope in her mind. Now that you're officially 'off the market' as it were, you're all the more appealing."

"I don't care," Suerro said before guzzling down the whole pint of blood. "Even if there'd been anything between us, it would be too little too late."

"You really never loved her?"

"No," Suerro answered honestly, "not for an instant. I won't pretend I never found her attractive, but attraction pales in comparison to actually loving someone. Frankly, she never loved me either; she loved what she thought she could make of me. I'm not a toy, Romney."

"I know," he said, drinking his own pint of blood. "So how've you enjoyed being married?"

"Very much, thank you."

Romney chuckled, "I bet. I've heard through the grapevine the two of you were _really_ enjoying being married."

Suerro finally grinned, "That's one way to put it."

"Did she like Paris?"

"She loved it," Suerro said. "That hotel you told me about was great. We had a good view and our first day there, the window was opened and we could hear the band playing below."

"How romantic," Romney smiled. "I still can't believe you got married before me." Romney sighed, feigning sadness. "Do you think I'll ever find love?"

"If I could find someone to put up with me, I'm sure you will too."

"You would think," Romney said with another sigh. Suerro then, suddenly, lost his smile and Romney knew why. He smelled Juliette too from the entrance. Romney looked towards the entrance and saw her, but he also saw a black haired woman he'd never seen before. "Juliette has a new friend I see."

"Natalie said her name was Elinor."

Romney looked at Suerro with surprise. "Natalie's seen Juliette?"

"Not only seen her, talked to her," Suerro groaned. "Elinor didn't give her any trouble from what I can tell, but she's still upset about Juliette. I told her to leave her alone and things would be fine, but if Juliette keeps up this farcical effort to win me back, it'll turn into something."

"They're going to find us before long. Did you want to just leave? We can always go back to the condo."

"I want to get Natalie first. The sooner I get her home without the two running into each other, the better."

Leaving their glasses (they'd immediately be retrieved anyway) Romney and Suerro wound around the crowd to the theatre, making sure to avoid Juliette, and went straight to the stage. Natalie and Sarah were wrapping up their scene together at the end of the play and they waited patiently for Natalie to finish. Afterwards, Suerro went up to the stage right to Natalie.

"Hey you," Natalie said, then, "Oh, hey Romney," when she saw him with Suerro. "What brings you here?"

"I'm in town and I thought Suerro and I could have some bonding time over blood." Natalie smiled and went over to hug Romney.

"It feels like I haven't seen you in so long."

"It hurts me more than it hurts you," Romney teased. "Why don't we all go back to the condo?"

"What's the hurry? Did you guys already drink or something?"

"Yeah," Suerro said, kissing Natalie's neck. It was a poor choice; it brought his close enough that she noticed Juliette's smell. She turned around to face Suerro, giving him no look in particular.

"I guess I should've assumed she'd talk to you," Natalie said.

"Don't worry about it; I've taken care of things. She came to the condo, but I made it clear I didn't want her there."

"If you say so," Natalie answered. The three walked outside together prepared to put Juliette from their minds, but as cruel luck would have it, Juliette walked out of the bar with Elinor at her side as they were walking down the street towards the condo. "You've got to be fucking kidding me," Natalie uttered in no effort towards being demure or silent. Juliette began to approach them with Elinor following behind her.

"There you are, Suerro," Juliette said when they'd approached. "I was wondering if I'd find you."

"Hello," Elinor says in a polite tone. Then she looked at Romney and smiled. "I don't believe I've met you either. I know that's Suerro, but who might you be?"

"Romney," he answered.

"I'm Elinor," she said, holding out her hand, which Romney graciously accepted.

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Juliette tells me," Elinor said, stopping Juliette from saying anything to Suerro, "That only a select few are privileged to know your name."

Romney smiled, "Well, I wouldn't say that." He chuckled. "I'm just not a fan of my first name. I much prefer my last name."

"What is your first name if I may?"

"Percible," Suerro answered, earning a mean look from Romney.

"You're name's Percy?" Elinor asked with great excitement. "Oh, I love that name! What is there to dislike about that name? It's so regal."

"A little too regal for my taste," Romney answered, though a blush would've graced his cheeks were such a thing possible. "My mother's the only one to ever call me Percy."

"I just know it from _The Scarlet Pimpernel_."

"Figures," Romney said, though chuckling.

"So are you the Scarlet Pimpernel, Mr. Romney?" Elinor teased.

"I don't know," Juliette interrupted, "are you a Miss Elinor Dashwood?"

"Your name's spelled with an I?" Romney asked, recognizing the reference to _Sense and Sensibility_. "Was your mother a fan of Jane Austen by chance?"

"Oh yes," Elinor said, "my mother ran a Jane Austen book club back home in Ottawa. She still does, actually. I secretly pop in now that I can control my thirst and listen in."

"You're a newborn?" Romney asked, intrigued.

"Just over," Elinor smiled. "I've been a vampire for roughly a year and a half or so. Juliette changed me for companionship."

"It's been so long since I've been a newborn. I know how difficult it is for you."

"How old are you?"

"He's my age," Juliette said, and Elinor smiled and even giggled.

"My God, you've been around since the Revolution? Juliette tells me so little about that time. All I know is that English loyalists fled to Canada when the war was over."

"Ah yes," Romney said with a smile, "a group Garret kindly refers to as 'mama's boys'."

"That's an awful thing to say," Elinor teased.

"It's the name we Americans give people that don't like running their own country."

"Juliette, why haven't you introduced me to Romney earlier? I swear I'll never forgive you for it."

"It never came up," Juliette said flatly.

"I'm sure we can forgive her in time," Romney said, earning another sweet giggle from Elinor. "The park near here is really pretty. Granted, it's no central park, but it'll do for the time being. Would you be so kind as to join me for a walk?"

Smiling broadly, Elinor offered her arm and said, "I would be happy to." Romney accepted Elinor's arm in his and the two crossed the street and made their way to the park to have some private conversation time.

"They certainly seem to have clicked," Natalie said with a smile.

"At least someone is," Juliette said. She and Natalie finally looked at each other. It was a competitive stare, though Natalie had the advantage of know that, ultimately, she was the victor in the situation.

"Natalie, let's go home. I'm sure you're tired." Without waiting for an answer, Suerro gently took a hold of Natalie's hand and led her past Juliette down the street towards the complex. When they got home, Natalie didn't talk about Juliette. She wanted to just go to bed and hold Suerro (after he promptly showered away the stench of French Canadian Fur Whore). He didn't bother dressing after he dried off from his shower. He just went straight to the bed. "I love you," he said when Natalie was in his arms under the covers.

"I love you too." Natalie wrapped her arms around Suerro's neck so they could kiss. She pulled Suerro right on top of her and locked her legs at her ankles around Suerro's waist.

Natalie was, as was typical, only in a shirt and panties, so Suerro pulled off her panties but he was only able to push her shirt up slightly, revealing her breasts but not taking her shirt off completely. Natalie wouldn't let go of him for that to be possible and she'd wrapped her legs back around his the moment her panties were off. They weren't even really off, they were holding on by her ankle at Suerro's back. He was inside her before long and they stayed in the same position through the whole thing. Natalie just wouldn't let go of him or let him move around and Suerro knew why. He wouldn't think about it during, otherwise they would've stopped, but he got to thinking about it when they were done. Natalie knew he loved her, but Juliette was chipping away at her.

"I love you," Suerro said again when they'd stopped and Natalie still didn't let him go. "You know that right?"

"I know," she said, nuzzling her nose against his neck. Suerro was finally able to make Natalie lay on top of him and when he did, she fell asleep. He knew she wasn't of a pleasant mind when she did, though.

The next morning, Suerro woke Natalie up before he had to leave, kissing her awake. When she woke up, he told her he was leaving for work and told her, again, that he loved her. She smiled at him and said she loved him too, but Suerro still felt like she wasn't completely satisfied. Suerro couldn't help feeling anxiety that Natalie might doubt his resolve towards Juliette and whether or not he really hated the woman. More appropriately, Suerro was indifferent to the woman and he preferred it that way. Hatred would imply that he cared, but it seemed to Suerro that this was becoming less than sufficient. Suerro was about to leave the house, but this nagging feeling wouldn't go away and he refused to leave until he knew she was alright. He went to the bedroom and sat on the bed next to her. He brought a finger to her cheek, rubbing it gently until she opened her eyes.

"Something wrong?" Natalie asked.

"We should have a talk," Suerro said.

"About what?" Suerro leaned down and kissed her forehead then gently lifted her into an upright sitting position. When Natalie was seated on the bed, that's when Suerro continued the conversation.

"You know I love you right?"

"Of course," Natalie answered sincerely.

"Good," he said, "Good. Look, Natalie, I'm going to tell you everything, and I hope that, once I've made everything clear, that you'll believe I don't love Juliette."

"I don't want to talk about her," Natalie said, going back down, pulling the covers back up.

"I don't either, but it looks like we have to." Natalie wouldn't sit back up, so Suerro met her halfway and laid down next to her and held her close so she would have to listen. "She visited me twice yesterday, both times I told her to leave me alone."

"I noticed her smell near the front door."

"I figured you had. She never entered the house."

"I could tell," Natalie reassured. "I'm not mad at you, Suerro," she said, trying to end the subject.

"Yes you are. Maybe not directly, but you're upset over this situation and you seem to think more of mine and Juliette's relationship."

"You were lovers."

"We've slept together," Suerro corrected to word choice bluntly. "That's hardly comforting, I know, but there was never anything between us in my mind outside of pure physicality. I don't want you to think there was, regardless of what Juliette might have come to believe. I've done just about everything within my power to convince Juliette that I do not and never will love her. If she can't accept that after everything then there's nothing more I can do except remind her whenever she presses me."

"I don't want her here," Natalie finally said. "I'll feel better when she's finally back East."

"Me too," Suerro said and kissed Natalie's forehead. "Just remember that I love _you_. Nothing Juliette could possibly do will ever change that either. Do you believe me?"

"Yes, Suerro, I believe you," Natalie said only after several seconds of thought.

"Do you really?"

"Yes," she said, this time more hastily.

"Good." Suerro gave Natalie a kiss before rising from bed. "I'll see you tonight."

Natalie nodded and stayed in bed while Suerro walked out of the house. She had rehearsal today, but they'd gone over the whole play twice and she'd lost count of how many times she'd played Florence Unger. She called Gretchen and told her that she's taken a personal day for reasons pertaining to her marriage. Gretchen agreed more readily than Natalie had expected, though it wasn't unreasonable to assume Gretchen had seen Juliette in her bar and figured out this would have something to do with her. Natalie thanked Gretchen for the time off and Natalie took a shower and dressed in her black yoga pants, a yellow t-shirt, and a grey hoodie she'd had since high school. Technically, it wasn't even her hoodie. She'd found it laying on a table in the cafeteria and she liked it, so she nabbed it and wore it the next day. No one said anything, so she just kept it. She slipped on some socks and put some tennis shoes on at the door, after which she gave both her dogs kisses on their foreheads and left the house with her purse and car keys. She had a feeling she knew where she might find Juliette or at least Elinor. If she found Elinor, she could point Natalie in the right direction. She'd tolerated Juliette and her behavior to a degree for a while now and she'd had enough of it. She would set her straight or tear out her eyes in the process.

Natalie went straight to the Cullen house and parked her car in one of the available spaces near the garage. When she came in, she saw Juliette sitting in the kitchen reading. She also saw Elinor in the music room talking to Romney. They seemed to still be talking and were really engrossed in their conversation. She couldn't help a smile despite her intentions. She was also pleased to see that Grandpa Edward and Grandma Bella weren't in the house, meaning Natalie still somewhat had an element of surprise. In fact, from what she could tell, most of the house seemed to be out hunting, giving her and Juliette plenty of ideal alone time. She knew Juliette must have noticed her come in, but she was choosing to ignore her and focus on her book. Natalie walked straight to the kitchen and sat right next to Juliette at the counter. Juliette finally looked up from her book, seeming bored and irritated.

"What?" she asked.

"Listen, Juliette, I won't waste either your time or mine with the trivial, so I'll just get right to the point. I know you've visited Suerro at work and at the condo trying to make him take you back or whatever it is that you're trying to do." Natalie didn't notice that Romney and Elinor were suddenly not talking anymore and had wandered towards the kitchen to monitor the situation closely.

"Yes, I visited Suerro at work and at his house. I don't see why you're so upset about it. Nothing happened."

"I don't care if you think nothing happened; you were trying to make something happen. I'll only say this to you once, so I want you to listen carefully. Suerro is _my_ husband. He married _me_. He loves _me_."

"Well I think that's rather debatable. You're a child, Natalie. He needs a woman."

"I am a woman and he does love me. It's not debatable, you're just delusional. And if you ever approach him with the intent of seducing him again, I'll have your head on a pike and that's a promise."

"Oh, I'm shaking in my boots. Do you honestly think I'm scared of you?" Juliette stood as did Natalie in response. "You might be a cute pet dog, but that's all you are. Suerro despises Taha Aki and his lineage. I would know; I've seen Suerro torn up over his sister's death. I'm the one that saved him from drowning and gave him a better life out East. I'm the one that helped him adapt to a different world. I'm the one that loved him first. It was all me! What have you done? Batted your eyelashes and bent over for him like a thin waisted whore!"

"I'm not the thin waisted whore here, Juliette. He slept with you because you were convenient and all too willing. Suerro never led a finger on me until we were married and do you know why? Because he respects me and he wanted a virgin for a livelong mate, not a French raggedy Ann that greats him beaver first."

Juliette slapped her suddenly and it surprised everyone, particularly Natalie. Had she been anything less than a wolf, it would've broken her jaw irreparably. There were breaks to her jaw and she could taste blood, but it healed almost as quickly as it happened and once Natalie recovered, the first thing she did was switch to a vampiric form. When Natalie was ready, her fists now completely stone, she punched Juliette straight in the nose, cracking it in enough spots that it almost fell off. Juliette had to allow her nose to heal and while she did that, Natalie ran to Rosalie and Emmett's room, stole a hair band, and pulled her hair into a messy bun while coming back downstairs ready to continue the fight. Juliette's nose healed enough to stay on her face before she began hitting towards Natalie right back.

"Stop it!" Elinor yelled as she ran behind Juliette and grabbed onto her, trying to make them stop. Romney did the same to Natalie, but it wasn't before the two women got a few more smacks at each other.

"That's enough, both of you! You're both adults, so act like it."

"I want you to leave and I want you to leave now," Natalie said, ignoring Juliette. "Suerro's my husband!"

"That's nothing that can't be undone once he realizes he's married to an infant!"

"Better an infant than a tavern whore!"

Juliette was the first to scream and Natalie followed suit while they both tried to free themselves from their restraints and attack each other again. Elinor and Romney held the two back as best they could, but even so Juliette slapped Natalie and vice versa several times before they were sufficiently apart.

"Believe me kid," Juliette began, one final attempt to force a chink into her pretentious show girl armor. "Suerro doesn't love you. If he never loved me, I can promise he doesn't love you. You should know by now the man only tolerates."

"Juliette, that's not true," Romney said and then repeated to Natalie, "That's not true and you know it."

"He tolerates everyone but me, and do you know why? I love him for him and I never forced him to be something he isn't! You took a traditional man and forced him into being a white man. He hates you for that you know?" Natalie challenged. "He's always hated you for it. He hates you for forcing your ways on him and he only slept with you because you were a free piece of ass!"

"Go ahead, call me a whore again and see what happens! I fucking dare you!"

"Whore," Natalie taunted. "What are you going to do about it, Juliette? Whore! Whore!" Natalie chanted the word a few times, sounding much the way a raven would.

"Let me go Elinor," Juliette hissed, never taking her eyes off Natalie. "Let's see how big she can talk when I rip out those pretty little locks!"

"Enough Juliette!" Elinor screamed as she forcefully moved Juliette away from Natalie towards the patio door. "Percy," Elinor said as she dragged Juliette away, "I need to get her out of here, so we're going back to Ottawa. I expect you to come visit me again or I'll never forgive you." Both managed to laugh a little despite the situation.

"I expect you to be waiting with bells on." They shared one more smile before Elinor finally dragged Juliette out of the house and away from the home, going back towards the city. When she was gone, Natalie forced herself out of Romney's arms, but remained where she stood. She was taking several deep breaths so she could possibly calm down. It was a good thing she'd not fazed, otherwise she would've destroyed the kitchen.

Natalie didn't text or call Suerro about what had just happened, but Romney did. During his lunch break, Suerro snuck away from school and managed to find Juliette near Port Angeles on her way to Canada. He asked Elinor to let them talk privately a moment and Elinor agreed before running two miles ahead so they could be alone. Juliette was initially hopeful, but that hopefulness dissipated when she saw the look on Suerro's face.

"She confronted me," Juliette defended.

"Well with your behavior, it's no God damn wonder!"

"I have a right to take back what's mine—"

"I'm not yours Juliette! I never was! I'm sick of this, Juliette. I don't understand why my marrying Natalie has made you so damned and determined to form a romantic relationship with me, but the point is that's the only reason!"

"That's not true Suerro."

"Yes it is and you damn well know it. Before Natalie and I were together, tell me of one time you ever came to me and told me you wanted to be with me. Tell me."

"I've indicated it every time we've encountered. Natalie only made it more forceful because she stole you right out from under me."

"No she fucking didn't! I was never yours for Natalie to take out from under you! I don't love and never have loved you! I don't know how many times I'll have to tell you that before it sinks into your stone skull. I don't have the time or care to remind you of it constantly. I'm sick of beating a dead horse and I'm sick of you trying to make something out of simple sexual benefits. Now Juliette, what I want you to do is to go back to Canada and leave me alone."

"But Suerro—"

"I said go back to Canada and leave me alone! I won't repeat it again Juliette. And if you ever lay a hand on my wife again, it'll be the last thing you'll do."

"Suerro," Juliette attempted one last time, "I love you. Isn't that enough?"

"Juliette, I don't care. I simply don't care." Ensuring that would be the end of the conversation, Suerro ran away going back towards the reservation. He still had enough time to make it back before lunch hour was over. Meanwhile, Juliette took several minutes to recover before she finally rejoined Elinor so they could go back to Ottawa. Elinor thought it a cruel and hard lesson, but under the circumstances it simply needed to be this way. She only hoped Juliette wouldn't mope around too much. There was only so much Elinor could do to help.

Natalie had gone back to her condo hours ago and was sitting in the living room with her two dogs watching a competitive cooking show. Suerro came back only slightly earlier than usual only because he drove so fast. Natalie looked at him from the couch when he walked in and didn't say anything. She knew Romney had told him about what happened. What she didn't know was what Suerro had done about it if anything. He put down his things and went to the couch and sat down next to her. Natalie didn't say anything or really acknowledge him sitting on the couch with her, so he took drastic action to get her attention and grabbed her firmly by her waist and lifting her onto his lap, making her cradle him between her legs. When she was where he wanted her, Suerro wrapped his arms around her and kept her where she sat.

"Romney told me what happened and I've told Juliette that I want her to leave and to leave me alone."

"Did she agree?"

"I told her that's what she would do and I also told her she's never to lay a hand on you again. If she comes back and tries anything again I want you to let me deal with it. I don't care what she said to you so long as you know that she doesn't know what she's talking about. I love you, Natalie and I always will."

"I know," she said.

"You've said I know too much. Tell me 'I love you too'."

"I love you too," she answered. She finally rested her head on his shoulder and hugged him. "She said you tolerate me."

"You know that's not true. I tolerate a lot of things and people, but you're not included in that list."

"I know. It just hurt to hear her say it."

"Well then don't let it." Suerro kissed Natalie's head and hugged her tighter. "I was a miserable man before you Natalie. I really was and I'd still be that way if it weren't for you. I owe you more than I could ever repay. I just hope loving you might be a good start."

Natalie finally smiled. "I'd say it's a good start." Suerro smiled too and bent down his head so they could kiss. And with that, it was finally an end to the matter.


	33. Amber

Amber

Within months of finding out about the new penthouse and hotel, Oscar and Travis picked out all their furniture together and moved in once the bed frame and mattress were moved in. The hotel itself was functioning and opened by the end of the year. It would take time for the hotel to become as popular as the one in Phoenix, but it was definitely heading in the right direction. Moving the cats in was the harder part since they were so used to living at his apartment in Port Angeles. This new place was so big and there was more space than what they knew what to do with. Travis filled the house with some cat trees and properly located litter boxes to help the cats feel more at home. They eventually came to feel really at home in the penthouse and pranced around like they had in the apartment with confidence and a strut.

"It's like they've been living here all their lives," Travis said to Natalie, who was sitting with him at the kitchen counter, about the cats. Natalie had seen the finished product a few times before, but today was the first time his parents and his brothers had come to see the house. Kevin came with Heather after he'd finished at work, Nessie and Jacob made their way here after they'd closed the shop early, and Travis had just finished taking everyone on a tour of the penthouse.

"It's pretty swanky," Maxi said. "It'd be prettier if it weren't for all the cat shit."

Rachael swatted Maxi's arm, "Don't say that."

"Sorry mom," Maxi chuckled, as did Jason.

"So how are you and Oscar adjusting to living together?" Rachael asked.

"We haven't killed each other yet, so I'd say we're doing alright," Travis joked.

"Where is Oscar by the way?"

"He's not downstairs?" Travis asked.

"I don't think so," Jason said. "We asked the receptionist about it and she said he'd gone out for something."

"I don't know, then. I'm sure he'll be home soon, though."

"He knows about us coming today right?" Paul asked.

"Yeah, I told him yesterday. Don't worry; he said he'd be up by the time dinner was ready."

"So what are we having?" Maxi asked, then glanced at the sink seeing chicken in a zip-lock bag thawing, "I mean, besides chicken."

"I was just planning to do fried chicken. That's a crowd pleaser right?" Everyone agreed they were alright with that and stayed in the kitchen to talk. Around six was when Travis got things ready for dinner. Natalie stayed seated at the counter after taking two more Benadryl. She was getting drowsy from the medication and, despite the meds, her eyes were still getting watery.

"Honey," Jacob said, rubbing Natalie's back, "are the meds not working?"

"I'm fine," Natalie said. "Nathan said he can't come?"

"No, he's on a late shift tonight and so is Ada."

Natalie groaned, "I'm not sure Ada should be a nurse."

"Honey," Nessie said, "I know you're getting crabby, but don't bring it out on Ada."

"I'm not getting crabby," Natalie said, rubbing her eyes, "I just don't think Ada María of all people should ever be a nurse." Jacob patted Natalie's back.

"Don't be so mean, Natalie."

"I'm not, daddy," Natalie said. Then she heard a meow and looked down to see Ginger, Max, and Zoe at her feet, no doubt expecting food. "Hey, Travis, the cats are hungry."

"Of course they are," Travis chuckled. He turned around and looked at Natalie with a pitiful smile. "Would you hate me if I let them have some canned tuna?"

"Go ahead. Who am I to deny these cats their overcooked canned fish?"

"That's right, Travis, don't ask either of us if we're bothered," Jason teased, "so long as Natalie's alright with it, that's all that matters." Travis chuckled and put three pieces of chicken in the oil before grabbing a can of tuna and portioning it evenly on a paper plate. The cats, that had swarmed at his feet the moment they heard the can opened, meowed viciously as they waited for their tuna and Travis had to gently push the three cats away so he could put the paper plate on the floor for them.

"I don't get what cats like about that stuff. It smells vile."

"I'm inclined to agree with you," Travis said.

"I wish we could've had cats when we were growing up," Rachael said.

"Are you kidding?" Jacob laughed, "Dad hated cats."

"That's why we never had cats." Rachael brushed her eyes so she wouldn't cry. "I miss daddy so much."

"I miss him too," Jacob said. Rachael got a hold of herself and took a deep breath.

"I got to talk to Rebecca yesterday."

"Did you?"

"Yeah," Rachael said. "John's officially retiring soon, so they're going to come move here."

"Really?" Nessie said with a smile. "That's great! We never get to see them, this way we can see them whenever we want."

"Certainly more frequently at least. She said they're planning to move to Port Angeles. John doesn't want to move to Forks since it's so small. She said he'd rather live in a slightly bigger city, though my understanding is they'll be more in the suburbs."

"I don't care so long as they live here," Jacob said. "I know I don't show it, but I love you two."

"Oh yeah," Rachael teased, "You love us so much you put dead things in our drawers." Jacob chuckled.

"Nothing but the best for my big sisters."

The conversation continued as Travis finished making the fried chicken and mashed potatoes. By the time it was seven, Oscar still wasn't home, so Travis texted him. Oscar promised he'd be home in a few minutes and to start eating without him. They were, of course, to save a plate or two for him or there would be hell to pay. About ten minutes later, the group heard the ding from the elevator indicating that he was home.

"Hey Travis," Maxi, who was facing the elevator and saw Oscar first, said. "Your boyfriend's holding a scrotum."

"What?" Travis got up from his chair as he heard Oscar start laughing and walked around to see what Maxi was talking about. It wasn't a scrotum, but it was certainly wrinkly. It also honked and snorted while it breathed. "What is that?"

"It's a pug," Oscar said. He put down the dog a moment so he could get all the dog things into the house from the elevator. Ginger, Zoe and Max, upon seeing the little pug, went over to investigate. Ginger kept a further distance while Max and Zoe went a little closer to actually sniff the dog.

"Why did you bring home a pug?" Travis asked, realizing what Oscar did before getting an answer.

"To tell you the truth, I'm tired of you getting to have your pets, so I went and got myself one. I named him Bowser."

"Oscar, buying a dog isn't a spur of the moment thing."

"I know it isn't. I've had that little guy picked out for over a month now."

"You knew you were getting a pug for a month and you didn't tell me?"

"You would've gotten upset."

"I more upset because you sprung it on me! Oscar, we've got three cats to think about. What if they don't get along with him?" Oscar looked at Bowser, who was surrounded by all three cats now, and watched the cats sniff him and eventually Max took a firm hold of the puppy within his paws and started licking his head.

"They look like they're getting along fine to me."

"Okay, but what happens when that puppy gets too rough with one of the cats? They could injure each other."

"Relax, Travis, it'll be fine."

"Okay, fine, and who's going to take care of this puppy? It sure as hell won't be you Mr. I'm-Downstairs-Working-All-Day." Oscar made his argument while Travis rubbed his face. He felt like he was lecturing a kid. While Oscar talked, Natalie walked over to the puppy and picked him up. Bowser kept panting and licked her fingers as she scratched his chest.

"I think he's adorable," Natalie said. "If you don't want him, I'll take him."

"No way," Oscar said. "That dog cost me five hundred dollars. We're keeping him. And don't worry too much about it, Travis. I know I sprung this on you, but you'll like this dog eventually."

"A-huh," Travis mumbled and walked back to the table to finish eating.

"Doggy!" Heather yelled when she saw Bowser.

"Do you want to pet Bowser, Heather?"

"Yes!" Heather said as Natalie walked to the table with the puppy. Heather was sitting on Kevin's lap and he held her close while she leaned over to pet the puppy and play with his wrinkles. Bowser licked her hands and Heather started to giggle happily.

"Your little cousin likes the puppy," Oscar smiled.

"A-huh," Travis answered back. Oscar helped himself to some of the food left over and sat next to him, but Travis didn't really talk to Oscar nor did he look at Bowser who Natalie was still holding and letting Heather play with. Kevin made Heather eat a little more of her dinner before finally letting her down so she could play with the cats and the new puppy on the floor with Natalie.

By the time the family left the house, the cats and puppy were completely worn out from being played with by a two year old baby that had recently learned the word, "No!" The cats went to their little cat tree after the guests had left and went right to sleep on their respective floors. Bowser tried to climb the tree, but a swift whack to the face from Ginger's paw let Bowser know that it was no longer play time, but sleep time. Oscar picked up the puppy and smiled at Travis.

"I'll let Bowser outside, then we'll go to sleep."

"Oh no, you're crate training that thing from here. I need sleep."

"You're making me sleep out here?" Oscar asked in surprise.

"Yes, Oscar, I'm making you sleep out here with _your _pet. You wanted a dog, now you're going to learn how to take care of it." Travis made his way upstairs while Oscar went outside with the puppy. When he got back inside, Oscar went upstairs, leaving the puppy downstairs, to talk to Travis. He heard the shower going, so he stripped down and let himself into the bathroom and stepped into the shower. Travis glanced at him, but didn't say anything else.

"You aren't really making me sleep on the couch are you?"

"Yes, Oscar, I am," Travis said. "I know how puppies get when they're being crate trained and I'm not putting up with it. I need to get some sleep."

"Oh come on," Oscar said, wrapping his arms around Travis' waist kissing his neck. "I know you, Travis. You'll melt eventually."

"You're still sleeping on the couch." Travis washed away the soap and stepped out of the shower. Once he dried off, Travis walked out and caught Bowser chewing on one of Travis' nicer dress shoes. "Damn it, no!" Travis ran to the puppy and grabbed the shoe from him, but it was too late. The shoe was ruined.

"Oh shit," Oscar said after he stepped out of the bathroom, hearing the commotion. "Travis, I'm sorry."

"This dog," Travis began to yell, "owes me one hundred fifty dollars!" He groaned and rubbed his face. Bowser started scratching at his leg and he walked away. "Get him in his crate and go downstairs."

This time, Oscar didn't argue with Travis. He just took Bowser with him downstairs so Travis could seethe. He would need to buy him new shoes as an apology. Thankfully, they were the same shoe size, so if he found nice pair that fit him, they would fit Travis too. It figures, even when Oscar and the dog were downstairs, Travis could hear the puppy whining loudly and it made it difficult for either of them to fall asleep. He couldn't believe it; Oscar didn't want a baby, but he wanted a puppy which does just about the exact same things as babies do. Eventually, everyone including the dog was able to get some sleep. By the time Travis woke up, he felt something licking his face. He smelled it next and made sure not to jump. He didn't want to risk startling the puppy and, God forbid, causing him to pee on the bed. He wondered a moment how the dog had gotten onto the bed, then he remembered there was a little bench at the end of the bed that a puppy could jump with enough determination, even a pug.

"What do you want?" Travis mumbled a little, still mad about Bowser eating his better pair of shoes. Bowser stared up at him with those bulgy puppy eyes while he pawed at his hand. Travis picked up Bowser and took him downstairs to check and see if Oscar had fed him. Travis sighed heavily when he got to the kitchen. The bowl wasn't even taken out of the damn Petsmart bag. And Oscar thought he could take care of a dog? "Wait a minute, Bowser. I'll make you some food." He needed to get the cats their breakfast anyway. They were meowing at him vehemently, demanding that he pick up the pace. After all, the cats had important things to do today, like nap.

Travis saw a little piece of paper that seemed to be from the breeders instructing how to feed Bowser for the first couple of weeks. He'd need initially three meals a day, then they could reduce it to two once he was about a year old. When all the animals had their food, Travis attended to his own breakfast. He felt something scratch at his leg while he was cooking his eggs and realized it was Bowser.

"I just fed you," Travis said, looking at the _empty_ dog bowl. Travis ignored Bowser and finished making his breakfast, but once he got all his food on the plate and was seated, Bowser's stupid cute eyes got to him and he gave in, giving Bowser a small piece of egg, but that was it!

After breakfast, Travis went to his office and started working. Bowser followed after him with a small toy in his mouth and rested it at Travis' feet, hoping to evoke Travis into playing with him. Initially, as had been the habit since this morning, Travis ignored the puppy, but those God damn eyes got to him and he started playing. To his delight, Bowser finally ran out of energy after an hour's worth of catch that funny whatever the hell it was. Bowser started scratching at Travis legs and this time, only because it hurt, Travis picked up the puppy and rested him behind his back on his chair and Bowser fell right asleep against him. He could always put Bowser back on the floor when Oscar got back home. Travis wouldn't give him the satisfaction just yet of Oscar knowing that he was starting to like this stupid dog with it's cute little eyes and it's God damn sweet demeanor. No, he wouldn't give Oscar the satisfaction for an instant, not after he'd made such a fuss about it the night before.

There was nearly another accident later that day, but Travis got Bowser outside in time for him to pee in a more desirable area. Oscar had at least thought to get puppy grass for Bowser to use since going outside in real grass would be a problem. He checked the Petsmart bag when they came back inside to see if there was a leash. There was, but it wasn't a harness leash that a pug would need. Travis groaned, realizing Oscar really hadn't thought this through. He may have picked the puppy months ago, but that seemed to be all the more thought he'd put into this purchase. It's not like he could return a puppy either. Travis made a note to go to a pet store during his lunch break to get Bowser a proper leash. He would need to make sure Oscar didn't see him, though. He would probably be in his office, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Travis got some work done while keeping Bowser in his lap. He couldn't really work and play at the same time, but Bowser seemed content to let Travis work and pet him at the same time. That he could do reasonably. He set up his voicemail so anyone who called would know he'd be out of the office and that he'd return soon, then he got Bowser in the bad leash (he had no intention of putting him down, he'd seen a proptosis before and it'd scared the shit out of him). Travis took the elevator all the way down and snuck past staff and Oscar to the car garage and put Bowser in his lap in the car. While they were driving, Bowser stared out the window with so much excitement. At a red light, there was a dog being walked that Bowser saw and he started barking (more like yapping) at the other dog. They finally arrived at a pet store and Travis carried Bowser in with him and went straight for the leash section and found a good harness. Bowser wouldn't grow too much more, but he verified with a staff member and bought a harness that would fit Bowser now and one that would fit when he got at his biggest. Travis also bought some dog treats and a few more toys for Bowser to play with before leaving. He'd planned to go straight back home, but he decided to treat Bowser to a walk through the park. Thankfully there were spaces near the park where he could park his car and Travis got Bowser into his new harness before walking him across the street to the park.

It was, it seemed to Travis, the longest walk he'd ever taken in his life. Bowser sniffed _everything_. He sniffed trees, he sniffed other dogs and received plenty of compliments from other dog owners of just how cut he was (which Travis was almost certain Bowser understood because he was getting a little strut in his step with each compliment) although as far as Travis could tell Bowser looked more like a cartoon character. Maybe that was part of the cuteness appeal. They walked through the park for an hour before Travis realized he really needed to get back home. Once again, after parking his car in the massive car garage where he had his own labeled parking space, Travis snuck around past staff members and avoiding Oscar as he made his way to the elevator and up to the penthouse. When they got home, Bowser pranced over to Max and started pouncing and playing. Travis couldn't recall Max displaying quite this much patience with anyone. He seemed to eventually lose his patience and swatted Bowser when he started playing too hard. Then, suddenly, Max grabbed a hold of Bowser and started licking him clean. Ginger and Zoe seemed to, for the most part, ignore Bowser, but it seemed that Bowser and Max would end up the best of friends. One thing was for sure, Oscar was damn lucky Ginger, Zoe and Max were really mellow or this arrangement would've never worked.

He got back to work and didn't see from Bowser until a few minutes later when he scratched at his leg asking for attention. Travis couldn't imagine this little dog still wanting to play after the workout he'd had in the park, so Travis picked up Bowser and rested him behind him between his back and the back of his chair and Bowser just plopped to sleep. Curse this puppy for making Travis like him!

Travis was through with work at about four thirty and when he walked away from his chair, he heard Bowser start to whine. Travis picked him up and went to the living room to see what was on TV. Max was still on the couch and Bowser cuddled right up to him wanting to play. Max sat still for a while, letting Bowser nip his ears and jump on him until Travis took pity on poor Max and played with Bowser with one of his new toys. Travis discovered Bowser was a worthy opponent to tug-o-war and had fun tiring little Bowser up. He took Bowser out to do his business before making dinner for all the animals. By the end of all that, Travis was exhausted. He'd put more energy in taking care of Bowser that day than he'd ever needed to when taking care of three kittens. After eating his dinner, Bowser ran to the couch and tried to get into Travis' lap so Travis picked him up and rested him on the couch. Bowser crawled onto Travis' lap and patted, pawing at Travis' hand so he would pet him, so Travis complied. Oscar didn't come back up to the penthouse until nearly seven at night and when he heard the elevator being used, Travis picked up Bowser and put him on the floor. Bowser started playing with his shoelace, so Travis enticed Bowser with a different toy and let Bowser play once he was thoroughly amused by the toy. Travis kept his attention on what he was watching when Oscar came into the penthouse.

"Travis," Oscar got his attention and presented a big box. "I got you some better shoes." Travis accepted the box and looked inside to see black leather shoes.

"They're nice," Travis said, "thanks."

"So how was Bowser?"

"Tolerable," Travis said.

Oscar took a deep breath, "Still mad at me I see."

"A little," Travis said. "I think I'll be able to live with it though."

Oscar smiled, "I take it you're starting to warm up to Bowser?"

"I never said that," Travis lied, but Oscar chuckled, knowing Travis was lying.

"I knew you'd melt eventually. I just didn't think it would happen so fast."

"Considering I'm the one that stayed home and took care of him, yeah, I'd say it didn't take much. By the way, you forgot to feed Bowser this morning."

"Did I?" Oscar sat down next to Travis and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. "Good thing you were here."

"Meh," Travis mumbled.

"Oh don't be that way," Oscar said. He looked towards the kitchen and saw the pet store bag and smiled. "I see you weren't really home all day after all."

"You didn't buy him a harness," Travis explained.

"Why would he need a harness?"

"Because what if he starts to run while he's on his leash and he gets forced to stop by his collar? Pugs are prone to a proptosis, so you need to keep the pressure away from their necks and keep it on the chest so they aren't in as much risk."

"What the hell's a proptosis?"

"It's when their eyes pop out!" Travis said a little louder than he'd intended.

"Ew," Oscar said.

"Yeah, ew, so I bought him a harness."

"And some new toys I see," Oscar said, looking at the toy Bowser was playing with. "Are those dog treats I see on the table?"

"Yes they are," Travis said.

"I'll have to watch out," Oscar said. "If I'm not careful, this dog will love you more than me."

"I think he already does," Travis said with a mean smirk.

"So much for getting myself a pet," Oscar said, still smiling. He scooted a little closer to Travis, moving his arm from around Travis' shoulders to around his waist, and kissed his neck. "Still mad at me?" Oscar asked again.

"Not as much," Travis admitted.

"Can I sleep upstairs tonight? Bowser might not be so fussy tonight."

"The moment he is, you're both going back downstairs." Oscar chuckled and continued his kisses on Travis' neck and helped himself to moving his hand under his shirt.

"We could always let him sleep on our bed."

"Pigs will fly first," Travis said, earning a chuckle from Oscar who was now tickling Travis' sides. He was trying not to laugh. "And what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm trying to seduce you," Oscar said. "I'm horny."

"You're always horny," Travis was snickering now, but he kept it contained. Oscar forced Travis into an angle where Travis was facing him. He was smiling completely now. "What do you expect me to do about it?"

"Don't toy with me; you know exactly what I expect you to do about it," Oscar teased. Travis kept laughing while Oscar came on top of him and practically mauled him. Travis' laughter eventually stopped when Oscar finally kissed him on the lips.

With seemingly no effort at all, Oscar lifted Travis from the couch and walked him upstairs. Travis heard Bowser follow them, but he wasn't focusing on that. When he reached the bed, Oscar dropped Travis and pulled off his old white t-shirt and sweat pants. He wasted no time getting his own clothes off until they were both naked and when they were, Oscar manhandled him just the way Travis liked it. As an apology for surprising Travis with a dog, Oscar licked his way from Travis' neck all the way down to his erection and took it in his mouth while using his free hand to rub Travis' chest and abs. Oscar was the first to notice Bowser hop on the bed and Oscar took a moment to put him back on the floor before returning to what he'd been doing to Travis.

"Would you put him in his crate or something? I don't want the dog watching."

"What?" Oscar asked after he came up for air. "The dog doesn't give a shit. Believe me, if rabbits can fuck on a front lawn not giving a shit, we can do it in front of the dog."

"Oscar," Travis said sternly.

"Oh Christ, fine," Oscar said, going to pick up Bowser. "I'll just walk around the house with my cock standing proud for all the cats to see." Travis just couldn't help but laugh while Oscar walked out of the room to get Bowser's crate. Oscar finally came back with the crate and got Bowser in for the night.

"I hope you're proud of yourself," Oscar teased. "You interrupted the moment."

"Oh, shut up," Travis smiled and pulled Oscar down on top of him.

They picked up where they left off, but this time with Travis doing onto Oscar what he'd done previously. Oscar laid on his back with his hands behind his head to tease Travis, but he wasn't paying attention to Oscar's teasing arrogance. Eventually Oscar tired of teasing and forced Travis on top of him so that he could enter him while Travis was on top. Travis moved up and down with Oscar, making sure to stay up straight. It felt better that way. Then Oscar pushed Travis onto his back for more control and so they could make out when Oscar decided to. Several minutes of thrusting and kissing later, the two came closer to completion and clung to each other as it happened. When they'd both climaxed, Oscar laid on Travis and kissed his neck tenderly.

"You never said what you expect me to do about you being horny," Travis said, breaking the silence.

"Very funny," Oscar chuckled and kissed Travis again.

Bowser didn't really whine at all the second night. He seemed to be getting used to his new surroundings and the cats still got along with him just fine. As predicted, Travis ended up being the one that took primary care of Bowser. It also meant that Bowser stuck with Travis much more than Oscar. A few weeks later, Bowser was pretty much completely potty trained and Oscar put in a doggy door to the patio (thank God there was no open space where Bowser might fall) so he could come and go as he pleased, but just to be safe, Oscar also made the patio fence a little higher as well and added a patio cover to protect from rain and snow and too much sunlight. Travis eventually broke his own rule and allowed Bowser to sleep in bed with them. He always slept at Travis' feet and Travis always had a mini victory over that.

Two things happened that following spring that were of great importance. First of all, Embry and Caevia had gotten to a point where they were (more importantly Caevia) comfortably intimate and Caevia had no trouble with having sex. She'd come to terms with life before Embry and she reached a point where she realized she could either look back in terror or look forward in hopefulness. She chose the latter and Alice was sweet enough to hold a small wedding (Embry made the _small _part very clear) for the two in March. Brie ended up being the maid of honor, which shocked everyone, even more so that she was more than happy to do it. The twins acted as flower girls in little lavender dressed and a basket lined with small colorful Easter eggs and purple and white lily petals, matching the flowers Caevia held in her bouquet. Caevia insisted on not wearing a white wedding dress once she knew why a bride usually wore white. She didn't like the concept of lying and, let's be honest, she had a child (and had been pregnant several times). The secret was out.

She instead wore a black wedding dress, whether Alice liked it or not, and had her hair in a bun with a lavender barrette. She didn't bother wearing a veil and no one walked her down the aisle, a decision she thought was appropriate. No one was giving her to Embry, she was giving herself to him. Jacob acted as best man and held Ej, who acted as the ring bearer, though the small, just barely over a year old baby was more concerned with sucking his thumb than holding a pillow with rings. Besides Brie, the wedding was held with no more than the pack members and immediate family. After they kissed and signed their license, the marriage was official and it was the happiest day of her life. Jacob and Nessie agreed to look after Ej while Brie kept the twins of the weekend that Embry and Caevia were secluded downtown not to be bothered unless in extreme emergencies. A month later, Caevia found out she was pregnant and they were both elated about it. The twins were eager too. They couldn't wait to have another baby sister (assuming they had a daughter).

Once again, like the last pregnancy, Caevia became a frequent visitor to the Cullen house and took any vitamins that Carlisle told her to take and avoided anything Carlisle told her to avoid, just as she'd done before. It was a Monday, so the twins were with Brie and it was late enough that Ej was tucked into bed for the night. Embry and Caevia had just made love; Caevia was excited that she'd gone a week without morning sickness and she thought that was cause for celebration. Embry wasn't one to disagree.

"Do you want it to be a boy or a girl?" Caevia asked after they'd laid together for a few minutes in silence.

"I'll be happy with either. Will you want to be surprised like last time?"

"Yeah," Caevia said, snuggling into Embry's neck. Then she maneuvered onto his lap and straddled him so they were looking right at each other, though admittedly Embry was often drawn away by the site of her breasts bare before his eyes. "We already have an Embry Junior," Caevia said.

"Yeah," Embry said, trying hard to pay attention.

"I don't know many boy or girl names that aren't Tistihlal."

"If you want to give the baby a native name, that's fine with me. Let's just make sure it's not too eccentric, like Ut Napishtum."

"Who's that?"

"The Mesopotamian version of Moses I think. At least, that's what Kyle tells us. He's been minoring in English since he started his master's degree."

"I don't know what Mesopotamian or Moses are."

Embry smiled, "I admit my knowledge of the old testament is horribly limited too. Mesopotamia is an old civilization from the middle east. I'll show you the general area on a map one of these days. As far as Moses, I think he's the one that parted the red sea and saved the Jews…or something." Caevia smiled.

"I'll take your word for it."

"I wouldn't," Embry teased. "Our tribe, or at least myself and most of the pack members, aren't exactly Christian. Jacob will joke that we worship nature, but it's more complicated than that. It always is."

"The Tistihlal worshipped the desert hawks from where they descended. It's said that it was a hawk that helped us find our landing place and saved us from certain death in the desert, that this bird landed on the head of a cactus and a large oasis appeared."

"Sounds like something a bird would do," Embry teased.

"What about the Quileute? I've never really heard anything about your founding."

"The short version is that a Trickster was traveling the woods and righting the wrongs of humanity. He found a wolf that wanted to be a man and turned the wolf human. He prophesized that we would be a great people."

"Where do you think that Trickster is now?"

"Running a casino for all I know," Embry joked, but the humor was lost on Caevia. "Never mind."

"So," Caevia changed the subject, "baby names. What would you want?"

"Well, let's see. I've got a Jenna and a Lauren, so those names are out. We've already named a son after me," Caevia smiled as Embry continued. "You know what, I think I've got it. If it's a girl, Anna. If it's a boy, Jayden."

"I think I could live with those," Caevia smiled and leaned onto Embry's chest to kiss him. "I love you," she said.

"I love you too," Embry answered and gave her another kiss. They cuddled in bed together until they fell asleep in each other's arms until they fell asleep and didn't wake up until the next morning when Ej began to cry.

"I can't believe she's pregnant again," Suerro said to Natalie while she was changing out of her dirty clothes getting ready for a shower. "She's like a baby machine."

Natalie smiled, "You need to grow a filter my love."

"I don't need a filter, Natalie. I do just fine without one."

"Ahuh," Natalie laughed. "Are you joining me in the shower or not?"

"I suppose I could," Suerro teased. Suerro put away what he'd been working on and went to the shower with Natalie so they could get 'clean'.

"So how goes preparing a final?" Natalie asked when they were out of the shower and she couldn't have sex anymore.

"It'll be hard," Suerro chuckled. "My students are going to hate me for it. Apparently, I've got a reputation around the school as a hard ass."

"Really?" Natalie asked. "Why would they call you that?"

Suerro chuckled at Natalie's teasing. "I think it has to do with how hard I grade and how I run a class."

"I just can't imagine it," Natalie continued. Suerro laughed and kissed her. "I'm just glad I never had to take a class with you. I dread the idea of you grading me."

"I'd go easy on you," Suerro said.

"No you wouldn't have," Natalie said. "You would've been just as hard on me as you are with everyone else. And then when I awoke to my wolf, you would've been fired for sleeping with a student."

"You know full well it wouldn't get that far," Suerro smiled.

"You sure proved that over two years."

"Indeed I did," Suerro kissed Natalie again. "Do you want to see my Quileute finals and see if you think they're too hard?"

"I barely speak Quileute anymore. I think anything will either be too hard or take me forever. Don't you teach an AP French class too?"

"Yeah, but they take the AP test instead of final. I won't make up their test."

"So naturally the AP test will be easier."

"Much easier," Suerro said and Natalie giggled. "Isn't that some sort of a fantasy for humans though? This idea of having an affair with a teacher?"

"Under the right circumstances maybe. I never wanted to have an affair with any of my teachers."

"You just never took my class," Suerro teased and kissed Natalie again as she giggled.

"That is true."

A few days later, Natalie managed to get a day off from rehearsal to hang out with Travis. She went to the penthouse first to see how Bowser was doing (who was now much bigger than the last time she'd seen him). She brought Caliban and Prospero so they could all go for a walk through the park. Caliban and Prospero (being much older dogs) weren't as playful as Bowser and didn't really respond well to his playfulness. They never bit each other, but they growled and barked, or at least Caliban and Prospero growled and barked. They kept the walk as long as possible before dropping the dogs off at their respective homes and going out together for lunch.

"Have you seen Embry and Caevia lately? I feel like I haven't seen them in forever," Natalie said.

"I haven't seen them either. Embry's usually on patrol different days than me. As it is, you and I barely go on patrol."

"I thought we'd established we were only doing the bare minimum needed to maintain immortality."

"Did we say that officially?"

"Maybe I thought we did. I'd say it was a better idea than us getting married if neither of us found anyone by the time we were thirty five."

Travis chuckled, "No offense, but I'm more than pleased that didn't happen."

"I know, me too. I love you to pieces, Travis, but I don't want to make babies with you."

"The feeling's mutual daddy's girl." The two shared a laugh until the waiter came over to take their orders. Both ordered water and something that looked good. "Speaking of baby making, how stand you and Suerro in that department?" Natalie stopped a moment, half smiling half nervous. Travis stopped her before she could answer. "You're already pregnant?"

"I think so," Natalie answered. "Yesterday, I was so sick that I kept throwing up through rehearsal. Everything made me ill, even the smell of Gretchen's perfume. You know how much I love her perfume."

"Yeah, Chanel Noº 5. That's good stuff."

"Things aren't tasting the same either I noticed. If this sandwich tastes like dirt, it'll be official."

"Sounds like you're expecting a demon baby," Travis teased and made Natalie laugh.

"Don't be so mean, Travis. This is your little cousin I'm carrying."

"Have you told Suerro yet?"

"No, not yet. I don't want to say anything unless I know for sure."

"Suerro wants kids right?"

"Eventually," Natalie said. "When we got married, he said he thinks I should do my own growing up before we think of bringing a kid into the world."

"A little late for that it looks like." Natalie smiled. "I'm sure you'll be fine. I'm more concerned how you'll be handling a two and a half week pregnancy."

"At least we aren't opening for a little while." Natalie thought a moment. "Oh God, what if I can't lose the baby weight?"

"Relax, Natalie. If your mom did it, I'm sure you can too." Travis thought a moment. "Then again, didn't Aunt Nessie just go right back to her normal size? One day she was pregnant, the next it was like she never had a baby?" 

"That's what I hear."

"My mom complained about it enough," Travis laughed. "Don't worry about it so much, Natalie. Everything will turn out just fine. I'm sure you'll go right back to your trim figure right after having the baby."

"I hope so," Natalie said. "It's bad enough my ass is fat. I don't want everything else to be fat too."

"For the love of God, Natalie, if your ass is fat, then I'm the one ton man. You don't have a fat ass, Natalie. That's just Gretchen trying to scare you out of eating Twinkies and cheese."

"But I love cheese," Natalie said.

"Since it's one of the few things you're not allergic to, I imagine that's the case. Now enough of this talk of you being fat. You're deluding yourself."

Natalie sighed heavily, "If you say so." Travis just rolled his eyes and drank his water once the waiter brought it over. Natalie took a sip and Travis looked on curiously.

"That tastes the same, right?"

"Water is water," Natalie said. "Suerro tells me that whenever he wants to convince people that he does eat and drink, he'll heat up boiling water and fill it with black food coloring so people think its coffee. It seems to work whenever he does it."

"That's one way to lie about food consumption." Travis sipped his water. "So how do you think Gretchen will react when she finds out you're pregnant?"

"She'll ask if I mind the kid playing Gavroche when we do _Les Miserables_ next spring." Travis started laughing. "You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. I know she will."

"Has she already cast you as someone?"

"She said she's torn between making me Fantine or Eponine."

"Who would you prefer?"

"I'm fine with either. I'm familiar with all their songs, so it's just a matter of does Gretchen want me in a role where I die sooner or a role where I die later."

Travis chuckled. "So will you say yes to your kid playing Gavroche?"

"If he or she wants to do the part, then I won't mind. I'm just not too keen on her making my kid follow my footsteps. There's nothing wrong with my footsteps; I wouldn't change a thing. But someone besides me might not like the idea of going into theatre. I mean, not everyone can be a Meryl Streep or Hugh Jackman. Wait, was Hugh Jackman in theatre before going into movies?"

"Considering he played the Phantom and Jean Valjean, it wouldn't surprise me. But yeah, not everyone can end up successful."

"As it is, the closest I've come any international recognition was that Cosmopolitan commercial I did."

"Yeah, and you know how Uncle Jacob felt about that one." Natalie and Travis laughed.

"I just thought it would be fun," Natalie said. "I've done it once; I got it out of my system now." The waiter finally arrived with their food and Natalie took a bite of her sandwich and spit it out after tasting it. "Yeah, I'm pregnant," she said.

"Congratulations?" Travis said and Natalie laughed again.

"Thanks for your support," Natalie teased and moved her food towards Travis. "Do you mind eating this?"

"I guess I can scarf it down. So you'll tell Suerro tonight?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Should I make it romantic or should I just tell him?"

"I say make it romantic. It's not like he'll be angry, but it'll be nice to surprise him with something nice before you tell him about the baby. Think of it this way; if you do something special, the news will be all the better to hear."

"Sounds like a plan. Maybe I should surprise him with a bubble bath. He likes those."

"Whatever works," Travis said. "Do you have names in mind?"

"Something different. That's the best answer I can give you."

Different was a broad term, but she didn't want anything too different. Like naming the baby after food. That would be a little too different for her liking, but she still wanted something that no other kid in Seattle would be named. When she and Travis finished having lunch (or Travis finished both their lunches) Travis walked her back to the condo so Natalie could get ready for when Suerro got home. He'd be home by around five, so at four thirty she got the hot water going and poured in some bubble solution. When the tub was full and the bubbles high, Natalie got in and waited for Suerro to get home. She'd made a trail of rose petals (cliché yes, but what can you do) that led to the tub and she got a little nervous when she heard Suerro come home. He followed the trail as she'd hoped and he just smiled at her when he saw her naked in the tub.

"What's all this for?" he asked.

"Come in the tub with me first." Suerro smiled and stripped down so he could come into the tub. When he was seated, he pulled Natalie to him and hugged her.

"So what's the occasion?"

"Well, I was really sick yesterday and my food tasted horrible today. I tried eating something before you got home and that tasted horrible and made me sick too."

"What's wrong?" Suerro asked.

"Nothing," Natalie assured. "I just think it's safe to assume that I'm pregnant." Suerro looked at her for a moment without saying anything. Then he turned Natalie around and pulled her up so he could get a decent look at her abdomen. He had to push bubbles away, but he got to it eventually. He put his hand over where he'd find the baby and held it there a moment as if to check for life. He didn't feel anything, so he brought his ear to her abdomen to listen. When he heard another heartbeat, he smiled.

"That's how it sounds," Suerro said. Suerro hugged her now. "You know, I never thought I'd have children one day." He kissed her belly. "We'd better make Carlisle double check."

"Are you excited?"

"Very," Suerro smiled and brought her down so he could kiss her.

"You don't think it's too soon?" Natalie asked and Suerro shook his head.

"It doesn't matter, the baby's coming. We'll get the hang of it, don't worry." Natalie and Suerro hugged tightly and stayed in the tub together talking about names. Suerro insisted that, since they had a baby coming, that they needed to find a larger place to live. They currently had a one room apartment (albeit an expensive one) and that was far too small for what would soon be the three of them.

"I want our child to have a unique name."

"Define unique," Suerro said somewhat defensively.

"Something that the average child wouldn't be named. I was hoping you knew some obscure names."

"I know plenty of Quileute names, but that might be a little too different."

"I was thinking along the lines of French names. They'll go well with your last name. And not many kids in Seattle have French names."

"You do," Suerro pointed out. "In fact, Kevin does too."

"Kevin is a French name?"

"It is according to my understanding, though there's plenty else that goes into that name. I assume by unique, you mean something more obscure than Natalie?"

"I was," Natalie said. "I only know the common French names or whatever's used in _Les Miserables_."

"No," Suerro said. "Since the Hugh Jackman movie, those names have been a bit common. But if we have a girl, I want to name her after my sister."

"Zurra," Natalie thought about it a moment.

"We'll call her Zurra Leigh to make it more modern." Natalie smiled.

"That's actually really pretty. I like it. And for a boy? What was your father's name again?"

"Too long," Suerro said and Natalie giggled.

"Define long. I don't think you ever told me your parents' names."

"My mother's name was Ahleila and my father's name was Urakkateshyi." Natalie's eyes widened. "Unless you want to name our son Urakkateshyi Leigh Roux. We could just call him Urak. That's what my mother used to call him."

"Too long," Natalie agreed. "What about my father's name? Daddy would be tickled pink if we named our son after him."

"We'll make that his middle name. I can think of two names that I like that are French."

"What would those be?"

"I've heard the name Armand and it's nice. I've also heard the name Nazaire. It's a French spelling of Nazareth. I think that's where Jesus was born."

"Nazaire," Natalie said the name again. "It sounds middle eastern when you say it out loud."

"It's middle eastern regardless I guess."

"Nazaire Jacob Roux…..it might need to grow on me."

"It's unique at least."

"It is that," Natalie smiled. "I like it," she finally said.

"Really?" Suerro said.

"Yeah," she nodded. "It's different, no kid in his class will have that name I promise you."

"No, they won't," Suerro agreed.

"Hey, you're the one that recommended Nazaire. Take responsibility for me liking it." Suerro chuckled and carried Natalie out of the tub.

"We have some time before we have to worry about names."

"I still like Nazaire. It's so different."

Suerro hoped that, maybe, after Natalie slept on it, she'd change her mind about the name, but by the morning, she still loved it. He regretted the suggestion. When they went to Jacob and Nessie's house for a family dinner, he told Jacob the name hoping he'd whole heartedly agree that Nazaire was a little too weird and help make Natalie change her mind. Suerro never realized how bullheaded Natalie could be. By then, Natalie was showing a little and Carlisle had her scheduled to be at the house by the Wednesday of next week. No matter how many times Jacob called the name 'strange', or 'weird', Natalie would not change her mind. Suerro tried getting Nessie to say something but all she said was, "My name's Renesmee. Who am I to talk about weird names?"

"At least Renesmee is pretty," Jacob said.

"You hated it at first," Nessie said. "Daddy told me, Jacob, so don't bother saying it's not true."

"It grew on me," Jacob said.

"And Nazaire will grow on you too," Natalie said. Ada María laughed a little.

"Forgive me, Natalie, but I didn't realize you and Suerro were Arabic."

"For your information little miss Raised-Catholic, Nazareth is in Israel. They're not Arabic."

"They most certainly are. They speak Arabic and the city consists of mostly Arabic Muslims and Christians. It's Arabic my pet."

"Please stop patronizing her," Nathan asked.

"I like it," Gabriel said.

"Don't encourage her," Nathan said to him.

"Oh come on, dad. Ariel and Gabriel are archangels right? What's so weird, then, about Natalie naming her kid after the city where Jesus was born?"

"How about the fact that neither of them are Christian?" Kevin said. "Did you even know that was where the name came from?"

"Suerro mentioned it," Natalie said.

"Juliette made me read the bible, so yes I knew that's where it came from."

"If you're so displeased, why did you suggest the name in the first place?" Ada asked.

"She wanted unique and I was spouting ideas. I assumed she would think the same thing I do and consider Nazaire to be a little extreme."

"Even Armand is a little too much," Kyle chimed in his two cents.

"Armand?" Jacob asked and rubbed his face. "Can't you just name the kid after me and be done with it? At least Jacob is normal."

"Also biblical," Gabriel said.

"It's normal biblical," Jacob said. "And I can promise you my parents didn't name me Jacob because he was…..an apostle?"

"He was a son to Isaac and Rebecca and the father of the twelve founders of Israel," Ada said. "Christ, I don't even go to church and I know this stuff."

"I remember Paul, John, Peter…right?"

Nessie sighed heavily, "It's Andrew, Bartholomew, James son of Alphaeus, James son of Zebedee, John, Judas, Jude, Mathew, Matthias who replaced Judas after he betrayed Jesus, Peter, Phillip, Simon, and Thomas."

"Even named them alphabetically," Ada said with a light laugh.

"What about Paul? Wasn't there a Paul?" Jacob asked.

"He was a follower, but not one of the twelve apostles," Ada said.

"Look at you being a good little Catholic girl," Nathan teased and earned a pinch from Ada.

"There you go, we've got Andrew, James, John, plenty of normal names to pick from."

"I like Nazaire. I'm not budging daddy and neither you or Suerro can make me."

"Please tell me the girl's name is more reasonable, then we can just hope desperately for a girl."

"It's Zurra Leigh," Natalie said proudly.

"I'll take it," Jacob sighed heavily. "It's better than Nazaire. So is Gretchen giving you some maternity leave?"

"Of course," Natalie answered. "She was happy to give me time off so I could relax."

"I bet the old bat is seeing dollar signs from this conception," Nathan mumbled.

Over the weekend, Natalie went to Carlisle for a checkup and it correlated with Caevia's day. She was still early and one would never guess she was pregnant unless she were naked and her pouch was visible. Caevia had never seen a pregnancy go by so fast and she was shocked when she saw Natalie. She knew Natalie had found out she was pregnant, but not seemingly five months pregnant. She let Caevia touch her belly and groaned when she felt a kick.

"Are you alright?" Caevia asked.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. The baby's just kicking. How've you been feeling so far?"

"Normal," Caevia shrugged. "I'll be sick for three months, then after that I just feel like a….it's a big thing, it lives in water, it has horns.."

"You mean a manatee? Wait, those don't have horns."

"The point is I feel heavy."

"Forty pounds of baby and water will do that to you." Caevia and Natalie laughed and it made the baby kick Natalie again.

As is typical, Carlisle couldn't see the baby through the amniotic sac so he couldn't tell her whether it was a boy or a girl. He asked the baby names and took another shot at trying to find out the gender when he did, praying that it was a girl. Zurra Leigh was lovely and so was Nazaire, but it seemed really culturally inappropriate. Indeed, Renesmee is a strange name, but Bella came up with it by combining Renee and Esme so she could respect both mothers and fathers (in the case of Carlie). Natalie picked Nazaire because it was weird and unless her son went to school with a number of children from Iraq or Northern Africa, chances are no other kid would have that name. It was better than Motorhead, but that wasn't saying much. Thank goodness that singer's girlfriend had the sense to pick Moon instead of Motorhead.

"Nazaire," Rosalie said out loud after Carlisle told them once Natalie had left.

"And you thought Renesmee was bad," Edward said.

They laughed and went about their business. When it was time, Natalie went straight to the Cullen house and waited for her water to break as Carlisle had instructed. Suerro took that day off from work and had the school arrange for a substitute to handle the class for him. The substitute wouldn't be teaching anything really, he'd just be handing out homework that was to be complete by tomorrow. When she'd arrived at the house, nothing was hurting, but after five hours of walking back and forth while talking to Suerro, Nessie, and Jacob, her water finally broke and it started hurting. She was instructed to lay down and wait out the contractions. This process wouldn't take long he knew. After four hours of contractions, crying about it hurting, and waiting for it to be over, Natalie gave birth to hers and Suerro's son Nazaire Jacob Roux (whether anyone liked it or not). It was made official when they signed their son's name and their names on the birth certificate. After Natalie had the baby, she gave Gretchen a call and let her know she had a candidate for the part of Gavroche.

Latter that day, Romney and Elinor (who'd remained inseparable for months now) came to see the new baby. Upon hearing the name, Elinor asked, "Isn't that a little too Arabic?"

"Aramaic, actually," Carlisle clarified.

"Wouldn't it be Hebrew since it was a town in Israel?"

"She said it was French," Rosalie pointed out. "The way it's spelled is French at least."

"If Nazaire is French, then I'm black," Romney said.

"Who the fuck cares?" Jacob mumbled to himself, taking a sip of his beer. "My daughter really is an actress. She gave my grandson a stupid fucking name."

"Jacob," Nessie lectured, patting his back. "I'm sure it'll grow on you eventually. I'm starting to like it." Jacob just grumbled and took another gulp of beer.

"So my nephew's name is actually Nazaire?" Kyle asked when he and Evalina walked into the house through the garage.

"Yes," Jacob mumbled.

"I like it," Evalina said. "It's unique."

"If I hear that word one more time," Jacob said to himself, then sighed heavily. "His middle name's Jacob right? Can I just call him Jake and be done with it?"

"NO!" Natalie yelled from upstairs, apparently hearing the conversation.

"I'm still gonna," Jacob mumbled to himself. "What the hell's the point of my grandkid being named after me if I can't actually call him Jake?"

"Because Jacob is his middle?" Romney pointed out.

"Shut up," he mumbled again.

Suerro came downstairs to great Romney while Elinor went upstairs with roses and a small teddy bear. By then, Nazaire had gone fast asleep and didn't see his present until much later when he woke up. Carlisle also insisted that Natalie not breast feed directly. Nahuel had explained, though many years ago, that it seemed boys had venom and not girls so if she breast fed directly, she'd risk being poisoned and there was no safe way to be sure how venom would affect her. Bella and Edward bought her a really nice breast pump that she could use and Rosalie was more than happy to look after Nazaire while she used it for the first time.

"He looks just like you," Romney said to Suerro when he saw Rosalie carrying Nazaire. "I hear you're the one that suggested Nazaire."

"I did, but I was just pulling names out of the air. I never thought she'd actually like Nazaire."

"Well," Romney chuckled, "the moral of the story is don't suggest a name when you don't like it."

"I don't mind it, I just would've preferred Armand or something."

Having learned that it was a boy, Elinor and Romney retrieved some blue toys and blankets for the baby. There'd been plenty of time for family to stock Natalie up on baby things, but now they could get her more gender specific items and toys. In November of that year, Caevia gave birth to hers and Embry's first child together: a boy named Jayden. Nazaire grew up just as Nessie and the other half breeds had aged, so by the time Gretchen was setting up for _Les Miserables_ that spring, Nazaire was old enough looking to play Gavroche, but he made it clear to Gretchen that this would be the only time he did any acting for her. Just because he could sing didn't mean he wanted to do it for the rest of his life. Natalie could put up with Gretchen, but Nazaire either couldn't or chose not to.

Nazaire had proven to not only look a lot like Suerro, but act like Suerro too. They boy was fascinated with Jonathan Swift and one of the first books he ever read on his own was _Gulliver's Travels_, though he still preferred _A Modest Proposal_. Much like his father, Nazaire also had no filter. Natalie was beginning to wonder if the mean spirited disposition Suerro had wasn't simply an inheritable trait, though it was more likely that Nazaire thought that, since Suerro can be a sarcastic asshole, he can be to. He had a very adult sense of humor since he was growing up so fast. This made it take a lot for Natalie to treat Nazaire like her son, not like her friend. Suerro was usually the one that made sure that line remained very clear.

A few months after Jayden was born, Caevia and Embry agreed that between the two of them they had enough children (that being five) and Embry agreed to be the one to get a vasectomy. To save money, Carlisle agreed to perform the procedure for Embry and he was in and out of Carlisle's office in thirty minutes. It took a few weeks for Embry to feel better, but when he did, he and Caevia went back to their normal routine. Unfortunately, a month following Embry's recovery, Caevia came to Embry with the shocking news that she was pregnant again. Embry responded by nearly chocking on his coffee and calling Carlisle asking what the hell went wrong. Turns out, as Carlisle had told Embry but he wasn't listening since he'd just had his penis snipped into, that he and Caevia needed to wait at least 12 weeks before engaging in intercourse again, even if it didn't take long for Embry to recover. Since they didn't wait the twelve weeks required, Embry was still technically fertile and lo and behold Caevia got pregnant. Natalie had mentioned to Gretchen during rehearsal that Caevia was pregnant and Gretchen called her an egg timer. Extremely rude on her part but somewhat true under the context. This, for sure, Carlisle promised, would be the last time Caevia got pregnant, unless of course she were to sleep with a man that wasn't fixed, but that was just a factual matter.

Since she was pregnant, Caevia hoped she would have a girl. She'd lost all her girls and having one she wouldn't lose would make her happy. She decided that, this time, she wanted to know as soon as Carlisle could tell her whether the baby was a boy or a girl. When she found out she would have a little girl, she was elated. While Embry was at work, she called his boss, demanded to speak to Embry, and told him that they were having a girl. Alice, always happy to have a girl around to dress up and spoil, took Caevia out shopping for baby things for little girls. Caevia was so excited for the baby and Embry thought it would be good to expand the girls' room so the baby could share a room with the twins when she got older. Then he rethought it, thinking perhaps the twins should keep the room to themselves. They already had to share a room with each other. Sharing a room with someone who stayed in the room every day might not be as good, so he got to work on adding onto the house again with the help of the Cullens.

The addition to the house was finished by the end of the summer. It wasn't as big as the twins' room, but since the new baby wouldn't be sharing the space, she could have a little less of it. He also didn't want the twins to get jealous. They were excited when they heard they had a little sister on the way. When October came around, Caevia gave birth to a little girl they named Anna Kelly Call. It sounded nice when said all together.

For everyone, life went on normally for several years. The children grew and Heather was as sweet a little girl as anyone could ask for. She was Kevin's pride and joy and he always made a point to keep her first in his life and work second. Around the time that Heather was five, she became curious about her mother. Kevin told Heather all he knew (keeping his information dominantly positive) and kindly told Heather that Page had not been ready to have a baby. He was in no position to claim whether or not Page had ever loved Heather, but he knew she'd not been ready or at the very least simply never wanted children. Out of her curiosity, Heather began writing letters to Page in her best (though admittedly far from perfect) handwriting and asked him to mail them to her. Kevin tried to tell her that he didn't know Page's current address, but it didn't stop Heather's determination. Kevin was put in a situation where he didn't know what to do. Page had made it clear that she wanted no involvement, but there was no nice way to tell Heather that. If he didn't mail them and told Heather he did, he'd be lying to her, but if he sent the letters, Page might get upset and react poorly or, worse, decide she wants to be involved with Heather now despite their written agreement that Kevin would retain full custody. But Heather begged and pleaded with Kevin that he send her the letters, so Kevin found out Page's current address in Oregon and sent the letters.

When Kevin told Heather that he'd sent her letters, she was so excited that every day after she came home from school, she would wait downstairs watching cartoons, anticipating a response impatiently. It was a week and a half before a response finally did come, but it was addressed to Kevin instead of Heather. He decided to look at it in his office just in case it was something he'd need to pad. Rosalie looked after Heather for a bit while he went upstairs and put his things on his desk. Once he was relaxed, he opened the letter. Inside was a typed letter to him and another typed letter to Heather. He read the one addressed to him first.

"Kevin,

It was my understanding that we had an agreement regarding the unfortunate incident that was our sleeping together and the resulting child. We agreed that if I didn't get an abortion, then you would take on full responsibility for her and that I would be left out of her life. I understand that, being a child of her age, Heather wants to know about me and I will not start legal proceeding over this. After all, I was her age once too. But I would like to make it clear that, as we agreed upon, that Heather and I remain unacquainted so that I may continue with my life as I'd intended. She sent me a school picture of herself, and that I kept only because it's nice to know that she is doing alright. I'm sure you think I'm being a cold, heartless bitch, but I do not, and never will want children, so it's for the best that Heather and I cease any contact. Enclosed is a letter to Heather breaking down the truth as gently as possible. If you feel it is too cold and will upset her, then by all means tell her in a way that will be gentle, but the fact remains that I wish to no longer have further contact with Heather. Now that I've made that clear, I wish you both the best, especially Heather. She looks just like you, so be proud of that; she's a beautiful girl, and as I disdain to admit such a thing, just like you. With any luck, she'll be as smart as you too.

Courteously,

Page"

Kevin groaned a little, wondering about the letter she'd written Heather. The way she wrote this letter out, who knows what the one to Heather would be like. He switched to the other letter and finally realized, after it fell on his desk, a picture of her with her parents in front of some wooded area. He put that aside and went right into the letter.

"Heather,

I'm pleased to know that you're doing alright. It pains me to be so blunt, but I must request that we no longer send letters to one another. I know this will seem hateful, but I assure you that it is not. I was never meant to have children so when I got pregnant with you, your father loved you enough to take care of you. That's not to say that I hold no love for you. A part of me will always love you no matter what, but the fact remains that your father loves you more than what I could give you and you deserve all that you can have. Thank you for the picture you sent with your letter. You look so cute with the little pink bow tying your hair into a ponytail. I've given you a picture of me with your grandparents. Keep that picture and know that I am out there and that I'm alright just as I will do the same with your picture. Please understand that what I did, I did because it was for the best and that I did do it out of love. And you remember every day how much your father loves you and how much he really wanted you.

Love,

Mommy"

It was a strange feeling that Kevin had. For one, he was pleased that Page made an effort to be kind, but she was also being blunt. He wasn't completely sure if Heather would really understand, but it was kind enough that he felt comfortable letting her read it. He wrapped the photo back up into the paper and walked downstairs with it, leaving his own letter behind. He told Rosalie she could leave for the day so he and Heather could have a private talk about this. He first of all told her that her mother had responded and handed her the letter, letting her read it. She was excited when she saw the picture and pointed at the younger woman saying, 'Isn't mommy pretty?' When she finally got to reading the letter, Kevin needed to explain a few of the words, seeing as Page's language was often times a little hard to grasp for a five year old. When Heather understood the letter, she lost her smile and looked really deflated. She might be young, but she knew when she was being told she wasn't wanted. Heather left the letter and photo downstairs and ran up to her room, locking herself in. Kevin tried to talk to her, but she wanted to be alone. That night, Kevin complied and allowed her some space, but the next night he insisted she talk to him about this.

Heather told Kevin that she was mad that her mother never wanted her and Kevin did his best to explain that her mother does love her, as she claimed in the letter. Heather eventually calmed from the incident, but she never so much as asked about her mother again after that. She'd felt so betrayed over the matter and she didn't want to talk about it anymore.

On a happier note, Kyle finally graduated from college for good, earning his PhD in Psychology, specializing in abnormal and child psychology and was able to rent a space in a hospital for his practice, meaning he was technically running a private practice that consisted only of him. It took a few months, but Kyle eventually found a ring to present to Evalina. He made the moment as special as he could think, taking her to the water in Port Angeles. As they walked along the coast line, Kyle waited until it was sunset. The water glowed from the colors of the setting sun; yellows, pinks, red and purples. When the scene was perfect, Kyle stopped Evalina in her tracks and pulled her into his arms for a kiss. Then he got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. Alice being her usual self, having known in advance about Kyle proposing, already started planning the wedding down to the date. All that was left was to get Evalina fitted for her dress. Kyle and Evalina got married in June and spent a week in Russia for their honeymoon.

Everyone seemed to have their own happy ending. Kevin didn't usually let it concern him, but he couldn't pretend for a moment that the fact that all his siblings were happily married to their imprints while the only woman he'd ever loved betrayed him _twice_. Kevin didn't go on patrol often; he had a full time job at a law firm and a daughter that took up ninety percent of his time. The other ten percent was used to get some much needed sleep. Years went by without incident; no eccentric or disgruntled ex-lovers, no vampires that were causing trouble, it really was The Pax Forks as Kyle had put it. Everyone agreed once Carlisle explained that Pax was Latin word for peace to those that didn't consider that common knowledge. That's what so many years at college do to an individual: the line between common and acquired knowledge becomes really blurred.

Things didn't begin to get interesting again until after Heather's eighth birthday. Her birthday was greeted with the beginning of second grade and she was beginning to bring home spelling and math homework that Rosalie would help her with when Kevin was still at work. He always made a point to be home by six now that Heather was in school and would probably need his attention more since she'd started her school life (school life meaning once she entered elementary). It was a colder day in November when Kevin tucked Heather into bed for the night and went right to bed himself. He had a case to prosecute in the morning at it would probably keep him most, if not all, of the day well into the night. It was his first murder trial that the district and himself have been working on for nearly two years, and another year to actually get this trial to court. It was a trial against a man that had supposedly (he's still innocent until proven guilty) murdered his wife by drowning her in a bath tub. The case had initially gone cold until three years later, the same man's wife 'drowned' in the bathtub; a rather unlikely coincidence to say the least. The most recent wife was given an autopsy and the previous wife had been exhumed to receive a more thorough autopsy upon which the doctors discovered there were bruises on the first wife's neck that indicated strangulation. All his notes were ready, he had all his questions lined out for both his witnesses and the defense's witnesses, and he'd made sure that Kyle had personally interviewed the guy for a psychological analysis and, if we're being honest with ourselves, to see if this guy had really murdered both his wives. Kyle told Kevin that, indeed, this man had murdered both his wives and that he seemed to show traits of narcissism, but was more of a bipolar personality and that he should really hound on the man. If Kevin questioned him hard enough, the man would likely crack under Kevin's famous 'Iron Thumb' as his coworkers had so kindly labeled his interrogation methods.

While Kevin was investing in some much needed sleep, those members of the pack that were out that night ((those pack members being Jacob, Kyle, Nazaire (who'd awakened to his wolf many years ago), Embry, Ariel and Gabriel)) patrolling the area. Since there'd been several years without incident, many of the pack members either retired or decided to release their wolves so they could live their lives without that concern. Jacob, Gabriel, and Embry were taking a nap while the others were patrolling, making sure it was clear. Somewhere between midnight and one in the morning, a vampire came through the woods. They chased him initially, but then Kyle realized it was a vampire they knew and told the active members to leave him alone. Kyle only remembered that his first name was Robert. He waved at them with a smile when he noticed them before running off. He noticed that he looked concerned, but that was his business.

The next morning at six on the dot, Kevin went to court. He stopped in Heather's room and gave her a kiss goodbye on the cheek before leaving her in Rosalie's hands. The trial was likely to go on for weeks. Kevin's opponent was a defense attorney that, though he respected, was just as much of a viper as he was and would be a hard ass on Kevin's witnesses. The only solace in this was that, though he was a brilliant defense attorney, he'd never received the title of 'the iron thumb' by his colleagues. Kevin kept his opening argument brief. He knew that if he kept it too long, then he would bore and confuse the jury. He made his point clear: this man, Andrew Beckon, got away with murdering his first wife and thought he could get away with it again. The more Kevin heard the man start to fume, the more he hounded his point. A violent reaction would sway the jury to his side undoubtedly.

They only got through three out of forty witnesses that day and each witness was questioned for several hours. How do you know the defendant? How long have you known him? How do you know the victim(s)? The questions went on and on for each person and they became more intrusive and in-depth. Both Kevin and his opponent brought the witnesses' moral standing and character into question to either prove a point or to discredit their testimony. Above all, though, most of the witnesses were able to attest to the fact that, indeed, the defendant was prone to a violent temper and vicious mood swings. One minute he would be happy (or manic) and then the next he would be in a rage (or a narcissistic rage as Kyle had put it). Kyle had made it clear to Kevin, though, that this man was not technically a narcissist because he didn't meet at least five of the criteria. He met the violent rages to criticism for sure, though, and every witness (both the persecution and the defense) admitted that this was true of the defendant. Rugar (the defense attorney) did have an explanation for this, however. He claimed that his client was simply a sensitive man. True, he could react rather harshly to things, but that certainly didn't make him a killer. After the three witnesses finished their testimony, the judge called a recess and announced court would reconvene the following Monday. Kevin didn't get home until eleven that night and was exhausted, but he went out on patrol as he'd promised.

Nathan was out that night with him and Travis agreed to come out that night too, as did Natalie. Since Travis was the only one that wasn't about to fall over from sleep, the others napped and agreed to help out in the event that anything came up. By one a.m. Kevin woke up from his nap and started walking around the woods. This was one reason he retained his wolf: the sight of the moonlight in the woods. He'd never see it in the city and this was a way for him to have nostalgic moments and positive memories. Were it not for the comforting aspect of it, Kevin would've rejected his wolf years ago. Who's to know whether he would remain immortal or not regardless. Nathan, Natalie, and Kyle (for rather obvious reasons) refused to give up their wolves and find out. Kevin considered it heavily seeing as his daughter was, to put it frankly, so far removed from the vampiric gene that she was certainly mortal and Kevin refused to outlive his daughter (baring incident of course). He'd come to the choice to give up his wolf once Heather hit high school. It would certainly be a time in her life when she would need him at her disposal as much as physically possible.

Staying under the cover of the trees, Kevin followed the coastline so he could get a good view of the moon. As he walked along, he heard the faint sound of music that seemed to come from headphones. He thought nothing of it until he heard humming accompanying it. He finally paid attention to the song to find out what it could be. He vaguely recognized the song as being a Simple Plan song, probably a later work. It certainly wasn't one of their songs from the early 2000's. It was still old enough, however, that his dad and his dad's friends listened to it and liked it. Eventually, he recognized it as _You Suck at Love_ and he smiled a little. He couldn't believe he'd not immediately recognized it before. His first roommate in college had introduced him to Simple Plan (in the sense that he'd convinced him to actually listen to them) and he used to listen to this song whenever he was depressed and trying to study. It made him feel better about what happened with Megan. After the second time around, though, the song just mocked him. When that song ended, another song came up that he knew instantly as a Gorrilaz song called _Clint Eastwood_. It was a song he remembered his dad listening to all the time. That and _Melancholy Hill_. The voice still hummed along with the music and the humming wasn't awful; the only reason the person's humming along wasn't annoying him.

When Kevin finally found the source of the music and the humming, he was near the peak from which a lot of kids would jump from for cliff diving. It was a blonde woman that, from what he could see based on the way she was seated near the edge of the peak, seemed to be wearing a blank tank top (that looked to be a man's sixe) and a pink bra underneath that (or another tank top). The jeans that she wore seemed to be too big for her and were being held up by a studded belt that was actually a woman's size. Her hair was mid-back length and shiny in the moonlight. Since she was sitting off the edge of the peak staring at the moon, he couldn't see her face.

Meanwhile further into the woods, Nathan and Natalie (while Travis took a nap) walked around and overheard a man yell followed by a defining silence. They both ran towards the sound and saw a young woman holding the man in her arms with her death dug into his neck. Telepathically, Natalie yelled for Travis to wake up and for Kevin to come where they were. Reluctantly, though why he couldn't tell, Kevin left the coast where the woman was sitting on the peak and ran where Natalie called him to be. Travis made it to the spot where the woman was. Kevin took control and told everyone to sneak up on her so they could surprise and surround her. The woman, a dark haired women (basically black though shades of brown seemed to show in moonlight) with tan skin wearing tight blue jeans, a pink sweater, and pink high heeled pumps; hardly the appropriate outfit for being outside in the woods. She didn't seem to notice their smell as they approached her, which made things a lot easier for them. They noticed she had a heartbeat, meaning she was a half-breed, though her origins were of little importance under the current circumstances.

They stayed silent and crept closer to her. Natalie had heard a snapping and the man wasn't moving, so saving him wasn't an option. What they could do was take her down for his slaughter. When she was done, she came up with a satisfied, contented sigh and it was only then that she realized the pack was there and they'd surrounded her. She went rigid and became extremely nervous. Kevin noticed the look in her face. She seemed to portray that she'd known not to and now she'd been caught, like a child getting caught putting their hand in the cookie jar an hour before dinner's ready. Natalie stood behind the woman so she wouldn't see her as they all growled, intimidating her. The woman started trembling violently as Kevin and the others got closer and closer to her. When they were each roughly three and a half meters from her, she began to mumble 'a', as if about to say something. It was when they were three meters away when she finally screamed, "Amber!"

She repeated the name in a hysterical scream over and over again, so Natalie lunged towards her and sunk her jaws into the woman's left shoulder. Kevin, Nathan, and Travis made a move towards the woman when someone stomped on Kevin's head, smashing his face into the ground nearly breaking his nose, and kicked Natalie in the face so she would let go of the other woman. The stranger grabbed a hold of the woman who was now crying, put her in a piggy-back position and ran off. Kevin rubbed his nose until it stopped hurting while the other three immediately followed after the two women. From their thoughts, Kevin realized it was the woman he'd seen from the cliff. Those pants that were way too big were tied at her ankles so they wouldn't drag and the headphones she'd been wearing were around her neck. Travis tried to attack while the woman turned, but couldn't catch her. Kevin went the opposite direction hoping to intersect her, but she seemed to be one step ahead. She must've overheard Kevin coming because once he got close, she jumped into the air and landed on her feet and continued to run. Kevin followed after as he overheard the two women yelling at each other as they approached the cliff from earlier.

"Amber, what are you doing?!" the brunette asked.

"We're going into the water; they'll stop following us!"

"But Amber, I can't swim!"

"Well, Amanda, you'd better figure it out!" They finally reached the edge and Amber threw Amanda off her back into the water and dived.

Kevin knew in his current form, he'd lag behind. In his human form, he'd never catch up, so he fused into a vampire and sped up just enough that when he leaped from the edge of the cliff, he landed several meters away from the two women so he could sneak up on them. Before having jumped, Kevin instructed the rest of the pack to meet each other at the edge of the beach so they could intercept. Kevin got close enough to grab Amber's foot. Seemingly out of reflex, her foot acted before the thought occurred to do so, she kicked Kevin in the face hard enough to crack his nose again. Kevin would give her one thing: she could kick like no other. The kick surprised Kevin and he had to fix his nose again, making it possible for Amber and Amanda to swim away. They reached the shore as the others were approaching ready to attack. With Amanda back in a piggyback position, Amber started running and leaped over Natalie so she could run away. The group went after and Kevin finally followed and fazed back into a wolf once he was on the sand. They managed to catch up to the two, but Amber was still keeping ahead. They came across a small pond, so Amber leaped over the pond. This time when she landed, she didn't land on her feet and the cracking of bone that followed was enough to stop them in their tracks. The scream that followed the crack and the resulting fall was enough to make everyone cringe from how loud it was.

"Amber!" Amanda yelled in alarm. "Amber, are you okay?"

"My bone is jutting out of my leg!" she yelled back. The pack came closer and, indeed, the bone was exposed and it made Natalie feel a little light headed. Nathan had seen this sort of injury a few times with the number of accidents he's been called to. Nathan and Kevin started getting closer while Travis tried to help Natalie get used to the image. Amber was on her stomach crying from the pain and Kevin and Nathan felt a great deal of pity for her. As they got closer, Amanda began to panic and nudged Amber's arm over and over.

"Amber, Amber they're coming closer! Amber, do something!"

"What do you want me to do? Call 911?" The sarcastic question came through heavy crying and her face was still buried to the ground in pain.

"Amber!" Amanda yelled and finally, Amber grabbed a rock that was close to her and through it at Kevin's head. He narrowly dodged what would've been an undoubtedly consciousness losing blow.

"There!" Amber yelled, "I did something!" Still in pain, she went onto her back and kept crying. It was the first time Kevin really saw her face. She had such a pretty face with a dainty button nose, full pink lips, a slender face framed by golden hair with eyebrows just as golden and eyelashes that went on for miles. Her eyes finally opened still stained with tears and Kevin finally saw her big blue eyes.

Gravity shifted and he was entranced like he'd never felt before. His sympathy increased and he walked closer, no longer growling. The rest of the pack stopped growling too as they watched Kevin approach Amber cautiously. They all noticed she was wearing a gold chain with the name Amber spelled out in cursive letters and Nathan finally remembered exactly who she was: it was Amber Lynn…whatever her last names were. He remembered a guy named Robert had taken her in after the incident fifteen years ago. Who the dark haired woman was remained a mystery. Kevin continued to approach Amber and Amanda kept screaming louder. Kevin made an effort to no longer look threatening and going down to the ground in a submissive manner. Amber tried pulling away, but it hurt too much to move away and Amanda began hitting Kevin on the head in a vain attempt to make him back away. Kevin growled at her, making her jump away, and then returned his attention to Amber giving her a submissive stare, letting her know he wouldn't harm her. She still cringed, but Amber noticed the strange human eyes the wolf had. Kevin was able to get a good look at her leg and there was no telling how long that would take to heal. He needed to get her to Carlisle. She'd recognize Carlisle and would feel comfortable hopefully. Kevin needed to get her to the Cullen house and he needed to be human to communicate with her so he asked the pack to keep an eye on the two while he went a distance enough away so he could faze and change into the sweat pants still tied around his ankle (that were soaking wet). When he was human and dressed, he came back to where Amber and Amanda were. They looked at him nervously, especially when Kevin came to Amber's side with a kind, loving smile.

"Who are you?" Amber asked him.

"I'm Kevin Black. You know my father Jacob? He's the one you might remember."

"I didn't know he had a son named Kevin."

"He does," Kevin smiled. "Look, we need to get you to Carlisle. You're hurt bad."

"Really?" Amber began, "I hadn't noticed." The comment was meant to be cruelly sarcastic, but the tone didn't come out quite right. "What about Amanda?"

"Don't worry about that right now." Without bothering to ask permission, Kevin lifted Amber into his arms, her injured leg away from his chest, and Amber started yelling at him.

"I didn't say you could pick me up!"

"How else would you get to the Cullen house? Walk?" She sneered halfheartedly at him as he started walking and he smiled. "You're not the only one who can be sarcastic." Kevin looked at the pack. "Let her go," Kevin indicated Amanda, "Just keep in mind," he warned, "If this happens again, we won't be so lenient."

"Look, leave her alone," Amber insisted while trying to nudge away from Kevin's powerful hold. "She just forgot you were in this area, that's all."

"Like I said, she's free to go, but consider this a warning." Kevin continued through the woods at a running pace, making sure nothing touched her injured leg. "You remember Carlisle right?"

"Yeah," Amber mumbled. Several moments of silence passed as Kevin ran through the woods and through Forks, remaining unseen.

"I heard you humming," Kevin finally said, though he immediately regretted it. Amber looked creeped out. "I don't mean that I was stalking you or anything. I just overheard your music from your headphones."

"Ah huh," was all she said.

"You have beautiful hair," Kevin commented.

"Look, dude, the fact that you were watching me hum is creepy enough. Don't say anything else creepy and we'll get along just fine." Ouch, Kevin thought. So this is what it felt like for Kyle when he was having trouble with Evalina. He suddenly had a new appreciation for his stupidity that Christmas.

"It wasn't meant to be creepy; it was meant to be a compliment."

"Shut up and get me to the damn doctor."

Kevin took a deep breath and just kept running. Edward heard Amber's thoughts and let Carlisle know Kevin was bringing her to the house. When Kevin walked in through the back patio door, Edward was the one that greeted them. He smelled the blood from meters away and the bone exposed (despite her legs being covered by oversized man jeans) poking out sharply through her jeans was enough to make even him shutter.

"It's been a while, Amber," Edward said. "How've you been," he glanced at her leg, "besides the obvious most recent occurrence?"

"You'd know; you're a mind reader aren't you?"

Edward smiled kindly. Considering her current condition, her attitude was understandable. "Carlisle's getting some plaster ready upstairs in his office."

Kevin walked Amber up the stairs to Carlisle's office. The door was open and the medical bed was ready with a wide bucket on a stand near the bed holding the necessary wrapping for the cast. Kevin gently placed Amber on the bed and she held in a whimper from the pain with changing positions.

"Long time no see, Amber," Carlisle smiled. "It's nice to see you again."

"I wish it were under different circumstances," Amber answered, still whimpering a little.

"Believe me, I understand. Realigning the bone will be the worst part, so once I'm done with that, the rest will be a walk in the park."

"Oh God," Amber cried a little. Carlisle took off the shoe on her right leg, the tie around the pants, and used scissors to cut away the fabric to get to her leg. The bone protrusion was all the more gruesome when her pants were cut away.

"Jeez, you really did a number on that leg. How'd this happen?"

"I was carrying my sister on my back running away from this asshole," Amber pointed at Kevin, "and I landed on bad footing and my leg broke under my sister's fat ass."

"You have a sister now?"

"Well, a stepsister," Amber corrected. "Daddy found her in a dumpster in Newark and decided to keep her."

Carlisle was silent a moment, a little stunned. "You found her in a dumpster?"

"Yeah," Amber said. "Sorry to cut the conversation short, but could you get the realigning thing over with?"

"Alright, Amber." Carlisle went to his desk and came back with a piece of wood. "Put this in your mouth and hold Kevin's hand."

"I don't need to hold his hand," Amber said as she took the wood and put it in her mouth. She started shaking the closer Carlisle got to her right leg and when he brought his hands to her broken bones, he gave her a countdown and forced the broken bone back in alignment. Amber gave a piercing scream and her teeth broke through some of the wood. Amber grabbed Kevin's arm instinctively and started crying again. Kevin went closer and allowed Amber to clutch onto him without saying a word.

"Alright, Amber, the worst of it is over." She kept breathing heavily and held onto Kevin's arm. It was when Kevin began gently rubbed her elbow with his hand that she pulled away and rested back onto the bed. As gently as possible, Carlisle cleaned the gash and used some numbing medication on her leg so he could stitch the open wound. "So where is Robert?"

"I don't know," Amber said. "I ran off after daddy and Amanda found me downtown and I haven't seen them since. Amanda was probably looking for me when the wolves caught her drinking that guy's blood."

"Was she?" Carlisle said while staring at Kevin.

"We let her go," Kevin answered Carlisle's silent question. "I guess you could say we let her off with a warning." Carlisle nodded and turned his attention back to Amber's leg. He pulled the bucket over and went to his desk to grab several packets and soft cautioning materials. When they were all on the stand, Carlisle showed Amber the different colored packages.

"What color do you want the cast to be?"

"The lavender one," Amber finally picked.

"Alright then." After that, Carlisle finally started on the cast.

He bandaged the injured area first so that could heal on its own, then he slipped on the first layer sleeve of the cast. Carlisle asked Kevin to help him position Amber into a sitting position. Once she was sitting upright, he took great care to position her foot on the little stand so he could apply all the other layers. He started with the soft padding layer and brought it up to her knee. She was very lucky this break was only on her calf instead of a whole leg break considering the type of impact she suffered.

"How long will this take to heal?" Amber asked.

"For a normal human, this would take at least three months. For you, I'd feel comfortable leaving it on for three weeks. It probably won't take that long to actually heal, but it's better to leave it on and be sure."

"Damn it," Amber mumbled.

"Just be glad it'll only be a few weeks instead of a few months," Kevin said. Amber didn't answer or look at Kevin.

"I guess that means I'm stuck here for a while," she mumbled more to herself.

"I would prefer you move around, but certainly not in a nomadic fashion. Stay here and move around when possible and you should be alright. I'm afraid it'll have to wait until I get back home from work tomorrow with some crutches for you to use." Moments later, Robert came in through the back patio with Amanda following and he went straight to Carlisle's office. When he saw the cast, he groaned and ran over to Amber.

"My God, Amber," he said. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine," Amber answered.

"A bone sticking out doesn't sound fine to me."

"Well it's not sticking out now, so it's fine."

"Robert," Carlisle interrupted, "The bone is back in alignment and she should be back on her feet in about three weeks."

"Just three weeks?" he asked, relieved.

"Yeah, she'll be in top shape in no time. She's welcome to stay here while she heals if that's alright with you. You and Amanda are more than welcomed to stay as well."

"No," Amber mumbled.

"My God, what is your problem?" Amanda asked rather loudly. "I get it; things didn't work out with Adam. Get over it!"

"You know what, kid, you're in no position to bad mouth me when I just broke my leg trying to save your fat ass from being eaten."

"I'm. Not. FAT!" Kevin finally really looked at Amanda and, indeed, she wasn't fat, just full figured. Amber was full figured too, but not quite in that classic hour glass way. For Amber, she had a fuller butt than anything and Kevin certainly wasn't complaining.

"Okay, both of you stop," Robert said, getting exasperated. "Honey, I know you want to be left along right now, but I don't want to leave you alone when you're in this condition."

"Maybe we could come to a compromise," Kevin spoke up at last. Once he hand everyone's attention, he continued. "Let's face it: there's always a number of people coming in and out of this house at any given time and I don't think it's a great place for Amber to relax and heal. If she wants some peace and quiet and privacy, she can stay with me for a while. I'm always at work most of the day and Rosalie usually keeps Heather occupied downstairs until I get home. You can use the spare bedroom and I'll make sure Heather knows to leave you alone."

"How is that a compromise? Amanda and I would still be all the way out here."

"Yeah, but considering the way vampires have a habit of driving, you're really not that far away from Amber and you're welcome to see her whenever you want. I'd offer to let you both stay too, but I only have the one guest bedroom and I imagine Amber's not in the mood to share it right now."

"What if she needs something?" Robert asked. "You said you're at work all day, so what if something happens and you or Rosalie or Heather aren't around to help?"

"I'm injured, not bedridden," Amber said. "Look, as long as you promise to leave me alone and let me heal, I'm fine with this arrangement. But I mean it; I want you to leave me alone." Christ, Kevin thought. He'd certainly have to ask Edward what was the problem before he left and find out who Adam was.

"I say let her," Amanda said. "If all she's going to do is sit around and feel sorry for herself, then I'm content to leave her alone."

"Amanda," Robert said sternly. "Are you sure about this Amber? I know it can get loud here, but at least Carlisle will always be here after work in case of a problem."

"I just want to be left alone. By the way, do you still have my things? I was planning to get them, but well…you know the story."

"I'll bring them later," Robert answered and then looked at Kevin. "I'd rather you waited to move her until later. Wait until tomorrow after work before you come get her."

"Alright," Kevin agreed. He smiled at Amber kindly. "I'll come get you tomorrow then." Amber hummed an acknowledging, dismissive sound and Kevin finally left, as did Carlisle, to give the three a little more time to talk assuming Amber would allow it. "Hey Grandpa," Kevin said when he was standing next to the couch where Edward and Bella were seated, both reading.

"Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you a bit privately?"

"Of course," he answered. Edward gave the book to Bella and told her not to read any further until he got back and then Edward and Kevin ran to the cottage a mile away to talk. "So what's on your mind?"

Kevin sighed. "Sometimes I forget you can't read my mind."

"Considering I can read everyone else's except yours and your siblings, I suppose it's easy to forget."

"Yeah," Kevin said awkwardly. "It has to do with Amber." Awareness flashed in Edward's eyes.

"You imprinted on her then?"

"Yeah, I did." He smiled. "Can you believe it?"

"All things considered, I'd say it's about time. If anyone deserves it, it'd be you."

"No kidding," Kevin mumbled.

"I assume, then, that you're concerned with why she's being so hostile?"

"Yeah. That and I want to know who this Adam guy is and if he's someone I'll have to deal with."

"No, you won't have to deal with Adam, at least not the way I assume you're thinking. Adam was a vampire Amber had run off with about two years after Amanda came along. A few months ago, he evidently left her and she's been a bit depressed ever since. When you were hitting on her, it made her uncomfortable."

"Oh," Kevin said, scratching his head. "I guess that explains why she's being so testy with me. Is that why she's so eager to be away from Robert and Amanda?"

"She just feels like she wants to do soul searching and Robert isn't helping in that endeavor. He's trying to comfort her and tell her that things will get better, but she's not really taking that right now."

"Did she feel a connection to me?" Kevin asked after a moment of contemplation.

"If she did, she wasn't thinking about it. I think she was more concerned about her broken leg than about you."

"I can understand that," Kevin sighed. "This is going to seem like an out of nowhere question, but what are her favorite flowers?"

"I don't know. She wasn't thinking about that. I'll see if I can get Robert or Amanda to tell me and I'll get back to you. Why, are you actually planning to buy her flowers?"

"Yeah," Kevin nodded awkwardly. "I can pass it off for 'Get Well Soon' flowers can't I?"

"I suppose you could," Edward shrugged.

"Well, be sure to get back to me as soon as you know. Just text me and I'll get it eventually."

"Alright, Kevin. Just remember not to be too forward. If you are, she won't respond very well. She still thinks you're a little creepy and she only agreed to stay at your home because you'll be gone most of the day and she'll have time afforded to herself. Go ahead and buy her flowers, but don't go overboard."

"Alright, dually noted. Will she at least be open with me once she's calmed down from tonight?"

"I wouldn't count on it. Like I said, don't be too forward and she'll be more agreeable with you."

"Sure, sure," Kevin sighed. "Get back to me," he finally said before walking out of the cottage and making his way back to his house. He was too eager and he wanted to get the guest bedroom ready.

He hadn't stepped foot in this bedroom in years. It was supposed to be the bedroom David would have when Megan and he moved in together. It was still male oriented colors, like blues with some white thrown in there. The bed sheets themselves were actually dinosaur bed sheets. Megan had said David like dinosaurs and would've loved this room. Even walking past this room made him uncomfortable. Walking into this room was even worse. It was like a nagging reminder that he couldn't shake. He could call off work early to buy more appropriate sheets that weren't dinosaurs, but knowing his luck, he'd be at work so late the stores would be closed by the time he was done for the day.

Kevin didn't bother going to sleep for that night as much as he probably should've. He instead went downstairs and started prepping to make Heather pancakes. It was a rarity for him to be able to make her breakfast, so he was happy to leap on the opportunity. He made the batter and let it sit for a while before making three throw away pancakes. Nessie had taught him the first three were always the worst. Once it was around time for Heather to wake up, he started making chocolate chip Mickey Mouse pancakes just how she liked. When the Mickey Mouse pancake was done, he put it on a plate, put on two slices of butter, and poured over it some maple syrup. He went upstairs and gently woke up Heather, letting her know that he'd made her breakfast. Though still groggy, Heather came downstairs happy to have Mickey Mouse pancakes. After she finished breakfast, Kevin sent her upstairs to get ready for school, then surprised her with telling her that he'd be driving her to school that morning. He hadn't done that since she'd started her first day of school. That had become their tradition; whenever it was her first day of school, Kevin would drive her to school and wish her good luck.

"Heather," Kevin said as they were driving, "I need to fill you in on something."

"Yeah?" Heather looked up at him with her full attention from the front seat. That was her other favorite part about getting driven to school by Kevin. She got to sit in the front seat!

"We're going to have a visitor stay with us for a while. She broke her leg in a fall and she needs a quiet place to recover. She'll be staying in the guest bedroom and you'll be sharing your bathroom with her for a bit. Now, she said she wants to be left alone, but as long as you be polite with her and be the sweet little angel you are, she'll be nice to you too." Kevin tickled Heather's chin at the angel comment and she giggled.

"Okay, daddy," she answered. "I'll be nice to her."

"Her name is Amber by the way. She'll be over really late tonight, so you might not see her today, but when you see her, just be a good girl honey."

"Okay daddy," Heather answered again.

After dropping Heather off at school, Kevin went straight to work. Besides the murder trial he was already working on, he had several other cases lined up mostly dealing with mapping out business contracts and a minor fraud case that has gotten substantially less attention than would be normal since the Beckon Murder Case hit the newsstands. He refused to give any interviews and advised his witnesses to do the same, however Rugar was taking a different approach. He was constantly speaking with the press, telling his client's story as it were. It was one of those sentimental tactics lawyers would sometimes use in order to win sympathy from the public. Rugar claimed on the news that "Mr. Black is a brilliant lawyer, but he's also a vicious one. He won't stop until he proves my client guilty of something he didn't do." Kevin never let that sort of thing bother him. It happened all the time. He'd been called far worse by lawyers he didn't remotely respect and on lesser cases, like a fraud and embezzlement case years back. His opponent had called him a, quote "Ruthless viper that enjoyed watching the innocent squirm." Either way, he got attention that allowed him to make more profit when people were impressed with his legal performance.

As he predicted would happen, Kevin got so caught up with work that by the time he left the office, it was eight thirty, far later than he normally worked. It figures. Kevin made his way to the Cullen house as fast as he could, but he still didn't get to Forks until ten. Then he remembered to check his phone for messages, but there was nothing from Edward. He groaned and went to a flower shop deciding to just get roses. That was safe right? When he got into the flower shop, he looked around and stopped on some white Gardenias. He looked at them a moment and smiled. They fit her, he thought, so he asked the shop keeper to give him a dozen white Gardenias and a 'Get Well Soon' card for him to sign. Once he had the flowers, he finally went to the Cullen house much later than he'd wanted. Edward let him in and informed him that Robert and Amanda had spent the whole day for the most part with Amber and he'd been unable to ask about flowers. Kevin said it was fine and went right upstairs to Carlisle's office. Amber was walking around on her new crutches, having spent a good part of the afternoon trying to get used to using them. When Kevin stepped in, she looked up and almost seemed bashful, but that didn't last long at all.

"What took you so damn long? I've been ready for four hours."

"I'm sorry, but I got held up at work. Here," Kevin brought the flowers over to her. "They're Gardenias."

"I know what they are," Amber said, but she looked flattered. Kevin smiled, but retained his excitement that she seemed to like them. "How'd you know I like Gardenias?"

"Just a hunch," he answered honestly.

"Well," Amber started awkwardly, "Thanks."

"I guess I'd better help you to the car."

"I don't need you to help me." Defiantly, Amber went to where he large bag of things were placed and stood on her left leg so she could throw on her bag. She tried moving around with that thing on her shoulder, but the crutches made it virtually impossible.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help?"

"Really, it's fine," Amber said. This time, Kevin ignored her and grabbed her bag from her and carried the flowers while she chased after him as best she could on crutches yelling at him for taking her things without her permission. Kevin put everything but the flowers in the backseat and helped Amber, whether she liked it or not, into the passenger's seat of the car. When she was seated, he handed her the flowers and closed the door for her. "Thanks for this," Amber said after they'd stayed silent for thirty minutes. "I appreciate you letting me stay with you. I could really use some time to myself."

"Don't mention it," Kevin said. "And don't worry, Heather will leave you be. Rosalie usually keeps an eye on her until I get back home from work."

"Who is Heather?"

"She's my daughter."

"Oh," Amber said, somewhat surprised. "I didn't realize you had a kid."

"Yeah," Kevin smiled. "She's my pride and joy that girl." They stopped at a red light moments later, so Kevin pulled out his wallet and opened it to where a picture of Heather was. It was last year's school picture so it was a more recent photo. She was wearing a pretty silk blouse and her long brown hair was dolled up and curled to frame her cute little face, all thanks to Alice. "That's her," he said after he handed his wallet over.

"She's beautiful," Amber said.

"Of course she is. She looks just like her daddy." Kevin smiled at Amber and she smiled back a moment, though it quickly faded away as she handed back his wallet.

"Let's hope she's more humble than her father then," she said.

Kevin lost his smile too and the awkward silence ensued. Perhaps his joke was an example of being too forward, but he couldn't help himself. He wanted to get to know her and in respect let her know him but she wouldn't seem to stand for it. By the time they arrived back at his house, it was very nearly one in the morning. Rosalie was downstairs reading and they talked for a moment. Heather had done her homework and was eagerly awaiting the weekend, as was Kevin. He'd have to stop by the office tomorrow anyway, but he'd made a point to let his bosses know it would only be briefly. He'd promised Heather he'd take her to the Aquarium tomorrow and she'd been looking forward to it all week. Kevin showed Amber to the guest bedroom after he'd said goodbye to Rosalie and he opened the door wide enough so she could crutch her way in. He walked in first with her bag and flowers and rested everything close to the bed. The flowers he put on the dresser and her bag he put on a chair that he brought closer to the twin size bed. When Amber walked in, the first thing she saw was the dinosaur bed sheets.

"Do you have a son I don't know about too?"

"No," Kevin said, though it came out uncomfortably. "It's a long story."

"Then I'll pass. I want some sleep." Amber crutched her way to the bed and sat down. Since he was over there, Kevin took her crutches and rested them against the nightstand so they stood upright and close by.

"My room is the one with the double doors at the end of the hallway, so if you need anything, come and get me even if you just want to talk."

"Thanks," Amber said. "Where's the cast cover? I want to shower."

"Can I ask you to wait until morning? Heather might wake up in the middle of the night and she's not used to sharing her bathroom. I don't want her to accidently walk in on you or anything."

"Fine, I'll wait until morning." Heather reached for some clothes in her bag that were more cottony than her current jean shorts (that were a woman's size) and that masculine black tank top with her pink bra underneath from the day before. "Do you mind?" she asked when he didn't immediately leave while she grabbed cotton pajama pants.

"Oh, sorry, I'll get out of your hair."

"I'd like that," she answered and waited until he left, closing her door, before she started changing. Kevin sighed heavily as he walked to his room. Honestly, this woman would be one hell of a nut to crack. He couldn't help but wonder whether Amber was just in a really bad mood, which very well may have been the case, or if she was always this bullheaded. He knew once she opened up to him, he'd find it cute and appreciate it, but since she was being so hostile, it just made him nervous.

Kevin would've slept in had Heather not come into his room, hopped onto his bed and jumped up yelling, "We're going to the Aquarium!" over and over again. Kevin groaned as he woke up and managed to eventually get out of bed. It was seven in the morning, so he could make him and Heather some eggs before he had to go. As he worked on breakfast, he decided that he would go ahead and take Heather with him to work since he wouldn't be there very long. He thought to say something to Amber, but she seemed to still be asleep when he listened through the door, so he left her alone. When they got to his office, Kevin let Heather play in his large desk chair while he worked on some paperwork. He kept his work quick before he and Heather finally left to go to the aquarium.

"Daddy look!" Heather said while they were in the underwater dome. She pointed at a salmon that was swimming around in the giant tank. "It's a fish, daddy!"

"Can you guess what fish it is?"

"Is it salmon?"

"Yeah, it is!" Kevin said. "Can you guess what that fish is?" Heather looked at the big brown spotted fish that Kevin pointed at and thought a moment. "I'll give you a hint. It's your grandpa's favorite fish."

"Cod?"

"There you go," Kevin praised. "Try to find the other fish in the tank." Heather went around the tank in a circle looking for all the other fish that were in the tank and naming them off if she knew what they were.

Their next stop was the Windows of Washington Waters exhibit and Kevin spent most of the time making sure Heather didn't go to close to the glass. Heather's favorite exhibit was the pool where she got to touch the starfish and other shallow pooled animals. It took them three hours to see the whole aquarium and Heather would not stop for something to eat until they saw the whole park. When they did finally stop for something to eat, Heather finally realized she was really hungry.

"Did you have fun looking at all the fish?" Kevin asked.

"Ah huh," Heather affirmed enthusiastically. "I wish we could pet the otters. They're so cute."

"At least you could play with the starfish and hermit crabs." She nodded with a bright smile and devoured her chicken salad sandwich.

"Did the lady come over yet?" Heather asked when she finished her sandwich.

"Yeah, she did. I got off work late, so I wasn't able to bring her home until late. Sorry I didn't get home for dinner."

"It's okay," Heather smiled. "We got to do this." Kevin smiled back and changed the subject to school. When they arrived back home, Heather ran to her room and then ran back downstairs with a big puzzle for her and Kevin to work on together while Heather had up a cartoon channel. After Heather poured out all the puzzle pieces from the box, she blurted out a thought she had. "We should ask the lady upstairs if she wants to join us."

"I don't know if she'd want to, honey."

"But it would be mean if we didn't." With that innocent logic backing her up, Heather ran upstairs to the guest bedroom and knocked on the door. "Miss, miss, do you want to make a puzzle with daddy and me?" There wasn't immediately an answer. Instead, there were sounds of movement and crutches hitting the ground as Amber came towards the door. She opened it as best she could and looked down at Heather strangely.

"No thanks," she said politely.

"Oh, but it'll be fun! We'll put together a picture of horses!" Amber looked at her and actually cracked a smile. Then after a deep breath, Amber started to crutch her way out.

"Who could argue with horses?" she finally said and Heather cheered and led her downstairs. Heather waited patiently and eagerly at the bottom of the stairs while Amber carefully hopped down as fast as hopping would allow. Kevin smiled at her from behind the couch once she reached the living room, but she kept her mouth in a hard line. Heather sat to Kevin's left and pointed to across the coffee table.

"Sit across from me. We'll tackle this from three sides." Amber came around the couch and Kevin, again without her permission, helped her around the couch and helped her sit down comfortable.

"I'm not an invalid, Mr. Black. I can sit down on my own."

"It's faster to lend you a hand," Kevin said. When she was on the floor, he went back to his own spot and Heather assigned parts of the puzzle, dividing all the pieces among themselves and exchanging pieces if need be. Kevin was constantly looking at either Heather's or Amber's pile of pieces and more often was exchanging with Amber's pile.

Amber tried to just focus on making her part of the puzzle and wouldn't take from Kevin's pile. When Heather finished her portion, she ran around the coffee table to Amber's side and started helping her with her portion. When all their parts were finished, Heather put them together to make the big picture. When it was done, Heather smiled and asked Kevin if there was a spare frame for her to put it in so she could hang it. Kevin found it for her and helped her put the puzzle in the frame. Kevin was about to hang it in Heather's room, but she pulled on Kevin's pant leg and led him to the guest bedroom. Heather would not be deterred in her determination so Kevin placed the newly finished puzzle on the wall right above the armoire.

"I think we should get Amber new sheets," Heather said after the picture was hung. "Dinosaurs aren't for girls."

Kevin laughed, "Don't say that in front of Uncle Kyle. Mr. Gender-Is-Skin-Deep will tear you a new one."

"But boys like boy things and girls like girl things. Why would Uncle Kyle say otherwise?"

Kevin patted Heather's head. "You'll understand when you have to take a gender studies course. Everything you think you know about gender norms will be turned on its head."

"You're weird daddy," Heather said innocently and ran out of the room to go back downstairs so she could announce to Amber that they'd hanged a pretty picture in her room. Meanwhile, Kevin was biting his lip trying not to laugh. He stopped when he overheard Heather promise Amber that the three of them would go out together and get her some new bed sheets. Kevin finally came back downstairs and Amber was actually smiling at Heather. "Come on, let's go buy sheets! Those dinosaur bed sheets are really ugly right?"

"You don't have to, honey. I won't be here that long."

"But what if daddy invites other people over? We can't have them sleeping in dinosaur bed sheets!" Amber laughed a little and pulled herself to her foot with her crutches.

"I suppose it would be cruel to future guests not to replace them."

"Yay!" Heather yelled and went to the stairs where Kevin waited and dragged him to the living room. "Daddy, daddy, Amber said we can go shopping for sheets! Can we go? Please, please, please!"

"Well," Kevin started, glancing at Amber who seemed uncomfortable, "Are you really okay with going out shopping?"

"I said I would," Amber said with a shrug.

"Alright then," Kevin said, "We can go shopping."

"Yay!" Heather yelled and ran to the garage to put on her shoes and go into the garage. She sat right in her usual spot in the back seat and waited patiently for Kevin and Amber to come. He took a moment, though to talk to Amber privately.

"Are you really alright with going shopping?"

"I already said I would," Amber said. "She's right, though. Those dinosaur sheets are really ugly. What possessed you to put those in a guest bedroom exactly?"

"I thought you didn't want to hear a long story."

"Well, give me the abridged version so we can get going. I've gathered so far from Heather that she's not always one for patience." Kevin smiled just a little at the last comment.

"There was a woman I was seeing and we were supposed to move in together, so I painted the room for her son. Things didn't go through and instead of changing the room, I just avoid it."

"See? That wasn't such a long story." Amber started to make her way to the garage and Kevin followed, holding his tongue. Now wasn't the time to talk about anything.

They finally joined Heather in the car, Amber going in the back with her, and they made their way to the closest mall. Amber was starting to get better at moving around in the crutches, but thankfully there was an elevator for them to use so they could go to the bedding and décor section of the Kohl's and the Sears. Heather picked a purple silk bed set that she said would look pretty with the blues and whites of the wall colors.

"What's your favorite color, Amber?" Heather asked. "Mine's purple."

"Oh," Amber started and shrugged, "I like purple too."

"Really?" With a smile, Heather hopped onto the display bed and patted the comforter. "I knew you would like that color. Daddy, can we get this one?"

"Let's see if there's a twin size," Kevin said, walking to where the sheets were lined up. Heather went over too to help look and pulled out the first twin size she found.

"Here's one, daddy!" With the bed set in arms, Heather started running towards the register and Kevin and Amber followed after. After paying for the set, Kevin drove them all back to the house and he set up the bed sheets on the bed, replacing the dinosaur sheets. "It's so pretty!" Heather said exuberantly. "Don't you think it's pretty?" she asked Amber.

"Yeah," she said, "It's very pretty." Heather grinned, victorious.

"Daddy, can we have dinner now?" she asked.

"Yeah, sure. I'll see what's in the freezer."

"In the freezer?" Amber asked, looking at Kevin strangely.

"Yeah, I probably have something we can cook up. How does macaroni and cheese sound?"

"You're feeding her frozen macaroni and cheese?"

"Well, I don't know how to make it from scratch."

"Are you serious?" Amber asked, then rolled her eyes. "Show me where everything is; I'll make something for dinner."

"You can cook?"

"It's not rocket science," Amber said.

"My sister-in-law would disagree," Kevin said with a chuckle, Evalina's incompetence in the kitchen coming to mind. Being married to a Black, not knowing how to cook was one of the worst possible traits a wife could have, but she was trying.

"Well, your sister-in-law is clearly an idiot." Amber crutched her way down the stairs and went straight to the fridge to see what was there. All she found were a bunch of fruits, veggies, fruit juice packets, and some Pediesures. Amber looked in the freezer to see if there were any steaks or chicken available, but there was nothing but plentiful frozen dinners. Pulling up nothing, Amber went to the pantry, Kevin and Heather watching from the hallway, and looked inside. All she found were varieties of crackers, some cans of beans, cereal, and some old garlic. Having had her fill, Amber used her crutches to turn and look at Kevin, torn between being angry with the man and being in awe. "When was the last time you went grocery shopping? Last winter?"

"My Aunt Rosalie usually does the grocery shopping. I don't usually have time."

"What the hell do you do for a living that you don't have time to buy food?"

"I'm a lawyer," Kevin answered and Amber scrunched her nose in disgust.

"Ew," she said. "No wonder you're so hopeless."

"What's wrong with being a lawyer?" Kevin asked, offended.

"The poor girl will go hungry by the time I adequately explain. Take her out somewhere nice. She deserves real food not that processed frozen dinner crap." Amber crutched over to Heather and patted her on the head. "You make sure your dad takes you somewhere nice. I'll stay here."

"Are you like Grandma Nessie?" Heather asked.

"What?" Amber asked Kevin.

"She's asking if you're half vampire."

"Oh," Amber smiled back at Heather, "Yeah, I am. So I don't really like human food."

"How'd you learn how to cook if you don't eat?" Heather asked.

"I used to work at a diner," Amber said, immediately becoming unnerved. "You two get going. It'll be a pain getting into a good place on a Saturday, so you'd better leave now."

"Alright," Heather said. "Come on, daddy. I want fish!"

Kevin chuckled, "She's the only eight year old in the world that will gulp down raw oysters with a smile."

"Ew," Amber said, though this time she was teasing. "That's weird, kid."

"Alright honey, let's get going. I'm sure Amber would like some time to herself."

Kevin and Heather finally left together, giving Amber the much needed alone time she wanted. She went back to the guest bedroom and sat down on the plush new comforter. It had been a strange day for her. She'd gotten a call from her father saying that he would come over tomorrow to come see how she was doing. She'd tried to tell them not to come, but Robert insisted and wouldn't take no for an answer. She wasn't even sure what he could say to make her feel better about what happened with Adam. She reached into her bag and pulled out a photo album that had all their pictures together. The first page was filled with pictures from their first date. They'd taken a few pictures in a photo booth with their faces close together, sharing a kiss on each other's cheek, and a kiss on the lips. He was human, so naturally Robert hadn't been too thrilled with the two of them dating to begin with. She'd not told him that she wasn't technically human, only half. Adam Lynx had been in culinary school when she'd met him, but it was a month after he graduated and got a job at a restaurant when they actually started dating. After only two months, she spent the night at his new apartment and had stayed there for about two weeks. Eating was really the only part of those two weeks that she didn't enjoy. It was a shame too; the man was an excellent cook. He's the one that taught her all she knew and taught her even more when he decided to open his own restaurant and gave her a job. Things were great for three years until her 'I'm human' story was beginning to unravel. She would have to go out hunting for human blood, which would take her hours. He never said anything about it, but she eventually noticed Adam was getting really distant and wouldn't talk to her and they stopped having sex as frequently. Before she knew it, she was filling an order for a Loaded Omelet and several orders of varying skillets when a waitress came up to her with bad news: the waitress's sister had been sleeping with Adam for the past six months.

"I just found out about it," she'd said to her, "and I couldn't think of a good way to tell you. My sister doesn't know that I told you, but I'll let her know later."

Amber had been speechless. She told the waitress thanks for telling her and just filled orders for the rest of her shift. She confronted Adam about what the waitress had told her, but he flat out denied it, so she decided to take matters into her own hands and follow him when he was supposed to be 'out with the guys'. Just as she suspected, he wasn't really out with the guys, but he was with the waitress she'd been told about. She waited, wanting to give him the benefit of the doubt, just in case this was all a big misunderstanding. But the longer she watched them, the clearer it was that they were in an intimate relationship. The two would kiss and share food and even started making out and touching each other's knees. Having seen all she needed to see, Amber came out of her hiding place and walked right up to the table while the two were kissing. What happened from there was a big blur. She remembered him saying this wasn't what it looked like, she remembered slapping him, she remembered pulling out some of the other woman's hair, and then she remembered police lights. Robert had found out about this, naturally, and it was the second time in her life that he'd maneuvered her out of the police station in the blink of an eye. She later found out that 'slap' had shattered Adam's jaw and after 'pulling the other woman's hair' the woman had a huge bald spot on her head and there were scratches there too that caused massive bleeding. She lived, but the fact remained that Amber had done a lot of damage without even realizing she'd exerted that much strength.

The police had taken her fingerprints before Robert got her out and they found out from Maricopa County in Arizona that Amber was the 'Jane Doe' that had gone missing from their police station after Amber Dymek's body was discovered. It was all over the local news and the Maricopa news, though it wasn't a nationwide story unless one read the end of the paper. That revelation ended up getting Adam in a lot of trouble too. He'd soon be going to court accused of statutory rape. It wasn't like he could tell the police the night of the fight that his girlfriend caught him cheating and then turn around and say that they never had sex. The best he could tell the police was that he thought Amber was over eighteen. She'd told him that she was twenty one and had the false identification to prove it. So much for that, Amber thought to herself. Amber tossed the photo album aside, not wanting to think about any of it anymore. She took a hold of her necklace and rubbed it between her fingers nervously. It took a moment for her to realize that she was crying, but she pulled a pillow over her face so no tears would get in her freshly washed hair. She couldn't seem to fall asleep and she was still awake when Kevin and Heather came back from dinner. It was roughly nine when they got back, so Kevin tucked Heather into bed for the night and Amber was expecting Kevin to do whatever he was planning to do for the rest of the night. But after she heard Heather's bedroom door close, there came a knock at her door.

"Amber, can I come in?" Still puffy and red eyed from crying, Amber shook her head.

"I'd rather you didn't," she said.

"Look, you and I should talk so why don't you come downstairs to the kitchen?"

"Talk? About what?"

"Just meet me downstairs, okay. I don't want to talk through a closed door." Kevin left the upstairs hallway and went downstairs to the kitchen to wait for Amber. Amber took a moment to clean up her face before going downstairs to the kitchen. Kevin waited until she was seated with her crutches nearby. She smelled the beer before she saw Kevin drinking it and she noticed it was a brew called Arrogant Bastard with a large Devil on the label. How appropriate, she thought to herself, a beer for this man to drink.

"What is it?"

"Heather's fed and put to bed, so now you can tell me what's wrong with lawyers."

"Are you trying to be funny or is that actually your question?"

Kevin sighed heavily, "That's the other thing I wanted to talk about. Look, I didn't ask Edward too many details, but I have to be blunt. I'm getting a little fed up with your attitude."

"Fair enough," Amber shrugged indifferently.

"Maybe if you told me what's making you so damn irritable, I might be more inclined to be understanding."

"I'm sure you asked Edward enough to know it's about a guy. It's really not your business."

"Fair enough, but if that's the case, don't make it my business by being such a bitch to me." To Kevin's surprise, Amber seemed deflated.

"I asked to be left alone. You were the one that made me socialize."

"You could've easily said no. I know Heather is rather convincing, but if you'd been nice about it, I'm sure she would've understood."

"I couldn't say no to her," Amber said. "It felt wrong."

"She does that," Kevin smiled. "I don't want you to think I'm forcing you to tell me anything. But why don't you tell me what happened? It might make you feel better."

"Talking about it to daddy and Amanda hasn't made me feel better. Why would speaking to you about it make me feel better?"

"Because I won't lecture you. I'm trained in the art of remaining unbiased and only passing judgment once I've heard the whole story. I assume your father passed judgment the moment he heard the whole story for better or for worse."

"I think you may be overestimating your ability to remain unbiased. Isn't the whole point of being a lawyer to pass judgment and prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you're right?"

"It is, but I don't make that judgment until I've heard every possible facet of the truth and am confident in my judgment. Besides, you're not on trial for murder, you're just telling me what's bothering you." Amber took a deep breath and started fiddling with her fingers. She looked at Kevin for a moment as if trying to determine whether or not she was convinced, but eventually she began to speak again.

"I was dating a man named Adam, I thought we were in love, but after being together for three years, I caught him with another woman and I got overzealous. I shattered his jaw and ripped out a good portion of the other woman's hair. The police were called, I was taken into custody, daddy had to sneak me out, and now that the police found out I'm the infamous Jane Doe of Maricopa Country, Adam is facing charges of statutory rape because in the eyes of the law, he's had sex with a fifteen year old girl."

"Shit," Kevin said frankly and it actually made Amber smile.

"You could say that. That's certainly a better reaction than either daddy or Amanda had. Daddy was livid about what happened. Amanda just laughed at me."

"Is it safe to assume this Adam fellow is human?"

"Yeah, he's human. He'd just graduated from culinary school when we started dating. I guess I started dating him for the wrong reasons really."

"Why'd you start dating him?"

"If you must know, I didn't like having Amanda around. It'd been just me and daddy for so long and suddenly I had to share him with some guidette throw away he found in a dumpster. I dealt with it for about two years before I met Adam and saw a way to be away from Amanda. As I'm sure you can imagine, we don't get along very well."

"You seemed to love her at least."

"Of course I love her," Amber said. "I just don't like her. Just because she's my stepsister doesn't mean I have to like her."

Kevin smiled, "I guess that's true. You weren't with Robert when we found you, though."

"I wasn't with Amanda either. I was trying to have some time alone to think and wallow in my repeated rejections. Daddy thinks he can fix everything for me, but he can't."

"Yeah," Kevin sighed knowingly. "I know that."

"Am I to presume you speak from experience?"

"From your end no less," Kevin said. Amber looked at Kevin waiting for him to explain. "You remember how I told you that guest bedroom upstairs was meant for when my girlfriend and her son moved in with me?"

"Yeah," Amber nodded.

"Well, that woman and I go way back. We started dating when we were in high school, but the summer before senior year, she went on a college visit to California and cheated on me. All my siblings new but me and none of them wanted to be the ones to tell me, so they went through this elaborate scheme to make Megan's friend Kathy tell me about it. It all blew up in my face when their plan went wrong. This all happened after my brother Kyle and I were finally back on good terms too. He'd told on me and Megan when we had a pregnancy scare and what turned out to be nothing turned into a whole lot more. Believe me, I know how it feels to have family try to fix your problems for you."

"They say they do it out of love, but they end up doing more back than good."

"Amen to that," Kevin held up his mostly empty beer bottle and took a sip.

"I'm a little confused."

"About what?"

"Well, you said you and this….what was her name?"

"Megan," Kevin answered.

"Yeah, Megan. Anyway, you said that the two of you go all the way back to high school. Did you forgive her after you found out she'd cheated on you?"

"Yeah," Kevin said solemnly. "Yeah, I did. My siblings were furious about it, but I took her back anyway. I thought that she really felt bad about what she'd done and that she still loved me. I loved her too."

"You're a better person than I am then."

"I wouldn't say that," Kevin said. "I like to think I took her back because I really believed that she was sorry, but I knew better. I was just too stubborn to admit Kyle was right. Even if he's a mind reader, that doesn't make what happened easier for me to accept. Anyway, I took her back and I spent the rest of the school year in terror, waiting for her to end things. I knew Kyle was telling me the truth but I didn't want to believe it. So when graduation came along, lo and behold Megan broke up with me. She said that she didn't think we should put ourselves through a long distance relationship and I didn't really take it well. I ended up burying myself in my studies because it was easier to be the best law student I could be than face my problems. I'd be kidding myself if I said I was the first nineteen year old to assist my teacher with a fraud case just because of my natural talent. A lot of it had to do with the fact that I studied so much. Seven years later, Megan came to my office saying that she was having a divorce and she wouldn't trust anyone with her case but me. She was willing to pay a lot of money and that money's what paid for this house. In full I might add. I agreed to be her lawyer and one thing led to another and we were sleeping together again. We were making all these plans to be together after all these years and that now would finally be the right time and so on. The day she was going to finalize her divorce, she came into my office and told me that she and her husband were going to try and work things out. That was the same day Heather was born. If it weren't for her, I don't know what I would've done."

"Geez," Amber said. "And here I thought I'd had it bad."

"Yeah," Kevin said. "That guest bedroom's been that way since then. I never want to go in there because it makes me uncomfortable."

"Interesting," Amber sighed. "Did getting rid of the dinosaur sheets help?"

"A little," Kevin said honestly. "Putting up that puzzle helped too."

"It is a nice puzzle of horses," Amber said. The two smiled at each other and Amber took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I've been so cruel."

"Do you feel a little better now that we've talked?"

"Not much, but at least I've gotten some of this off my chest."

"You said that you felt repeated rejections. Did you and Adam have an on again off again."

"No," Amber said. "It's more complicated than that. I have a lot of parent issues on top of being a woman scorned."

"Based on what I've heard about you, I can imagine so."

"I bet. I never knew either my mom or my dad. All I have left of my mother are her things, this necklace, and the face she gave me right before she died…she looked so contemptuous. That look has haunted me all my life. And my father, all I have of him are his clothes and a story his friend told me."

"You have his clothes?"

"I was wearing them when you caught me and Amanda. I stole them from the prison he'd escaped from in '75. I can't believe they kept those clothes, but they did."

"I only know about Krueger's criminal behavior. He raped and murdered a woman, correct?"

"Yeah," Amber nodded with a weak voice. "My father had befriended someone after he'd been changed. I had the chance to talk to him when I'd encountered him."

"He didn't tell you he wasn't guilty or that he wasn't that bad a guy did he?"

"Not necessarily. Harold was his name by the way. Harold told me that my father had, yes, raped and murdered a woman and that he wasn't exactly the most understanding or easily dealt with man. Harold did give me a little perspective on the matter."

"What kind of perspective?"

"He mostly told me about my father's childhood. He was a half black child to a white supremacist—"

"Half black?" Kevin interrupted. "You're a third black?"

"Yeah," Amber smiled shyly. "My grandmother had been a very pale black woman. Instead of living the life of a black woman in the forties, she decided to pass as a white woman. I've seen her picture before and she certainly fooled me. Since she was passing for a white woman, she married a white man and had a child with that man. My grandfather eventually found out that my grandma was a black woman and that's when he became violent. According to Harold, my father lost a lot of respect for my grandma because she was so subservient to her husband despite his cruelty. He hated women." Amber started to tremble just a little. "Harold had told me that my father wanted a son; a companion was the term he used. Sometimes I wonder how he would've treated me if he'd had me or if he would've hated me because I'm a girl." Kevin didn't say anything. There really was nothing he could say that would be remotely comforting. "What about Heather's mom?"

"What about her?" Kevin asked, surprised by the change of topic.

"When does she see Heather?"

"She doesn't," Kevin said bluntly. "She didn't want to be a mother, I wanted to be a father and take responsibility for what had happened, so we agreed that I would take full custody of her and Page would walk away."

"Wow," Amber said. Kevin noticed her get somewhat teary eyed. "Does she know?"

"More or less," Kevin said. "She tried writing Page letters so they could get to know one another but Page made it clear she wanted no further contact. I think Heather still has that letter, but I don't know where she keeps it. I just hope she doesn't look at it or has forgotten about it, though the latter could just be my wishful thinking."

"I guess I'm not the only one in this house that was thrown away."

"Heather wasn't thrown away," Kevin said somewhat defensively. "No matter what Page's decision was, I took her because I love her. She doesn't need Page."

"You don't think she needs a mother?" It took everything in him not to jump on that opportunity. Now wasn't the time to bring up his affections for her despite her cold brashness since they'd met.

"I think she has enough aunts and a grandma to make up for it. At least until I meet the right woman." Kevin left it at that.

"Easier said than done," Amber said.

"That's why I'm still a single father after eight years," Kevin said back. "I do the best I can, but sometimes I feel like it's not enough."

"It wouldn't kill you to keep food in the house," Amber said, though she was smiling and it made Kevin smile back.

"I'm off work tomorrow, so I'll go grocery shopping then. Seeing as you know how to cook, would you mind coming with us?"

"I guess I could. Daddy said he was coming over tomorrow to check up on me, so I guess I could tell him to wait until the afternoon."

"So how'd you learn how to cook?"

"Adam opened his own diner about a year after he graduated from culinary school. He'd been teaching me how to cook since we got together and once that place opened, he hired me on as one of his cooks. It was the first time I'd ever felt really independent."

"Knowing how to cook never hurts," Kevin smiled. "I'm usually at work most of the time, so by the time I get home, Heather's already had dinner."

"This is what's wrong with lawyers," Amber said. "You work so damn much that your job and being on top means more to you than your family."

"I resent that," Kevin said. "Heather always comes first to me. I know I'm at work a lot, but I always try to get home by six or so. I don't work nearly as much as I used to before Heather came around. Before I was a father, I would work from six in the morning to nine at night. Sometimes I wouldn't even leave the office depending on the cases I have. Right now I'm prosecuting a murder and it's been hell on my home time."

"You mean the guy that drowned both his wives? I read about it in the paper."

"One in the same. I'm the prosecutor for that case. I've been more of a divorce attorney since Heather was born. It allows me more time at home, but I'll take on a fraud case from time to time. I've been a coveted fraud lawyer since my second year out of law school."

"Where did you go?"

"Yale," Kevin said, admittedly with some arrogance. "I got a full ride because of my grades and because I was able to prove I'm half Native American."

"Well aren't you high and mighty," Amber said, again with a teasing smile and it made Kevin chuckle. "Thanks for listening to me. I guess I really did need to talk about everything."

"Think nothing of it. I just want you to enjoy your stay while you recover."

"Thanks for that," Amber said. "I think I should go to bed. It's late."

"Yeah, I'll let you go. I should get some work done."

"It's too late for that. Go to bed and get some sleep too. Whatever you want to work on can wait until tomorrow. I'll keep Heather occupied if you need."

"Well," Kevin said, a little surprised, "I guess we could do that."

"Good. Now help me get upstairs." Kevin stood from the table and went around to Amber and helped her out of her chair and into her crutches. Then he helped her up the stairs and to her room. "Also, thanks for the talk. It really did help."

"I'm happy to help," he said. "Well….good night."

"Good night."

After that, Amber closed the door to the bedroom and went to bed. Kevin went back downstairs to throw away his beer bottle. He went to his office and grabbed a few things to work on in his bedroom. On top of this murder trial, Kevin was working on a messy divorce between two people that had no business getting married in the first place from what he could tell and keeping this divorce collaborative was a pain in the ass. They both wanted completely different things out of the divorce and neither would budge, so making them both happy was next to impossible. He fell asleep working and woke up to the sound of Amber and Heather talking about going grocery shopping. He forced himself out of bed and got dressed before going downstairs where the two were. Amber was still wearing her pajamas as was Heather and they were watching a cartoon together.

"Oh, there he is," Amber said after she glanced back towards the stairs.

"Morning daddy," Heather said. She ran to him and hugged him. "Amber says we're going grocery shopping today."

"Yes, honey, we are. So you two better get dressed." Heather ran upstairs and Amber began to follow but Kevin stopped her a moment. "Did you already call your dad about waiting to come until the afternoon?"

"Yeah, I did. He and Amanda will be here by three."

"Alright. Heather and I usually go to my parents' house for dinner on Sundays. Do you all want to come with us?"

"I'll ask daddy about it."

Kevin waited downstairs until Heather and Amber were dressed and had come downstairs. Amber did most of the food selection. Heather would tell her 'I don't like spinach' or 'I don't want to eat steak' and Amber always said 'You'll like it once there's cheese on it' or something like that. The first thing Amber did when they got back to the house was make Heather and Kevin something for lunch. She kept it simple, some grilled cheese sandwiches and chips. As promised, around one thirty Robert came over with Amanda to come visit. They both went to the living room where she was playing with Heather and Kevin went back to his seat at the couch, once he'd answered the door, so get some more work done.

"How do you feel, honey?" Robert asked.

"I'm feeling better. Kevin's been a lot of help." Kevin smiled a little, but kept his eyes on his work.

"That's good to hear."

"At least she's not so cranky anymore. The pity party was getting really old."

"Saving your fat ass from trouble is getting really old too."

"I'M NOT FAT!" Amanda yelled.

"Really? The way you broke my leg in half, I would think you're a mammoth."

"Stop it, both of you," Robert ordered. "Honestly, the way you two fight."

"If Amber would stop calling me fat, there would be nothing to argue about. If anyone has a fat ass, it's her. She's the one that's black."

"Oh," Amber started defensively. "We're going there now are we? Well, Miss Thang, better black than Italian. At least I don't have to worry about growing hair on my chin." Amanda screamed a little as she tried to attack Amber, but Robert grabbed Amanda as Kevin moved closer to Amber completely out of reflex, something Robert immediately noticed. Though now wasn't the time.

"Amanda, she's just teasing but Amber, you shouldn't be so mean to your sister."

"If she keeps being a bitch—"

"Amber," Robert interrupted, "for God's sake, there's a child in the room. Sensor yourself." Amber looked at Heather, who just smiled.

"A change of topic then," Amber said. "Kevin and his family usually have a family dinner on Sundays and he invited us to come along."

"What's the point? None of us eat," Amanda said.

"Maybe it's polite and it would be nice to socialize. Did you ever think of that?"

"That sounds like a lovely offer," Robert interrupted to stop the arguing. "It might be nice for Amber to get out of this house. Remember what Carlisle said about moving around. Just because you have a broken leg doesn't mean you have to stay cooped up in the house."

"Don't worry, daddy, I've been moving around plenty. I went grocery shopping with them this morning. Mr. Lawyer here barely had any fresh food in the house and someone needed to straighten him out."

"You certainly seemed to move on," Amanda said. "And it only three months." Amber shot Amanda a look of death and Kevin got nervous. They'd been getting along so well. Who knows how this would set their relationship back.

"He's letting me stay here while I recover. I'm bound to interact with them. That doesn't mean I'm sleeping with him."

"Can we not talk about this," Kevin asked, gesturing towards Heather who, thankfully, wasn't listening. She was watching her cartoon.

"Indeed," Robert said, though Kevin noticed an odd hint in his voice of irritation. "Do your parents still live on the reservation?"

"Of course they do," Kevin said.

"You're the son that was off at college last we were here correct?"

"Yeah. I was at Yale at the time."

"Really?" Robert said, admittedly a little impressed. "That's an impressive school."

"Indeed it is. I got a full ride there too."

"I bet your parents were happy about that."

"It certainly made it easier on me, yes. I had plenty of money saved up from those years working at the convenience store on the reservation so if there was anything I needed, I could usually take care of it myself. The only thing I ever asked for help for was getting a new washing machine."

"Why did you need a new washing machine?" Amber asked.

"Long story short, my roommate had thrown a party, one of his friends spent the night because he was too drunk to walk let along drive and in the morning he mistook the washing machine for the toilet."

That's gross," Amber and Amanda both said.

"No kidding. No amount of cleaning would make that piece of crap usable again. I couldn't afford a new one, so I called mom and dad and asked to burrow some money for a new machine. I paid them back as soon as I got my first paycheck at the law firm."

"Well aren't you a dutiful son," Robert said.

"I try to be."

"You're the oldest too correct?"

"Yep, I'm the oldest."

"That's what I thought."

For the rest of the early afternoon, Robert was subtly grilling Kevin. He wasn't stupid. He knew a man enamored when he saw one and he also knew the Quileute wolves were prone to love at first sight. Imprinting as it had been explained to him. He saw the way Jacob looked at Renesmee and the way other pack members looked at their imprints and it was the same look of admiration and adoration Kevin was showing to Amber, albeit whenever she wasn't looking. At least he had the decency to allow Amber some space. Kevin sent Heather to her room around four thirty to put on something nice. From what he'd heard, the Cullens would be coming and if Alice saw Heather in any less than her Sunday best for dinner, she would never let Kevin live it down. "She's too adorable not to be dressed in her Sunday best for dinner," she would say. Amber stayed in her jean shorts and oversized black tank top and pink bra. One of the good things about the Cullens coming, the moment Alice noticed that Amber was still wearing the same thing she'd been wearing when they met, she'd drag her to the mall to buy some desperately needed new clothes whether she liked it or not. Since there would be a lot of people in the car, Amber sat up front so she'd have some leg room and Heather sat in the back with Robert and Amanda. They got to Jacob and Nessie's house by five thirty and Nessie was already in the kitchen with Ada working on dinner. Jacob was in the living room with Nathan, Ariel, and Gabriel when Kevin and his party walked in and Jacob came to the front to say hi to Kevin.

"Hi Mr. Black," Amber said nicely.

"Jacob's fine. I may be sixty, but you don't need to address me as such."

"If it's worth anything, you don't look a day over twenty four," Robert said.

"Thanks for that," Jacob said. "I heard about what happened." Jacob took a moment to shoot a knowing look at Kevin before immediately returning his eyes to Amber. "How's your leg doing?"

"Much better, thank you. It still hurts to put pressure on it, but it's getting better."

"Just keep moving around. Just be happy Carlisle only had one bone to put back into place. Years ago, we had an issue with a newborn army and one of them broke every bone on the right side of my body."

"That must've been awful," Amanda said. Kevin looked at her, noticing her voice had softened substantially.

"Believe me, it was. It got worse when Carlisle had to re-break all my bones so I would heal properly."

"The one was enough," Amber mumbled, cringing.

"Come on, let's get you to a chair." Jacob led Amber with him to the living room and helped her sit on the couch. Ariel, Gabriel and Nathan said hello to her as she sat, but it was when Amanda took a seat next to her that Ariel really took notice. Gravity shifted for him and Ariel couldn't take his eyes off Amanda. She had olive toned skin, clearly Italian. Considering the deep tone of her olive skin, it was safe to assume she was Sicilian to be specific. Long black hair that was curled, deep brown almond shaped eyes with long eye lashes, full pink lips, a classic angular Roman nose, and a square face with subtle features.

"Hey," Ariel said to Amanda. She glanced at him and smiled.

"Hey back," then she turned right back to Jacob, who sat at his usual chair. "So what do you do for a living Jacob?" It took a moment for it to dawn on Ariel that his imprint had just blown him off for his _grandpa_, but when it fully dawned on him, he was flabbergasted. Jacob, however, didn't initially notice Amanda's flirtation.

"I'm a mechanic," Jacob answered. "I own a shop down in Forks and I've had that shop well over thirty years now."

"Wow," Amanda said. "I wish I knew how to fix cars. I can barely change a tire let alone fix a car."

"I hear that a lot," Jacob shrugged, still oblivious to Amanda's flirting. Either that, from what Ariel could tell, or he was simply ignoring her. Either way, his imprint was swooning over his grandpa and it was pissing him off.

"I help out there sometimes," Ariel said. "I'm actually a bartender by profession. I just opened up my own bar in Port Angeles last year."

"I don't drink," Amanda said.

"Neither do I, but mixology is an art. You should come and see it. I own the Brasilia Tapas Bar on East 1st Street. I have a balcony area where guests can get a good view of the water while they're eating."

"Do you operate as a blood bar too?" Amanda asked.

"No way," Ariel smiled. "Gretchen's a shark. She'd run me out of business if I did that."

"Sounds like a monopoly to me," Jacob said, irritated.

"As much of a monopoly as any bar could possibly be," Ariel laughed. "I stick with good old fashioned alcohol and food and I've been doing great since I opened."

"That's nice," Amanda said politely, but she still didn't look the least bit impressed. "So Jacob," she turned back to Jacob, "based on my math, you're a nineties baby right?"

"Born in December 1990. Why?"

"It's just, the nineties was a weird decade. I hear it's the age of techno."

"I'm not sure I'd say that. I'd just say it was the age of experimenting our way out of the eighties until we found something bearable. It was the great special effects age, though. I might not care much for _Titanic_, but I have to give James Cameron one thing: he made a beautiful movie. He mixed CGI with real stages and miniatures and it was one hell of a realistic look he gave the Titanic. It's almost a shame it had to sink."

"Well thanks for ruining the ending," Amanda teased and Jacob gave her a strange look.

"Ah fuck, I really am old aren't I? So old that kids don't know the Titanic really happened."

"I knew it'd actually happened," Amanda said. "I was just joking. I've actually never seen the movie, but I've heard plenty about the Titanic."

"I say just watch the second half of the movie where some of the best special effects are shown and call it a day," Jacob said.

"I think the Cullens own it. I'll be sure to do that when I get back. Unless you have it in which case we should all watch it together."

"Sorry, I don't have it. Anything I have to watch isn't really child appropriate," Jacob said, glancing at Heather who was sitting on Kevin's lap.

"We could watch a Disney movie," Heather spoke up. "Maybe we could watch _Wreck-it Ralph_!"

"That works."

"Yay!" Heather yelled as she leaped from Kevin's lap and went right to where the DVDs were kept. She looked for the movie she wanted and got it set up all on her own. When she got past the menu screen and started the movie, she went to Jacob and sat on his lap. The movie started and as it continued, there were several videogame reference that Jacob either remembered really well or vaguely remembered.

"See," Jacob said to Amanda, "this is what being a 90's baby does. I get all these videogame references." Then Jacob patted Heather's head. "You don't even know who that blue hedgehog is do you?"

"Nope," Heather said proudly.

"Damn it, I'm old," Jacob said with a heavy, amused sigh.

"You certainly don't look old," Amanda said. This time, Jacob did glance strangely at Amanda, but he said nothing. It was then that Natalie, Suerro and Nazaire finally came and they all went right to the living room to say hi to Jacob first. Natalie hugged Jacob around his neck and kissed his head.

"Hi, daddy," she said.

"Hey Natalie. How's the theatre treating you?"

"Well," Natalie said. Natalie glanced over at Amber. "So how's your leg?"

"It's getting better. So you're the giant fur ball we've heard about so infamously? Forgive me for not having a laugh at your expense the night we met. I was more concerned with Amanda whining in my ear while I had bone poking out."

"I understand," Natalie said with a smile. She could tell Amber was in much better spirits since she was teasing. Perhaps Kevin had already begun to work his arrogant magic. "You won't be laughing when I win the blue ribbon," she joked. "Oh, excuse me, I should probably introduce you. I don't know where my manners went."

"They've been gone all your life," Nathan teased and Natalie swatted his head with an equal smile as he laughed.

"Anyway, this is my husband Suerro. And this is my son Nazaire."

"Nazaire?" Amber looked at him strangely.

"If you ask if I'm Pakistani, I will murder you," Nazaire said.

"I was actually going to guess Israeli. Am I to assume you simply have a Muslim name?"

"It's not a Muslim name, it's a divination of the city where Jesus was born with French spelling. Aside from my grandma's influence, I'm 75% Quileute."

"I would never guess with a name like Nazaire."

"Am I to presume you're a prehistoric rock then?"

"I'm sorry about him," Natalie patted Nazaire's back. "He takes a little too much after his father sometimes."

"Doesn't every son," Amber said with a smile.

"I don't know about Kevin," Jacob teased, looking at Kevin. "He takes more after his mother."

"Is Nessie an arrogant prick too?" Amber said and Kevin chuckled.

"He's referring to my good looks," Kevin said. "The arrogant prick part is all me."

"What's a prick?" Heather asked.

"It's what a needle does to your finger," Jacob rushed to make false clarification.

"You would lie to the poor thing?" Amanda asked with a smile.

"I'm not lying to her. 'I pricked my finger with a needle'. It's an appropriate definition."

"You're in the right, naturally."

"Hey," Gabriel said, "I'm grabbing a beer from the kitchen. You want to join me in the dining room?"

"Why?"

"Porque está fervendo," (Because you're seething) Gabriel said. Ariel looked at him a moment before nodding and following Gabriel to the dining room. Gabriel took two beers from the fridge, saying hi to Ada and Nessie as he passed, and joined Ariel in the dining room. He opened both beers and handed one to Ariel, continuing to speak Portuguese. "Então, o que o fez com tanta raiva?" (So, what has you so angry?).

"Minha impressão é de amor com o nosso avô. Por que diabos você acha que eu estou tão bravo?" (My imprint is in love with our grandpa. Why the hell do you think I'm so angry?).

"Ah," Gabriel said, "So that's what it is. I'm sure everything will work out eventually."

"Me viu tentar falar com ela. Estava completamente desinteressado," (You say me try to talk to her. She was completely uninterested).

"It might help to talk about common interests."

"How am I supposed to do that when I don't know what those common interests are?" Ariel barked back under his breath.

"I don't know," Gabriel said. "I'm just the little brother. What would I know?" he threw back at him, and it only made Ariel more irritated. "Just keep talking to her. She'll come around if the two of you get to know each other. Our dad managed to get our mom to love him. I'm sure you can accomplish the same with a lesser challenge."

"I don't know that," Ariel said. "How do I know she won't be just as difficult?"

"You won't know until you interact some more."

"Dinner's ready," Nessie called from the kitchen. It was just about that time when the Cullens finally arrived at the house. They wouldn't be eating naturally, but they would be interacting. Carlisle asked Amber how she was feeling and she reassured him that she was doing much better already. Ariel tried to sit next to Amanda at the dinner table, but she'd taken a seat right to Jacob's left, eager to talk to him more. Nessie had overheard her talking to Jacob and had thought nothing of it until she saw the way Amanda was looking at him. She wasn't really sure whether to feel embarrassed for her or extremely angry with her. "So, Amanda, I hear you're the new addition to the Rouche family."

"Oh, yes, I am. I've been with them for five years now, so I'm not quite that new."

"We found her in a dumpster behind a strip club," Amber blurted with a mean smirk.

"And daddy found you in a house with a dead body," Amanda said right back. "Which is worse? A strip club, or a dead body?"

"Enough," Robert said. "Can we all have a conversation without the two of you arguing?"

"I'd say I'd rather be found behind a strip joint than in a house with a dead body," Ariel said, hoping to amuse Amanda or get on her good side.

"Gee, I wonder why that would be," Gabriel said in a teasing tone. "Amanda, you might find it interesting to know that Ariel—" Gabriel stopped Ariel pinched him so hard that it left a huge bruise, forcing him to refrain from mentioning the briefly dated Miss "Bambi" as he called her. What her real name was, who the hell knew. All he knew was that she was a stripper that worked at the Pussy Cat Gentleman's Club in Port Angeles.

"That you what?" Amanda asked Ariel, intrigued.

"Nothing. Gabriel's a bit of a story teller and he tends to make shit up. It's what happens when you're a writer for the newspaper. Isn't that right Gabriel?"

"He used to date a stripper named Bambi," Gabriel finally got out.

"Really?" Amanda said. "What was that like?"

"He had to tip her," Gabriel said as he started laughing.

"Por que de repente Aare tentando me envergonhar?" (Why are you suddenly trying to embarrass me?"

"Porque voce odeio," (Because I hate you) Gabriel said.

"Are you two speaking Spanish?" Amanda asked.

"They're speaking Portuguese you nitwit," Nessie of all people accidently blurted out without thinking. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."

"Don't feel bad," Amber said. "I've called her worse."

"Indeed she has," Amanda said.

"It's understandable," Ariel jumped in. "Plenty of people mistake Portuguese for Spanish." Gabriel gave Ariel a strange look. Ariel was usually the first to criticize anyone that mistook them for Spanish. God help that person if they dared to mistake them for Mexican. Now here he was being uncharacteristically understanding and patient. Gabriel almost preferred his brother being intolerant.

"So who's kid are you?" Amanda asked.

"He's ours," Nathan said, gesturing between him and Ada.

"I didn't realize you guys were Portuguese."

"Only a percentage," Ariel said. "We're Quileute on dad's side and whatever grandma is and on mom's side we're Portuguese and Brazilian."

"We're Chilean," Gabriel corrected.

"No we're not. We're Brazilian."

"We're Incan," Gabriel started, "and the Inca Empire spread mostly through Chile. The empire as a whole stretched from Talca, Chile all the way to a small tip of Colombia. So if we're being realistic, we could technically be Chilean, Argentinean, Bolivian, Peruvian, Ecuadorian, or Colombian, but not Brazilian. The actual military headquarters of the empire was in Cusco, Peru, so we may just be Peruvian. Grandpa was a soldier, so it stands to reason we're Peruvian. Besides, Grandpa never spoke Spanish and neither did Aunt Huilen or Uncle Nahuel or any of our Aunts. They all spoke Quechua or a dialect of that first and then learned the language of the region they were in. In grandpa's case, that was Portuguese."

"Aunt Huilen speaks Spanish."

"Only a little. She pretty much speaks Quechua with Nahuel and any Portuguese she uses is just for Grandpa Raphael's sake. If she had it her way, she'd only speak Quechua."

"Okay, whatever, the point is we're Inca, Quileute, Portuguese and whatever Grandma Nessie is. So let me ask, are you really Italian?"

"As Italian as they come," Amanda said proudly.

"Hairs on her chiny chin chin and all," Amber said. Amanda glared at Amber.

"You don't have any," Ariel rushed. "Your face is perfectly clear."

"Of course it is. She plucked not too long ago."

"Will you shut up!" Amanda yelled. She took a deep breath and smiled at Jacob. "You know, one time, I stapled Amber's pajama pants to a tree because she said I'd gained eight pounds or something. She had to crawl out of her pajama pants and walk around in a t-shirt and her panties."

"You don't say," Jacob said awkwardly.

"I had to walk around like that for hours. Some guy mistook me for a prostitute and offered me eight hundred dollars to sleep with him."

"See, the night didn't turn out all bad. So how'd it go?" Amanda asked, expecting the worst having never really spoken to Amber about the following occurrences. Amber had been in such a seething mood afterwards that Amanda just assumed the worst.

"Fantastic actually. He had handcuffs in his trunk and when he got them, I handcuffed him to the light post and stole his money. I took his keys and left the driver's side door open with the keys in the car, so hopefully that car got stolen. I lubed up the light pole so he couldn't climb up and escape and once that was all done, I went to the nearest k-mart and bought new pants. I put them on in the dressing room after everyone saw me walk around in my underwear and sat on the register so the guy could ring them up." Kevin started snickering when she mentioned handcuffing the man and he kept laughing harder the further she got in her story.

"You had eight hundred dollars on your person and all you got was a pair of pants?" Alice asked.

"I saved it for a rainy day."

"By rainy day, she means using that money to help pay rent for that asshole."

"You know," Nathan spoke up, sensing another fight brewing and wanting to temper it, "I had to be a part of a sting to bring down a prostitution ring. The first step was to arrest a prostitute and make her give us information about her pimp and what not. We had to catch them actually accepting money for sex, so I went out in plain clothes and a plain car and night and drove up to a woman that was scantily clad and asked, 'How much?' And get this, she was charging $1200 for sex. I mean, I got her in the car and arrested her once she said, yes I'll sleep with you for money, but Jesus, $1200 just for sex?"

"Did she say just sex or was she saying that's how much for something kinky?" Ada asked.

"Nope, just regular sex. I don't even want to think what she could charge for anything weird. Anyway, we brought the whole things down. Turns out the pimp in charge of that area had about fifty women under his thumb and every last one of them needed extensive drug treatment once they got to prison. Just about all of them were heroin addicts. Some of them were crack addicts, but most of them used heroin. It was really sad honestly."

"It always is," Ada said. "Still, kudos for robbing the man blind," she said to Amber. "Lubing up the pole was a nice touch."

"I thought so," Amber said with a smile.

When Kevin and Heather had finally finished eating, Kevin decided, seeing as Amber and Amanda were arguing again, that it might be best to take everyone back to his house. Amber was happy to leave. Amanda was angering her and Robert was so tired of making them stop arguing that he simply didn't have the energy. Draining a vampire out of energy? That was one hell of an accomplishment. When they got home, the first thing Kevin did was take Heather upstairs and get her ready for bed. She begged to stay up for at least one more hour and Kevin caved. But when it was nine o'clock, Kevin told Heather it was time for bed and tucked her in. When Kevin came out of Heather's room, he saw Amber crutching her way to the guest bedroom.

"You turning in for the night?"

"I was just going to change into something more comfortable. I'm not really tired actually."

"After all that arguing you did over dinner, you're really not tired?"

"Nah," Amber said. "I've been arguing with her since we picked the garbage off her blanket. I'm used to it after all this time. I'll give my relationship with Adam one thing. Up until I caught him cheating, it was the quietest three years of my life."

Kevin chuckled, "I bet. I have court tomorrow, so I should probably get to sleep."

"Oh," Amber said, "I was actually going to ask you to watch a movie with me downstairs. I don't know how to use your TV and watching a movie alone is so boring."

"Oh," Kevin was torn. He knew he'd have to be at the courthouse by seven tomorrow morning, but he couldn't resist having an even remotely intimate date with Amber even if she didn't consider it that. "I'm sure I'll be fine," Kevin said. "I'll meet you downstairs."

Amber smiled and agreed and then stepped into her room to change (though admittedly only her pants). Kevin waited for her downstairs, grabbing himself a beer before going to the living room and setting up the blu ray player. As for what movie they'd watch, he waited for her to come downstairs so they could choose together. When Kevin heard Amber come from her room, he went up the stairs to help her get down safely.

"I'm not an invalid you know," Amber said, but this time she was smiling. "So what are we watching?" she asked after she was sitting on the couch.

"Well, I thought we should choose together since this was your idea."

"Okay. What movies do you have?"

"Lots of Disney and Pixar movies," Kevin joked. "Anything that's on the bottom shelf is for Heather. Anything that's mine is on the top shelf and well out of Heather's reach. I wouldn't want her to put in _Django Unchained_ now would I?"

Amber laughed, "I would certainly say so. Can we watch something else, though? I'm not a fan of Quentin Tarantino."

"No one is, but I admit the man was good at what he did. What kind of movie are you in the mood for?"

"Do you have anything old?"

"Define old."

"Something really old, like from the sixties or something."

"No, I'm afraid I don't." Amber nodded slightly sad.

"Go upstairs to my room and check my bag for Sense and Sensibility. It's the one with Kate Winslet and Alan Rickman."

"Professor Snape was in a Jane Austin movie?"

"Indeed. He plays Col. Brandon. Have you never seen any movie reenactments of Jane Austin novels?"

"No, I haven't. I think I saw bits and pieces of _Pride and Prejudice_ when I was in high school."

"Which one?"

"The one with Keira Knightly." 

Amber scrunched her nose, "That's not the one to watch. She did a good job in Anna Karenina though. Weirdly artistic if I'm being completely frank, but she did a decent job. I think they were basically making a movie of the book based on the play rendition, so that would explain why it's weird. If you want a good _Pride and Prejudice_, the one to go with is the 1995 version with Collin Firth as Mr. Darcy. Granted it's a mini-series, but it's a really good rendition of the novel."

"I've never really been into Jane Austin. I pretended to read _Pride and Prejudice_ and wrote a paper about it and I passed. So I'm happy."

"Well, I'll settle for showing you _Sense and Sensibility_ for now."

"Do we have to?" Kevin asked, though smiling.

"You said I would help pick the movie and I've picked it. It's one of my mom's movies." Kevin finally relented and went up to the guest bedroom and looked through her bag for the movie. He saw the DVD full set of America's Next Top Model with a picture of all the contestants on the front. On it, he saw a woman that looked strikingly like Amber wearing the same namesake necklace around her neck, though her lips weren't as full nor were her breasts as ample as Amber's. He assumed it to be Amber's mother. He also saw the torn jeans that were far too big for her and a handful of other DVDs and blu ray movies. He finally grabbed _Sense and Sensibility_ and walked out of the room, not wanting to impose on her privacy than he already had.

"Is this is?" Kevin asked, holding up the movie.

"Yep. It's the only copy of _Sense and Sensibility_ that I have. Pop it in and let's watch the movie." As Kevin started setting up his DVD player, Amber continued. "The only weird thing is they cut some of the smallest things from the book. For instance, in the book, Fanny and John have a son, but they don't in the movie. Either that or he's never mentioned. Based on the movie, as far as I can tell, Mrs. John Dashwood only has a small Italian Greyhound or something along those lines."

"Don't worry," Kevin teased, "I won't notice." Amber smiled and laughed a little. Finally, Kevin got the movie started and sat on the couch with Amber, closer than they'd ever sat together he noticed. It wasn't even five minutes into the movie before he made his first comment. "What's this woman's name again? The one holding the dog?"

"Mrs. John Dashwood a.k.a Fanny."

"Fanny's a huge bitch." Amber started laughing and so did Kevin.

"Indeed she is. Believe me, it gets better."

"Are all British people this backhandedly polite or is it just here?"

"It's people of that class that share Mrs. John Dashwood's sentiments about penniless women. Now hush, you, we're watching a movie." Kevin stayed silent through most of the first half of the movie at least until they finally met Alan Rickman.

"Holy shit, Professor Snape used to be blonde?"

Amber started giggling, "It's not Professor Snape, its Colonel Brandon. Now stop it, Marianne is singing."

"Alright," Kevin said and stayed quiet, again until they came to a surprising part. "Wait a minute. Mr. Willoughby got a girl pregnant?"

"Yes sir he did and now he's penniless unless he can marry that woman with a fifty thousand pound dowry. You may find this surprising, but even the 19th century British had illicit love affairs that resulted in unwanted pregnancies."

"If you say so," Kevin chuckled. "Am I the only one that thinks Sir John and his mother are bat shit insane?"

"No, I agree, they're a little silly. But they're a fun silly."

"Depends on your definition of fun I'd think." Amber smiled and stayed silent. "So wait, Colonel Brandon's in love with Marianne? Isn't Marianne, like, sixteen."

"And Colonel Brandon's only thirty five. For that time in England, it's a rather lucky age different if you ask me. I consider men in their thirties to be of higher quality than men in their twenties, heirs to fortunes or not." Kevin said nothing. "I like to think that by thirty, men have gotten the philandering out of their systems."

"Men that philander don't usually stop when they're in their thirties."

"So you're still one that sleeps around?" Amber asked without thinking.

"I haven't had sex in six years," Kevin admitted. "The last girlfriend I had was some woman that had been an opponent of mine in a minor case seven years ago and as it is, we weren't really dating. We were arguing over something, I was still really depressed about what happened with Megan and, I'm not proud to admit this, I needed some reassurance that I wasn't a complete throw away. We slept together for a while, then I found out she was married only after her husband found out about me and then it turned kind of ugly. I just told him I was sorry and that I'd have nothing more to do with his wife and that was the end of that. So really, it didn't solve anything at all."

"I'm not surprised. So six years you say?"

"Yep," Kevin said, "six years. Work and Heather have pretty much taken over my life and free time."

"Does it bother you?"

"No," Kevin said honestly. "After what happened with that woman, I promised that I wouldn't let another woman into my life until I found my imprint." Kevin stopped a moment, realizing he'd jumped the gun.

"Ah yes, that sordid business."

"I would hardly call it sordid. In fact, it's one of the purest types of love I've ever seen in my life."

"All I know is it's love at first sight."

"Let me ask you something," Kevin decided to be so bold. "Have you felt anything for any of the wolves that you've met?" Amber stayed silent and watched the sisters make their journey back to their cottage from London.

"I may have," Amber said. "As far as I can tell, anything I've felt for anyone has been blind infatuation. I admit that many of your siblings are extremely good looking. I think Amanda may be taken with your father in fact."

"Next you meet her, I'd recommend you tell her to lay off. My mother may seem like a loving, patient woman, but she doesn't tolerate nonsense at all. If Amanda get's too presumptuous, mom won't hesitate to put her in her place and remind her that Mr. Black is very married and very off limits."

Amber giggled. "How long have your parents been married?"

"Thirty five years," Kevin said. "And there's a good reason my siblings and I prefer not to go on patrol with our dad. He and mom are still very much intimate with each other and we prefer to know as little of it as possible."

"I don't blame you."

"So…which of the wolves did you find especially appealing?"

"I'm hardly in a position to voice any affections for another man. I was just bailed out of jail for aggravated assault on my ex and the bitch he cheated on me with." Amber caught herself becoming harsh and took a deep breath. "I'm in no position to set my sights on another man. Let's just leave it at that."

"Not even if he were far better?" Amber looked at Kevin someone defensively and slightly unnerved.

"What's your definition of better?"

"A man that won't fool around on you for start. I've been on the receiving end and I would never do the same to another. I know how much it hurts. I may not have attacked Megan and those two guys she cheated with, but believe me I had enough rage to want to. Secondly, there really isn't much money or free time in being a chef. You should be with someone that has more to provide and more time to spare."

"I would be inclined to agree. Maybe once I have the sting of an assault charge off my mind, I'll consider seeing another man. Hopefully that'll happen soon. I dread the idea of resuming travel with daddy and Amanda."

"You don't have to," Kevin said in a rush than hurried to add to the thought. "I admit, as much as I love having Rosalie look after Heather, I think it would be beneficial for her to have someone here at all times."

"You mean like a live-in nanny?"

"Pretty much. I've considered hiring an Au Pair, but that would mean paying for her college fund and, frankly, if I'm sending anyone to college, it'll be Heather. I don't want to send another person's kid to college. Anyway, I could pay you for it. Name any price and you'll have it and I'll give you money whenever it's time to buy groceries or if any other necessity comes up."

"You've known me three days and you're offering me a job as your nanny? You really are creepy."

"I just thought to offer an alternative to you going back with your dad and sister. You don't have to say yes."

"I'll consider it," Amber said eventually. By now, the movie was almost over and Elinor and Edward were finally admitting their love to one another. When the movie was finally over, Kevin turned it off and Amber took a hold of her crutches lifting herself from the couch. "Thanks for watching a movie with me. I'll let you go to bed now. I'll turn in myself."

"Yeah," Kevin said as he followed her up the stairs after having turned off the TV. "Rosalie will be here early. And I think it only fair to warn you that Alice is almost certainly repulsed by your lack of clothing variety and will force you to go shopping with her tomorrow."

"She can't make me go," Amber said.

"I wouldn't count on that. Alice has a way of persuasion that even I haven't quite mastered though I can assure you that I'm working on it."

"I imagine so. Well, good night," Amber said.

"Good night."

Kevin left early the next morning as Rosalie was coming in. He finally arrived at the courthouse at nearly seven and worked on some paperwork, getting his argument and questions fine tuned before the trial at nine. The courtroom was packed by the time the trial started and when the defendant came in with his lawyer, he could tell the man was in ill spirits for one reason or another. All the better for Kevin as far as he was concerned. The more he could press the man's buttons with his questions to witnesses, the worse he'd look before a jury. The way the man had been acting and seething so far, the jury wouldn't be arguing more than an hour. Though Kevin liked to think that, on top of the poor presentation on the defendant's part, he was dealing with a case of common sense.

The first witness of the day was the defendant's girlfriend (or so she claimed). The defendant swore up and down that he'd never met this woman or had an affair with her a day in his life yet the woman was able to produce pictures and gifts given to her by the defendant, some of which had belonged to the defendant's late second wife. The evidence was staking up and, according to friends of the defendant that had been questioned last meeting, the defendant was seeing his second wife long before his first had died. The defense attorney tried his hardest to put doubt in the jury's mind that these were simple coincidences but there was plenty of damage done already. The defense would have to pull the defendant out of a frightfully deep hole to get the jury back on his side.

The day ended eventually and the judge looked through the schedule book to find a suitable day to reconvene. He appointed the trial to continue at nine o'clock on the following Monday again. It was Kevin's hope that they could keep this trial under a month, but that was looking to be unlikely. The defense had so many witnesses and as it was, the defendant was insisting that he be allowed to take the stand in his own defense, but was being heavily advised against it. Kevin didn't get home until ten at night. Rosalie left after telling Kevin about Heather's day and then he saw Amber in the living room in, surprisingly, a sheer white blouse with a purple tank top underneath and a pair of white spring shorts.

"Your aunt made me go shopping with her," Amber said when she looked at Kevin.

"You look beautiful in any case."

"Thank you." Kevin noticed Amber blush a little, but that quickly went away. "Heather's already in bed, so I guess you can turn in too. I imagine you had a hard day."

"Dealing with a bipolar man always is difficult. I was actually hoping to speak with someone rational at least once today."

He earned a smile from her. "I suppose I could spare some time. I admit I'm tired myself. Your vicious aunt wouldn't let me rest a single moment and she spent well over a thousand dollars on me. I don't know what could've possibly possessed her to do such a thing. Mind you, that thousand dollars went towards blouses and pants alone. You could not imagine the amount of faux jewelry she bought me and some purses and shoes. I don't think I've ever had such a vast wardrobe even when I used to steal my clothes."

"Alice does that," Kevin smiled. "Can I see the other clothes she bought you?"

"I suppose you could," she said. Kevin followed her up the stairs to the guest bedroom and he saw several bags from several different stores, even some Victoria Secret bags.

"I see she even bought you panties," Kevin chuckled.

"Don't you look at those. That's private." Amber pulled out several blouses and shirts and showed them to him. "She thinks these flatter me, but I can't imagine wearing these while traveling. I'd hate to get any of this dirty."

"I think you look beautiful," Kevin said without thinking. He remained silent, monitoring her reaction which seemed muted. He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or concerned.

"Well thank you for that. I admit, it's nice to wear different things for a change. She got me blazers, pleated shirts and skirts, sweaters, jeans, shorts and skirts. She also bought me two bags." Amber held up the two purses, one a patchwork bag with varied colors and a buckle around the top and the other a pure white cylindrical purse with silver pieces. "I couldn't decide which I liked better, so I just got them both. And," Amber held up a smaller clutch, "she bought me a wallet. And I officially have more cardigans and sweaters than I know what to do with. She even got me a cashmere sweater!"

"I do love cashmere," Kevin smiled.

"I didn't used to, but now that I've actually felt cashmere, I can honestly say it's the softest thing I've ever felt."

"My mom wears a lot of cashmere," Kevin said offhandedly. "I have a very positive association with cashmere sweaters." Amber pulled out a pink cashmere sweater and put it on over her current shirt (all while standing on one leg with her crutches against the wall) and hugged herself in it.

"This one's my favorite. I so rarely wear pink and this is such a tasteful pink." As she spoke, Kevin came a little closer to her. "I have at least eight other colors of this sweater. One thing's for sure. When winter comes around, I'll be good and cozy. She even bought me a heavy coat to protect it. I don't know how I'll carry all these things around with me."

"If you took me up on my offer, all you'd need is a closet," Kevin said. It was then that Amber realized that Kevin was much closer than he'd been before. She also noticed the look he was giving her. It was a strange look that she couldn't quite explain that set her stomach in a flutter. It would be dim of her to assume that he wasn't attracted to her based on the things he'd asked her the night before, but what she saw at present wasn't simple attraction. There was something more to it that she couldn't quite pin down. Whatever it was, she could sense herself feeling something similar and it was making her uncomfortable.

"So you were being serious about that?" Amber asked nervously, though doing her best to maintain a steely façade.

"Of course I was being serious. I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mean it."

"You do realize the only experience I have with children is my little sister? And you see how well I handle her."

"Amanda's a different story. She's your stepsister and you don't like sharing a parental figure with her. Heather isn't like Amanda in that she doesn't enrage you or bring out your natural snarliness." Kevin was, of course, teasing about the last part, but it seemed she didn't quite take it that way. "My point it you get along really well with Heather and I know she likes you. It would be nice for her to have a woman in her life that's, one, closer to her age and two, can act as a non-biased caregiver unlike Rosalie. Don't get me wrong; Rosalie does a fantastic job taking care of Heather, but she needs someone that's more, 'I'll help you with this' as opposed to 'Don't you worry dear, I'll just do that for you'. Do you see what I'm getting at?"

"She needs someone that'll challenge her, not hand everything over to her?"

"In the most basic terms, yes. And she really does like you. That always helps." Based on the look Kevin showed, she assumed he was the one that liked her more so than Heather.

"I should probably get to bed. You especially should get some sleep." Realizing she was dodging his statement, and for good reason, Kevin backed off and smiled.

"Yeah, I should. Good night." Amber wished him good night as he left but neither of them ended up sleeping well that night. Kevin knew why he was bothered but Amber didn't. She just knew something about the way he'd looked at her made her tremble and it wasn't what she wanted right now. She wasn't so dim to assume he wanted her to stay just to "babysit Heather". She wanted to resent him for considering her a sexual object, but she couldn't bring herself to assume such a thing of him.

They didn't talk as much as they had following that little encounter. Kevin had a feeling that he'd stepped over a boundary and Amber was too embarrassed about it. She also felt ashamed. Here she was trying to recover from going into a rage over a man and now, suddenly, she was attracted to Kevin more so than she'd ever been for Adam. She wouldn't tell him that, though. It wasn't the time and it was inappropriate. Heather was the first to notice the change, but she didn't say anything. It was grown-up stuff and she knew better than to poke her nose into anything where she didn't know the whole story. For the rest of that week, Kevin would go to work and Amber would be left alone with Rosalie until Heather came back from school. She and Rosalie spoke from time to time, but they had virtually nothing in common and neither wanted to torture themselves by forcing conversation that simply wasn't there.

Robert would visit often, but Amber noticed Amanda would come see her less and less. She thought nothing of it until she heard from Kevin that Nessie was getting irritated with her. Evidently, Amanda was genuinely interested in Jacob and went to several different lengths to earn his attention, including going to the shop and striking up a conversation with him while he was trying to eat his lunch. Nessie had been patient with Amanda initially, but it was no time before her patience began to wear thin and she couldn't take it anymore.

"She really showed up at the shop?" Bella asked Nessie, having come over after getting a call from her informing her that she was upset and wanted to talk. She'd gone to work in the morning but she finished all her paperwork before it even reached noon. Jacob knew Nessie was upset, so he told her to go home and relax. Jacob would be at the shop all day working on a hefty remodeling job and Nessie needed someone to talk to that knew Jacob almost as much as she did.

"Yes, mom, she did. She started flirting with him and the cashier has been informed that she's to be escorted off the premises as gently as possible should she come back with any non-car related intent."

"I have to say, I'm surprised you're handling this so calmly. You remember that receptionist he used to work with before he had his own shop? You never bothered being polite to her, but you're being very nice to Amanda."

"I'm tolerating her," Nessie corrected. "She'll leave as soon as Amber is recovered, so I don't see the point in starting something with her but my opinion is beginning to waver."

"How do you mean?"

"Well," Nessie thought a moment. "First it was a little funny. Then it swiftly became sad. Swifter still it became annoying. Now she's really starting to piss me off. And now Ariel's getting mad at Jacob because Amanda's paying more attention to my husband than to her imprint. I don't see how any of this is Jacob's fault but Ariel seems to see it that way. God forbid he admit his imprint may have the IQ of a pile of rocks."

"Why do you say she has the IQ of a rock?" Bella asked, somewhat amused.

"It's the only conclusion I can come to that explains why she's so damn determined to flirt with a married man. A happily married man I might add," Nessie hissed the last part. "I've been married to him for thirty five years. I think I know him a little better than she does and she doesn't get it. Jacob isn't exactly pleasant about not being interested anymore. He was gentle at first, but that didn't last long."

"What has Ariel been doing to improve the situation? I assume he's been making an effort to get Amanda to be interested in him."

"I don't know what to say about Ariel," Nessie sighed heavily. "You know him. He's always difficult."

"I can't imagine who they get it from," Bella muttered, though she had a bright and clear image in her mind of exactly who they got it from and it certainly wasn't Nathan. "Perhaps imprinting is becoming flawed. Kyle imprinted on a good girl and Jacob imprinted on you, so they're alright, but Nathan imprinted on a loose woman and now Ariel's in love with what I would go so far as to call a childish delinquent. And what's this I hear about Kevin imprinting of Amber?"

"I prefer Amber over Amanda."

"Agreed, but she's still….I don't know."

"She's better than Megan," Nessie pointed out. "After everything that girl did, I'd sooner let Kevin marry a troll than that girl. What I don't understand is why doesn't Amanda feel anything for Ariel?"

"That's certainly strange. Perhaps she's simply wearing blinders."

"They're some huge blinders then," Nessie mumbled. "Do you think Amber will be alright in less than three weeks? I just want Amanda to leave."

"Do you think Amber will go with them?"

"How should I know? Knowing Kevin, I'm sure he'll get her to stay with him. I don't mind if Amber stays, I just don't want Amanda to stay."

"Well, if Ariel finally wins her over, she will be staying."

"Yeah, but it'll be in Port Angeles and out of my husband's face. Honestly, I'm a hair away from slapping this girl."

"You already called her a nitwit, so you might as well slap her too."

Nessie finally smiled again but it went away when she got a text from Jacob saying he had to lock the door to the work shop since Amanda came into the shop. Hoping to get something done about this, Nessie texted Ariel to let him know that Amanda was at the shop again and he needed to come and get her out of there. Eager to do just that, Ariel left his bar in the hands of his manager for a time and drove straight to Forks. Amanda wasn't at the shop when he got there, but the cashier pointed him in the direction of the movie theatre where she'd asked him to offer an invitation to Jacob. Now was his chance to be alone with Amanda and finally win her heart. When he got to the theatre, he asked the ticket vendor if a woman that fit Amanda's description had come in and what ticket she bought. He mentioned an action movie that was showing at seven that day but that she left immediately after buying two tickets. Ariel thanked the vendor and kept close to the theatre waiting for Amanda to come back.

Several hours passed. He got a few calls from his manager whenever something came up, but that was the extent of his phone calls for the day. Otherwise he was working on some sales charts and mapping out paychecks for the week. His manager he could get away with paying only twice a month seeing as he was a full time guy with benefits and all. The waiters were usually paid once a week not counting their nightly tips. Around six thirty is when Amanda finally showed up again at the movie theatre. She waited outside, so Ariel paid for his coffee (he hates coffee but seeing as he was sitting there for several hours, he felt obligated to pay for something) and went outside to meet her, though he made an attempt to make his coming down the street seem natural. She didn't seem to notice him thankfully, so he was able to surprise her when he showed up.

"Hey Amanda," Ariel said, pretending to be surprised to see her. "What brings you here?"

"I could ask you the same thing. What are you doing here?"

"I was passing by," Ariel said.

"Bullshit. What are you really doing here?"

"Do I need a reason to walk down the street?" Ariel asked seriously and Amanda just sighed heavily.

"I suppose not," she finally said. "I don't suppose you've seen Jacob have you?" Ariel took a deep breath so he wouldn't show his anger and just smiled.

"I can't say I have. You do realize my grandpa is married right?"

"I'm not asking him to marry me," Amanda said as if it were obvious.

"You are hitting on him, though and my grandma's starting to lose her patience with you. You keep this up and she may just make an example of you."

"Oh, what is she going to do to me? Yell at me?"

"If you have angels flying out of your ass," Ariel more mumbled than anything. "You don't know my grandma. She's one of the sweetest women I know, but you cross her and you don't live to tell the tale."

"Oh, I'm so scared," Amanda said and it made Ariel laugh.

"You should be. I've seen Grandma Nessie get really mad. It'll give you nightmares for the rest of your life."

"If you say so," Amanda said, unconvinced.

"I'll be blunt with you. Jacob isn't going to show up. He's not interested in you."

"Married men can be stubborn."

"Oh God, you're basically my mom," Ariel said. "She was a big whore too."

"I resent that," Amanda said seriously. "I know what I want, so sue me."

"I'd set your sights on one more available."

"No thanks," Amanda said. "I'm not interested in younger men. I prefer them older."

"Especially when they look twenty," Ariel said rather pointedly.

"That's not the point. The point is that I find older men attractive because they're more secure. And not impugn on your prowess but I want my first time to be with a man that knows what he's doing."

"Hold on a second," Ariel said, a little dumbfounded. "First of all, what the hell makes you think I don't know what I'm doing? And secondly, you're a virgin?"

"Of course I'm a virgin. Who would I possibly have sex with when daddy's breathing down my neck all the time? Honestly, Amber ruined any opportunity I would've had. When she and Adam got together, daddy became overly protective and wouldn't let me go anywhere on my own ever. The only time away from him I've had since I was younger was when he broke Amber out of jail and she ran off so we went looking for her. Even then, he would text me constantly asking if I'd found Amber yet."

"He's certainly leaving you alone right now."

"He's more concerned about Amber right now. She's the one with a broken leg and a shit ex-boyfriend. With that to worry about, he's not keeping tabs on me or the shenanigans I could possibly get into. What kind of shenanigans _could _I possibly get into in a bumble fuck town like this?"

"I can't say I'd know. I grew up in Port Angeles. I grew up in a city where there was plenty of shit to get me in trouble." Amanda smiled just a little and then looked down at her tickets.

"So much for buying two movie tickets."

"We can watch it together if you're interested," Ariel offered hopefully. He glanced at his watch. It was seven, so the credits had at least started, but if they went in now, maybe they wouldn't miss the beginning of the movie. "We can still catch it if we hurry."

Amanda shrugged, "Might as well."

Ariel wasn't completely happy with her lack of enthusiasm, but agreeing to see the movie with him was a start at least. They managed to catch the movie in time, only missing the first three minutes. Thirty minutes into the movie, Ariel knew it was going to be awful. It certainly wasn't a Die Hard or anything for sure. The theatre was virtually empty, so Ariel used that time to find better entertainment.

"You never answered my first question," he whispered in Amanda's ear. She looked up at him, right into his eyes, and for the first time since they'd met, she seemed flustered.

"I forgot the question," she whispered back.

"I asked what made you think I don't know what I'm doing."

"Oh," Amanda said as she licked her lips. "I didn't mean anything by it. I'm certainly not one to talk about experience obviously."

"It's not about experience; it's about what feels good. You can start experimenting and gaining 'experience' once you know what you like and what you don't like. And trust me; the finding-out-what-you-like stage is a lot of fun."

"Am I to assume you're hitting on me?" Amanda asked, this time not looking at him critically or with no interest at all.

"To put it bluntly," Ariel began, "Yes, I'm hitting on you. Also, this movie's really boring and flirting with you is a lot more fun." Amanda smiled! She actually smiled genuinely. Getting bolder, Ariel rested his open palm on the armrest, hoping she would give him her hand. When she noticed, Amanda gave Ariel her hand and their fingers laced together.

"You're eyes are brown," she said suddenly. Ariel looked at her a little strangely, but smiled and allowed her to elaborate. "I never noticed you have brown eyes."

"So do you," Ariel said, but Amanda shook her head.

"No, my eyes are black."

"Perhaps in the dark, but in the right light, they turn brown. It makes things interesting when your eyes change colors." He noticed Amanda blush a little. "You're very sweet when you want to be."

"I guess I should apologize for being so rude to you."

"You can always make it up to me," Ariel teased.

"Your name's Ariel right?" He nodded. "You certainly look like an Ariel."

"Thanks for not assuming it's a girl's name."

"I know it isn't. I personally think it suits a man far more than a woman."

"I'm inclined to agree with you." Ariel rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. "I don't suppose you'd allow me to be so bold as to kiss you." Blushing a little, Amanda nodded and allowed Ariel to give her lips a firm but gentle kiss.

Nessie wasn't sure nor did she care how Ariel had managed it, but from then on Amanda paid Jacob no mind. She focused her time and energy with Ariel. She never really went with Robert to visit Amber, but since all the two ever did was argue, it was probably for the best. A week and a half into her recovery, Amber and Kevin still weren't speaking like they had been before. And her leg was beginning to feel much better, so it was looking like she could have her cast removed by the end of the second week. Kevin was running out of time. After taking her back to his house from seeing Carlisle, Amber insisted on going straight to bed and Kevin didn't argue. She'd been there for hours waiting for him to come pick her up. He'd been at trial all day and now they had to wait for the jury. So far, they were taking four hours, though they certainly closed one day of deliberation after two hours. Court let out really late. Either way, the longer the jury took, the more nervous it always made him. It meant they were arguing over his guilt and a hung jury was the absolute worst case scenario. If that happened, they'd have to pick a new jury and do this all over again.

After Amber closed her door, Kevin went to his office, looking over his pages and pages of argument, already looking for anything that would indicate to him reasonable doubt. He needed to prepare for the worst. Every good lawyer did. He ended up spending a good three hours going over his paperwork and highlighting anything and everything that was less than a perfect point. As he was working, he felt his eyelids getting heavy, so he changed into his vampiric form, stubbornly trying to stay awake. He finished looking through everything a lot faster after he changed and once he had everything highlighted and ready to be reworked, Kevin changed back and managed to wobble tiredly to bed. He didn't bother changing putting his clothes in the laundry bin. He just stripped to his boxers and fell into bed. It felt like he'd just fallen asleep when he felt himself being woken up by a hand on his bare back. The hand was too big to be Heather's and the nails were too long. Kevin groaned a little from sleep and turned over under the covers until he was on his back and could bare to open his eyes. When he opened his eyes, he say Amber sitting on the edge of his bed, both her crutches held in her right hand, staring at him with a light smile.

"Is everything okay?" Kevin asked, trying to sit up.

"I can't sleep," she said wearily. "I guess I just want someone to talk to."

"What did you want to talk about?" Amber stayed silent a moment, looking at her fingers in nervousness…no, not nervousness. It was more like an awkward discomfort.

"I've given some thought to your proposition," she finally said.

"And?"

"I'm not comfortable taking your money to raise your child. I'm not qualified to be a nanny nor am I one to be a live-in toy."

"A live-in toy?" Kevin asked, baffled that she thought so low of him. "It was never my intent to make you think that of me."

"Why else would you offer me a position like that in the first place? I told you I have no experience. And I'm not stupid."

"Amber, if all I wanted to do was sleep with you, I would tell you. I'm really not one to beat around the bush."

"And I'm supposed to believe that you really just wanted this woman you found in the woods to live with you and raise your child with no sexual obligation?"

"It's more than that," Kevin said bluntly. He was too tired to be coy or to dance around the truth of the matter. "You know what imprinting is right? You've had it explained to you before?" Amber didn't look repulsed. Instead, she looked somewhat amused.

"So that's why you're such a creeper," Amber said. "It certainly explains why daddy is so tense around you." 

"So does it make sense now why I would offer you a job and a place to stay?"

"Is it how you knew I love Gardenias?"

"That was actually a guess," Kevin answered with an honest smile. "So you did like those?"

"I did. I love Gardenias. I actually assumed Edward told you or something."

"I asked him to but he never got back to me and I had to guess."

"It was a really good guess," Amber said. "Did you hear that Amanda and Ariel are getting along famously?"

"Yeah, I heard about that. If they move in together, she'll be all the way in Port Angeles. That's a good hour or so away. Two hours if you drive the legal speed limit." Amber laughed a little. "Even if you stay with me, you won't have to be around her at all."

"I'd be even further from her if I just went with daddy. It would be just the two of us again." Kevin didn't say anything. The awkward silence was palpable until Amber eventually smiled a little. "That sounds pathetic doesn't it?"

"Maybe a little," Kevin said honestly. "But then, I've spent my whole life sharing my parents with three siblings, so I guess I'm used to it."

"It was just me and daddy for ten years."

"Natalie manages to be a daddy's girl just fine with me and my brothers around."

"She's the only girl," Amber corrected. "Even with the three of you around, she's still the only little girl and hence she's the only one that calls Jacob daddy. It's something special when you're the only girl. When I wasn't the only girl anymore, it made our relationship less special in my opinion."

"He'll always be your dad," Kevin said. "Just because there's another little girl in his life doesn't mean he loves you any less." Amber kept smiling, though it was sad now.

"You just don't get it," Amber said.

"This seems like something you and Natalie should talk about."

"Maybe," Amber said. "I lose either way I guess."

"I wouldn't say that," Kevin said. The two of them shared a look that said everything. He loved her and she was growing to understand she loved him too. The problem still remained that she didn't want to make a rebound of him.

"I'll try getting some sleep." Amber moved to get her crutches set up, but Kevin rested his hand on her knee.

"Stay here," Kevin asked, throwing all ounce of subtlety out the window. "Nothing will happen. I just want you to stay with me." He, of course, was referring to her sleeping in his bed, but they both knew there was more to his request than that. Amber rested her crutches against Kevin's nightstand but she didn't immediately lie down with him.

"What if I said no?"

"Then you said no," Kevin answered. "Are you saying you want to go back to your room?"

"No," Amber said. "I guess I wanted your word that you wouldn't do anything."

"I won't do anything you don't want me to do." Finally, Amber laid down and Kevin scooted over so she could have her own space. Amber scooted close enough to Kevin so that her back was against his chest.

"I'll think about it," Amber said.

"About what?"

"About staying." Since Amber was against his chest, he went ahead and wrapped his arms around her. She didn't push him away, so he held her just a little tighter. She reassured him by rubbing his arms with her hands and getting comfortable.

Amber managed to fall asleep in Kevin's arms. His scent was soothing and he was so warm. It was comforting in a way she couldn't explain. She couldn't compare it to what she'd had with Adam. It wasn't like this and that was the best she could explain it in her mind. The fact that he was still holding her even after he'd fallen asleep was all the more comforting. The next morning, she woke up at around nine o'clock and Kevin wasn't there. She was disappointed initially, but she knew better. She was surprised when she saw a note near her crutches when she went to grab them.

_Amber,_

_ I didn't want to wake you. I should be home before six assuming the jury doesn't come back today. Rosalie will let you know if I'll be late. You're welcome to sleep in my room again tonight if you want._

_ Kevin_

With the note in hand, Amber crutched her way to the guest bedroom so she could get changed. Firstly, she took out her mother's _Top Model_ blu ray set and tucked Kevin's note inside. She noticed that she didn't want to watch it today. It had been her practice to watch some episodes whenever she was depressed, but she found that today she was in a better mood than she had been in a while. With nothing better to do and no way to occupy her thoughts, Amber went around the kitchen and made sure she had the ingredients to make cinnamon buns. It figures, she had everything she would need but the vanilla pudding mix and the yeast. She still had some money on her, so Amber went to the nearest grocery store and bought some yeast and vanilla pudding mix. No one seemed to recognize her, so she had a breath of fresh air when she got back to Kevin's house without incident. It would certainly be interesting to see how well she would do making Cinnamon buns with only one leg to support her while kneading. She had a movie on for all the time consuming things like waiting for the yeast to act, waiting for the pudding mix to thicken so she could mix the pudding and yeast together. She also mix in a little cinnamon and nutmeg into the pudding mix. She wasn't sure how much of a difference it made in the final product, but they always sold well, so she could only assume it did good.

After all the wet ingredients were mix together, now came to mixing in of sugar and finally flour. Eight cups of it to be exact. It was easy initially. She put in a little flour at a time and used a fork to mix it in. Around the fifth cup of flour, the dough became harder and harder to incorporate more flour into. It was after that fifth cup that she finally put the dough on the table (she was sitting on a bar stool she'd found in the basement. She wouldn't do this all on one leg) and started kneading the rest of the flour in. As hard of work as it was, she loved making bread. There was something relaxing about kneading dough and pounding on it in two hours, taking out your extra energy onto the dough. After it was all kneaded together, Amber found a huge bowl, lined it with some butter, placed the dough in, covered it with a fabric towel and let the dough sit for an hour and forty five minutes in the laundry room. It needed a nice warm place to rise. After that time, she punched it down then let it rise again. After it rose the second time, she let it rise yet again for a much shorter amount of time. While the dough was rising for the last time, Amber found some baking pans and lined them with butter and got more butter ready for covering the rolled out sheets of bread. She got together her cinnamon mixture before the final rising was done and divided the dough in half so she could roll out the dough more easily. After each rolled out piece of bread was covered with butter and cinnamon, she rolled the bread back up and cut them into individual cinnamon buns and let them rise another fifteen minutes before putting them in the oven for only nine minutes. All together, it was at least six hours of work. Heather came through the door with Rosalie when Amber was letting the buns rest and was making the cream cheese frosting.

"You mad cinnamon buns!" Heather yelled in excitement the moment she came through the door. She went right to the kitchen and tried to grab one, but Amber took a hold of her hand. "Wait until they're frosted, Heather."

"They aren't frosted yet?" Heather looked sad. "But the frosting's the best part."

"And it'll be done in a minute."

"Can I lick the spoon?" Heather asked. Amber wasn't using a spoon, but a flat frosting spreader that she would need to finish the buns. So instead, Amber reached for a spoon and dipped it into the frosting and handed it to Heather.

"There you go, honey." Heather cheered and eagerly took the spoon, licking away the frosting with a smile on her face.

"I didn't know you could bake bread," Rosalie said, really impressed. "Even Nessie has trouble with bread."

"Does she?"

"Well, more appropriately, she doesn't like making it. She considers it too time consuming, especially when Jacob will eat most of them in a day. How that man isn't monstrous is beyond me."

"Men are just lucky that way I guess. A woman cuts out junk food, she loses a pound, a man cuts out junk food and he loses six sizes." Rosalie snickered.

"I've heard that complaint. I've been this size since I died, so I won't complain."

"Same here," Amber smiled. "I just like baking though. I find it relaxing. The kneading is a good workout too."

"I bet it is." With the icing finally mixed the way she wanted, Amber frosted all the buns generously and called Heather in so she could have her cinnamon bun.

"How do you like it?" Amber asked.

"It's so yummy! I only get Cinnabuns, and this is a millions times better."

Amber grinned, "Of course these are better. Now don't have any more okay. I don't want you spoiling your dinner."

"You know," Rosalie started, "Embry tells me his mother used to make donuts and he'd make himself sick off them."

"What kind of donuts?"

"Hell if I know. All I know is his mother used to make them and she would cover them in glaze."

"I usually make bread donuts. I've heard of some people making donuts with potatoes though."

"You can do that?" Heather asked, surprised.

"Oh, yes, plenty of bakeries do it. Like I said, I prefer the bread method, but to each their own. Either way, it's fried dough and humans love that stuff."

"Indeed," Rosalie and Amber shared a laugh. "I can't believe in the near two weeks you've been here this is the first time we've ever had a real conversation."

"Yeah," Amber said. Heather finished her first bun and went to the sink to wash her hands.

"Can I please have another one?" Heather asked, giving Amber a puppy dog face.

"Now, Heather, I said I don't want you spoiling your dinner. How about this? You can have another cinnamon bun after dinner."

"Okay," Heather said, a little put down. She recovered well enough. "Can we work on a puzzle? Aunt Rosalie bought me a pretty Disney Princess puzzle! Ariel's in it and so are Belle and Aurora and Cinderella," Heather named off all the princesses as she dragged Amber with her to the living room. Rosalie reminded her that she had homework to do and she could work on the puzzle when she was done with that.

Most of her homework was pertaining to math, but there was a short answer portion assigned in her little work book that was due the next day as well. Heather worked on it all with Rosalie close by to help her when she needed it. As Heather did her homework, Rosalie received a text that, turns out, was from Kevin.

"Kevin said he might be late," Rosalie said. "The Jury let out with a verdict. Court reconvenes in an hour to read the verdict."

"Can we go see?" Heather asked. Amber was so relieved that she'd asked instead.

"I don't know, honey. We'd have to leave Amber here alone again."

"She can come with us," Heather said. "You want to go right Amber?"

"I suppose we could go," Amber said coyly. Heather smiled, somehow more knowingly than Amber would think for an eight year old, and tried to convince Rosalie that they indeed should go to the jury reading. Rosalie finally agreed since Heather finished her homework and Rosalie helped Amber quickly get into something nicer while Heather got dressed into something nicer as well.

Amber made sure to wear sunglasses until they got to their seats once they reached the courthouse. They sat in the back of the room and, yet again, no one seemed to recognize her. Either no one watched the news or Amber didn't look as much like her mother as she thought or a combination of the two. Either way, it made her able to sit peacefully and watch Kevin. Surely he'd noticed her come in. She saw him slightly turn his head towards the viewers in the courtroom before continuing to speak with the man sitting next to him. She heard people talking, speculating to what the verdict would be. It seemed the entire right side of the room was hoping for a guilty verdict. The left was either intrigued onlookers or family of the defended that either adamantly believed in his innocence or weren't sure but wanted to be by the defendant's side in this trying time. The judge and a bailiff came in first. A few minutes later, the defendant and his lawyers came in. When the jury finally came in, the tension in the air thickened. She noticed Kevin getting somewhat nervous. She found it so bizarre to see Kevin nervous.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?" the judge asked when all the jurors were before their respective seats. Juror 1, an older woman in a nice suit, stood up with a piece of paper in hand.

"We have your honor," she answered. The Bailiff came to Juror 1 and took the small piece of paper she held and handed it to the judge to read. When the judge read the verdict, he handed it back to the bailiff.

"Would you please read the verdict?" he asked the bailiff. The bailiff nodded and faced the courtroom as he unfolded the piece of paper.

"We the jury," the bailiff said, "in the case of Washington vs. Andrew Thomas Beckon do find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree of Miranda Beckon." It was a chore for anyone in the courtroom to stay silent. After the relief on the right and the surprise and (in some cases) outrage over the verdict, the judge hit the table with his mallet to silence the room. When the room was silent, he instructed the bailiff to continue. "In the case of Washington vs. Andrew Thomas Beckon, we the jury do find the defended guilty of first degree murder of Lesley Marie Beckon."

The courtroom roared. The right side, obviously the families of the deceased, began to cry with relief after some roared a cheer of delight that the man responsible was going to be put behind bars. Some on the left were simply dumbfounded while some started crying too. Amber saw the smirk on Kevin's face. That was the Kevin she knew, the arrogant smug Kevin that looked like he could conquer the world with his charm. It made her blush just the smallest bit. The judge announced that court would reconvene for sentencing the following Monday. After shaking the hands of his partner and then the defense attorney's, Kevin grabbed his briefcase and walked down the aisle to Rosalie, Amber and Heather.

"Did you win daddy?" Heather asked.

"Yes, honey, the prosecution won." Kevin looked up at Amber with a smile. "I'm surprised to see you here."

"Rosalie told me you'd be here for a reading and I've never seen one of these before. I knew you were getting nervous and I thought we could offer moral support."

Kevin chuckled, "I think it may have swayed the jury," Kevin joked. "So, Heather, are you starving too?"

"Yeah," Heather said. "Amber made cinnamon buns and she won't let me have another until after I finish dinner." Kevin looked at Amber, surprised.

"You made cinnamon buns?"

"Scratch made," Amber said. "I spent all day on them."

"Well," Kevin grinned, "I do love cinnamon buns." Kevin looked at Heather. "Since we're the only ones eating, what do you want for dinner?"

"I want macaroni and cheese!" Heather announced.

"We can stop by the grocery store and get the things we need," Amber said. "I make a mac'n'cheese that'll blow your mind. Even grown-ups like it."

"I never claimed to not like it," Kevin smiled.

"Can we have mac'n'cheese daddy?"

"Sure we can." Heather cheered and the four of them left the courtroom. Rosalie congratulated Kevin and went home in her own car. Kevin drove Heather and Amber to the grocery store near the house and bought the groceries Amber needed for dinner. When they got back, dinner took roughly thirty minutes to make and she made enough for just Heather and Kevin. Before tasting it, Kevin covered his mac'n'cheese with red pepper flakes.

"You should've told me you like it spicy. I could've easily put some pepper-jack cheese in there."

"Not spicy enough," Kevin said with a smile.

"There was some habanera cheese we could've used."

"Next time," Kevin said and took a bite of the mac'n'cheese. "This is really good by the way."

"It's the best mac'n'cheese ever," Heather said.

"Thank you, sweetie," Amber smiled.

After dinner, Amber and Kevin helped Heather with the puzzle Rosalie had bought her that day. Heather surprised them both when she asked Amber if she liked Kevin. "It's okay if you do," Heather had said. "I like you." Amber kept her answer simple saying she did like Kevin and left it at that. Naturally, she wasn't going to talk to Heather about attraction and feelings she still hadn't really come to terms with herself. Kevin put Heather to bed around nine and went back downstairs with Amber. The finished puzzle was on the table ready to be hung in Heather's room. They couldn't put the puzzles in a frame anymore. There just wasn't enough room.

"How are you going to fit this in her room? She already has so many puzzles hung in her room."

"I actually have an idea that I want to keep secret for a while more."

"And what idea is that?" Amber asked. Kevin glanced towards the stairs before walking over to the couch and sitting down with her close enough so they could whisper.

"There's a section of Heather's room that's mostly clear wall aside from the puzzles of course. What I'm thinking is maybe we should arrange for those puzzles to be like wallpaper on one wall. We can put up a blank wallpaper and paste the completed puzzles to it. I think Heather would love it."

"That sounds like a great idea. When were you thinking of doing it?"

"I'm trying to get one of Heather's friends to invite her to a sleepover or something so she's out of the house long enough for me, Emmett and Jasper to set it up."

"How're you going to do all that with your work schedule?"

"I'll make time," Kevin said. The determination in his voice cute. "For Heather, I'll make all the time in the world."

"She's lucky to have you. She really is."

"Yeah," Kevin said. "I just wish I could do more."

"How could you possibly do more than you already do?" Amber teased. Kevin just smiled and didn't say anything. "You never ate one of the cinnamon buns," Amber finally said.

"That's right, I haven't." Kevin went to the kitchen and grabbed the biggest cinnamon bun there was and took a bite. "These are amazing," Kevin said after that first bite.

"Thank you," Amber smiled, blushing.

"I'm serious, I may force you to stay with me so you can make me these cinnamon buns."

"So now you're offering me a job as your live-in chef?"

"If you're asking for that job, you sure as fuck have it," Kevin teased, finishing his bun. "Damn it, these are good." Kevin grabbed another one.

"Don't eat too many. You'll make yourself sick."

"And I'll be damned grateful," Kevin said and earned a laugh from Amber.

"You know, Kevin, for a stuffy attorney, you're really not bad."

"I told you I was different from other lawyers. I'm superior," Kevin said with a smile and Amber laughed again.

"You're such a pompous asshole," Amber said.

"That's why I'm good at what I do." Kevin finished his second bun and grabbed a third. "This is my last one, I swear."

"If you promise. It might be time to go to bed once you finish that up."

"I'm not really tired. I'm still exhilarated from that verdict. With how long the jury was taking, I was getting nervous that they might say not guilty. But they read guilty and I couldn't be happier. If anyone deserves to be in prison, it's that man."

"Still, it might be for the best if you get some sleep." Kevin just smiled and finished his third cinnamon bun and reached for another, but Amber stopped him. "You said that was your last one. Save some for Heather, I beg you."

"Oh, fine," Kevin said. "Also, I've been meaning to ask. I know Carlisle's thinking of taking that cast off you this Friday."

"Yeah, that's what I'm told. What about it?"

"Well, Saturday night, my firm is throwing a party at the Four Seasons Hotel for our most prominent clients. By prominent clients, I mean people that are in court more than their own homes. I'm serious, I've represented people that have been in court for years and you'd be surprised what people will spend years in court over. There's a couple I represented collaboratively for almost four years because they couldn't agree on anything besides hating each other."

"I thought lawyers specialized."

"They can if they want to. They usually do, but I like to keep things interesting. I'm qualified an most facets of the law. The only case that I can think of right off the top of my head that I'm not qualified to represent are malpractice cases. That requires a little more schooling and I'm not really interested in malpractice. It's a shame too. I could be a billionaire off malpractice."

"That's unsettling," Amber said.

"That's why I'm not a malpractice attorney." The two shared a small laugh and when they relaxed, Kevin dared to ask his next question. "So are you sleeping in my room tonight or the guest bedroom?"

"Um…" Amber seemed to think a moment and that blush was the sweetest thing Kevin had ever seen. "Only if you promise to hold me again."

"You got it," Kevin said. "Also, about Saturday. Would you like to go with me? I'm sure Alice would be more than happy to help you find a nice gown."

"Oh," Amber laughed as he helped her up the stairs, "It's that kind of party."

"Yes ma'am it's that kind of party. Heather was conceived after such a party."

"I'll go if you don't get me pregnant," Amber said with a laugh.

"You have my word," Kevin said. "I'll let you get changed. Come in whenever you're ready."

Amber nodded and closed the door behind her so she could get changed and Kevin went to his room and threw his clothes into the laundry basket until he was in his boxers. He took his normal spot on the bed and waited for Amber to crutch her way in. She managed to close the door behind her and went to the empty space on the bed, resting her crutches against the nightstand. As promised, Kevin wrapped his arms around her and let her sleep against his chest. The next morning, like he'd done the morning before, he snuck a kiss on her cheek before getting out of bed and taking in a shower before having to go to work. As promised, on Friday Carlisle took off Amber's cast. He asked her to move it around and when she felt no pain from that nor from his touches to her leg, he asked her to try walking on it. Her leg was slightly sore, but it was nothing that wouldn't heal within a few more hours, so Carlisle told her she could continue to walk around on that leg and get better adjusted.

Amber was so relieved to be out of that cast that she actually tolerated a day of shopping with Alice, Robert and Amanda. Alice found out about Amber going to the party with Kevin and knew she needed to get Amber a ball gown. Alice knew exactly what to get Amber: a tasteful, black, backless evening gown that was a halter top in the front with no fritz or frills and a plunging backline. Robert argued that it was vulgar, but Amber insisted she loved it and Amanda insisted it would make Amber's butt look bigger (Amber let go of that backhanded compliment only because she didn't feel like arguing for a change. She was too excited) and Robert got outweighed, especially since Alice was the one buying the dress. Amber made sure to hide the dress in the guest bedroom so Kevin wouldn't see it until the dinner party the next night. Kevin made sure to get Saturday off. Most of the attorneys weren't working that day because of the party anyway, so it wasn't so shocking. Rosalie came by around mid afternoon to look after Heather while Amber and Kevin were out. Kevin went to change into his suit while Heather and Rosalie helped Amber get ready by doing up her hair in blonde curls and putting on some makeup. Heather insisted that Amber had to wear purple somehow, so Rosalie found a way to give her a touch of purple eyeshadow while her eyes were lined with black and her eyelashes painted black as well. She wore a pink lipgloss to finish the look. Amber had never felt prettier in her life and she felt more so when Kevin saw her and said she looked stunning.

"That's one hell of a backline," Kevin said as they pulled out of the driveway and started making their way to the hotel. 

"Yeah, I thought it was nice. You don't think it's too much do you?"

"Of course not. I think it looks perfect. You'll be the bell of the ball."

Amber giggled, "You've been waiting your whole life to say that haven't you?"

"I've been waiting my whole life to mean it," Kevin answered honestly and earned yet another smile from Amber.

"I don't have to talk to anyone do I? I don't know how I'd contribute to a conversation."

"Don't worry about it so much. Stay by me, I'll do most of the talking, if they ask you something, answer them, and if they get to convoluted, pretend you know what they're talking about."

"Will do," Amber said.

They arrived at the hotel a few minutes later and a valet parked the car for them as they walked in together. Amber was surprised how many women where there that looked about the same age she looked (that being early twenties). There were a handful of older women among the group, but she counted more young women with the men and even a much younger man with an older woman in the room. She'd thought she would be the most scantily dressed, but there were so many young women there that plenty of them had exposed skin showing proudly, some more than her. She actually felt conservative for a moment. As they walked in and Kevin grabbed a glass of Champaign for himself, a black man with a black woman at his side came to Kevin with a smile.

"There you are," Jeremy said. "Who's this lovely lady?"

"Jeremy, this is my date, Amber. Amber, this is my soul brother Jeremy and his wife." They all laughed.

"It's nice to see you actually bring someone to this thing. You can't keep coming to this party alone. You start drinking too much if you do."

"Dually noted," Kevin laughed. They talked for a while before Jeremy had to say hi to a client of his.

"They're nice."

"Yeah, he and I have been friends since I started working here. I'm the only Native American and he's one of the only black guys, so we tend to stick together."

"That's nice."

Amber stayed by Kevin's side the whole night listening to him speak with coworkers and clients and doing her best to pretend she was interested in a word any of them were saying. Once they started going into the legal crap, they just started to lose her. Sometimes, she was convinced they were speaking Greek when they talked about legal matters. Kevin could tell Amber was getting bored, so before she could start to lose consciousness from boredom, Kevin wished his friends good night and led Amber with him to the entrance and waited for the valet to come back with his car. When they got back, Rosalie had already put Heather to bed and she was sound asleep. After Rosalie left, Kevin led Amber upstairs.

"Are you tired?" he asked her, but Amber shook her head. "Did you want to watch a movie in my room?"

"I'd like that." Kevin and Amber smiled and parted ways so they could both change into something comfortable. As always, Kevin stripped down to his boxers and waited for Amber to come back in her own pajamas. This time when she came in, though, she wasn't wearing any pajama pants. She was wearing a tank top with no bra and a pair of panties. It was the least amount of clothing he'd ever seen on her. "I brought a movie with me." Kevin finally realized she was holding a movie in her hand: _Pride and Prejudice_ the miniseries. "We don't have to watch every one, but can at least watch one or two episodes."

"How long is each episode?"

"An hour each," she said. "I figure two hours is a movie's worth."

With a smile, Kevin put the DVD in and they watched the first episode of _Pride and Prejudice_ together. Amber rested her head on Kevin's chest as they watched the show together and neither said a word. Kevin just held her and stole quick glances her way to admire her. When the first episode was over, they continued to the second and again, they stayed quiet. When the second episode was done, they turned off the DVD.

"Is the book better?" Kevin asked.

"The books a little dryer than acted renditions in my opinion. That tends to be the pattern with Jane Austin and her books."

"I'll take your word for it." Amber just smiled and rolled her eyes a little. "I'm sorry you were bored at the party."

"I just didn't really have anything to add conversationally. It got boring watching you all talk about depositions and whatever else you were talking about."

"Sorry about that. Newman wouldn't take no for an answer regarding any of his cases. He's a little irritated with me that I got assigned the murder trial and he wasn't so he was kind of trying to get back at me in his own little way."

"That makes no sense."

"I never said it did," Kevin said.

"There is one thing I've been meaning to talk with you about though," Amber said after they'd stared at each other a moment in silence.

"And what's that?"

"I've given some thought to your proposal. About me staying with you that is."

"Yes?" Kevin asked, interested immensely.

"I've decided I'm going to stay." Kevin stiffened for a moment. He had to otherwise he would've smashed his lips to her in a kiss and wouldn't stop until he damn well wanted to. "Did you hear me?"

"Of course I did, I'm just trying to stay calm." Kevin took a deep breath. "You're really staying?"

"Yeah," Amber said. "I can tolerate Amanda being close by and daddy can always visit whenever he wants. I've noticed something since I've come to stay with you. You seem to make me happier than I've been in a long time. I think it's because I love you."

"Do you really?" Amber nodded.

"I do," Amber said. "I love you."

"I love you too," Kevin said. He'd been waiting what felt like a lifetime to tell her that and now he finally was. "Let me kiss you," he said, hoping desperately she would allow it.

"Go right ahead," Amber said and the two finally kissed.

He was eternity that seemed to flash by in an instant. After their lips met, Kevin pulled Amber right on top of him so he could hold her tightly and never let go. Amber wrapped her arms around Kevin's neck and kissed him with just as much vigor. She didn't care about the past anymore. Adam, the incident, nothing mattered except now and she wouldn't let herself be guilted out of what Kevin was doing to her. When Kevin started kissing her neck, it tickled and it made her feel beautiful. When he brought his hands under her tank top and touched her bare skin, then dared to touch her breasts, she felt like a natural woman (call it clichéd all you want). And when he took off her shirt and suckled her breasts, she felt like she was loved. Amber trailed her fingers through Kevin's hair as he suckled and kissed her nipples and when she felt his erection between her legs, she felt weightless and eager. Kevin eventually began to kiss her belly, but he was obstructed by his inability to hunch down further, so he laid her down on the bed and moved on once she was on her back.

Kevin was so tender with every kiss, yet when he began to kiss her thighs, her heart began to race further and her breath became labored. She'd never had that done to her before. So when Kevin pulled off Amber's panties, the cold air tingled and tingled more when his mouth came so close to her core. She never imagined his tongue could do so many things, but it all made her belly tighten. She kept her fingers in his hair and whimpered, staying silent as she possibly could. Most of her pleasure was expressed through her hands in Kevin's hair and her toes rubbing up and down his back. Kevin didn't stop until she whimpered just a little louder and felt her climax around his fingers. She went limp after that as Kevin cleaned off his mouth and fingers. Before she knew it, Kevin was on top of her, kissing her neck tenderly.

"You did promise not to get me pregnant," Amber managed and it made Kevin laugh a little.

"So I did," he said. "Hold on a second." Kevin pulled away so he could grab a condom from his nightstand. Once he slipped it on, he climbed back on top of her and started kissing her again. Amber embraced Kevin as he pushed his erection inside her and when he was all the way in, he took a firm hold of her legs and just moved.

Her mind went blank and all she did was feel. Had it really been so long since love making had made her feel so cherished? She couldn't remember a time before this. At points, for fear of tearing out Kevin's hair, Amber grabbed a hold of the bed frame and bit down on her lip so she wouldn't moan too loud, though as she approached her second climax, that was becoming harder and harder for her to do. When that climax hit, she squealed just a little bit and went limp again. She grabbed a hold of Kevin while he continued, working himself to his own climax while giving her pleasure at the same time. When Kevin finished, he clutched her thighs and seemed to growl under his breath as he kissed Amber's neck. When he finally let go of her thighs and took his mouth from her neck, they embraced with Kevin's head resting on Amber's breasts.

"Thank you," Amber finally managed.

"For what?" Kevin asked.

"For loving me." Kevin smiled and kissed the globe of flesh before kissing her again. Finally, finally after a moment of hugging, the two fell asleep in each other's arms.

And readers, he married her not long after that. Alice being Alice arranged a huge ceremony with Heather as the flower girl, Amanda as the maid of honor (though admittedly that was more Robert's choice than Amber's) and Ej was the ring bearer. When the vows were said and the reception came, Heather got her father daughter dance and later complained to Kevin that Ej purposefully got cake in her hair. Kevin was finally no longer the odd guy out in the family. He'd found a woman to share his life with that he loved more than he'd ever loved before. Kyle and Evalina did eventually have a child, a young girl they named Angelica. Since Nathan and Ada weren't using the name, he decided it was fair game. When Amber and Kevin had their child, it was a small boy they named Robert. Thankfully, Heather wouldn't have to share her daddy with another little girl. When Nazaire was about fourteen, Natalie and Suerro unexpectedly had their little Zura Leigh and when Suerro saw her, he was close to tears (as close as vampiricly possible of course). She looked just like Zura and Zura Leigh was no less than the apple of her daddy's eye. The Cullens did eventually move to Alaska for a while. It'd been the longest they'd stayed in one place, but Carlisle was the one that worked and he needed to work somewhere else where he wasn't trying to pass for forty. Jacob and Nessie visited often as did the kids, but Jacob and Nessie did open a shop further west from Forks and from the reservation. They were in the same boat as Carlisle. Jacob assigned a pack member to manage the shop in his name while he handled the new one. As for the rest, that's up to you.

**FIN**


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